Domestic Violence

Definitions

The notion of a “battered woman” derives from the criminal violation known as “battery” or the willful or intentional touching of a person against that person's will by another person, or by an object or substance put in motion by that other person. The notion of “battered women,” with its emphasis on physical violence, fails to entirely capture the various ways in which intimate partners of either gender can be manipulated and abused and as a consequence, the term has been largely replaced by domestic violence (DV), intimate partner violence (IPV), and the more generic family violence.

During the past 15 years, there has been a growing recognition that IPV is a highly prevalent public health problem with devastating effects on individuals, families, and communities. The term family violence has been used to describe acts of violence between family members, including adult and adolescent partners, between a parent and a child (including adult children), between caretakers or partners against elders, and between siblings. Although sometimes used interchangeably, the term domestic violence is generally seen as a subset of family violence between intimates so that the term intimate partner violence appears to be replacing domestic violence for the sake of definitional clarity.

The Family Violence Prevention Fund defines IPV as a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors that [Page 217]may include inflicted physical injury; psychological abuse; sexual assault; progressive social, physical, or financial isolation; stalking; deprivation; extreme jealousy and possessiveness; and intimidation and threats perpetrated by someone who is, was, or wishes to be involved in an intimate or dating relationship with an adult or adolescent, and are aimed at establishing control by one partner over the other. Threats may be directed at the partner, her or his friends, family members, pets, or property. This term also includes children who are used by the perpetrator to intimidate and abuse the adult victim, as well as those who are forced by the perpetrator to participate in the abuse of an adult victim.

Legal definitions and remedies of IPV vary from state to state but generally refer specifically to threats or acts of physical or sexual violence including forced rape, stalking, harassment, certain types of psychological abuse, and other crimes where civil or criminal justice remedies apply. Violence between intimates is notoriously difficult to measure largely because it usually occurs in private, and victims are often reluctant to report incidents to anyone because of shame, guilt, or fear of reprisal.