What is domestic violence?

Domestic abuse advocates define domestic violence (a.k.a., domestic violence, intimate partner violence) as a behavioral pattern that occurs in an intimate relationship (e.g., cohabitation, dating, marriage). It's used to gain and maintain power and control over a partner. Anyone can become a victim of domestic violence. It doesn't matter what their sexual orientation, gender, race, age, religion, education, or socioeconomic background is. For me, I identify as caucasian, nonbinary, and asexual. I was raised in an upper class family and yet my perpetrator abused me while I was in my early 20s and living with them. I share this to let you see that anyone can become a victim of intimate partner violence. This is the reason why I've become a domestic abuse victim advocate.

How is abuse defined by domestic violence advocates?

Domestic abuse victim advocates define this abuse as any form of behavior that one partner exhibits towards another. This means that there are several different types of domestic violence that advocates must be familiar with. These include:

The first one that domestic violence advocates are the most familiar with is physical abuse. This is abuse that occurs when a victim is physically harmed by their partner. This is one of the types of abuse that I somehow managed to be spared, but the other types of abuse are equally harmful.

One type of abuse that almost always coincides with any other type of abuse is financial abuse (a.k.a.,economic abuse). Unfortunately, it's freque