Abuse within intimate relationships[1] is a very harsh reality which thousands of people, mostly female, face on a day to day basis. In the majority of cases, abuse begins very subtly and, over time escalates. Abuse can take many forms: very often the word abuse brings the image to mind of somebody being hit, punched or kicked, amongst other violent acts. Abuse can also take on other forms that are not physically violent, and these can be just as harmful and destructive as physical violence, if not more so. Physical abuse, such as hitting, punching, or any other violent physical contact, is easier to identify than other forms of abuse such as sexual abuse within an intimate relationship, emotional, and financial. These forms are not to be taken any less seriously than violent physical attacks. Victims of abuse in intimate relationships often suffer from invisibleforms of abuse for many years before the abuse comes to light, very often, but not always, in the form of physical violence.
To begin with, abuse can take on multiple forms. Mouradian states that “it is frequently the case that two or more types of abuse are present in the same relationship.” (Abuse in Intimate Relationships) In Understanding Domestic Violence, Ganley puts domestic abuse into four categories: Physical Assaults, Sexual Assaults, Psychological Assaults, and Economics. She places threats of violence and harm, attacks against property or pets and other acts of intimidation, emotional abuse, isolation, use of children, under Psychological Assaults (18 - 20).
Physical abuse is the form of abuse that is most easily detected and can involve:
…spitting, scratching, biting, grabbing, shaking, shoving, pushing, restraining, throwing twisting slapping (with open or closed hand), punching, choking burning, and/or use of weapons (eg. , household objects, knives, guns) against the victim. The physical violence may or may not cause injuries (Ganley 18).
There are forms of physical abuse that are not so apparent to the observer. Denying a victim “access to medical treatment or necessary medications is another form of physical domestic abuse” (Fisher). A cheating intimate partner, who contracts a sexually transmitted disease and infects his/her intimate partner, is also being physically abusive. As is quite obvious physical abuse can be executed in many different ways and it is always traumatic for the victim. “Physical abuse can be infracted by an individual in many different ways, yet the consequences are always the same, trauma sustained by the victim.” (Persinger)
[1] In the article Abuse in Intimate Relationships: Defining the Multiple Dimensions and Terms, Vera E. Mouradian defines an intimate relationship as: “any romantic and/or sexual relationship between two non-biologically-related people, including dating or courtship relationships, relationships in which the romantic partners line together in the same household (cohabiting), relationships in which two people have children in common but are no longer formally romantically or sexually involved with one another, and marital relationships.” ( http://www.musc.edu)
