Location
1511 Third Avenue
Suite 1001
Seattle, WA 98101
Phone
206.223.0840
Fax
206.260.1420
e-mail:
Send Email |
|
Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence Refers to Violence Between Family Members
Domestic violence refers to virtually any act that causes one party to an intimate or familial relationship to fear the other party. In King County, and elsewhere, adjudicated domestic violence victims tend to be women. Adjudicated domestic violence tend to be men.
Domestic violence comes in all shapes and sizes. The most obvious symptom and tool of the domestic violence perpetrator is physical violence. Another is isolation, constant denigration, blaming the victim, and denial that domestic violence is occurring.
Courts tend to focus on physical violence because it is the easiest to prove. More subtle forms of domestic violence, manipulation, and control, can be more insidious and more difficult to prove. Likewise, police will arrest whoever they think is more physically intimidating, regardless of who started the disturbance or even who is actually injured.
Social scientists and victim’s advocates often describe the relationship between a domestic violence perpetrator and his/her victim as a cycle of violence. The cycle has three roles: abuser, victim, and rescuer. The two parties to the cycle move through the three roles. Sometimes the man is the abuser. Sometimes the woman is the abuser.
The first step in ending domestic violence, at least in my opinion, is to recognize the cycle and stop perpetuating it. To me, this means ending the relationship, and then foregoing another one until the party has developed the tools avoid repeating the cycle with someone else.
|
| |
