Being Abused? What You Can Do About Domestic Violence.

With domestic violence & abuse against both women and children in the spotlight, I wanted to take this opportunity to start a thread on what you can do and how you can get help.

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Replies (10)
    • National Domestic Violence Hotline:
      http://www.thehotline.org/

      USA: 1ˆ’800ˆ’799ˆ’SAFE (7233) or TTY 1ˆ’800ˆ’787ˆ’3224.

      Reach trained advocates 24/7. There are no fees, no names and no judgement.

      • Abuse Defined
      • Warning Signs Of Abuse
      • Is This Abuse?
      • How To Help Someone
      • Why Do They Stay?
      • How To Get Help

      Helpguide.org:

      Domestic Violence and Abuse

      • Understanding Domestic Violence and Abuse
      • Signs of An Abusive Relationship
      • Emotional Abuse
      • Violent & Abusive Behavior
      • The Cycle Of Violence In Domestic Abuse
      • Recognizing The Warning Signs
      • Speak Up: Do's and Don'ts
      • What To Do Next

      Worldwide Phone #'s & Help:

      UK: call Women's Aid at 0808 2000 247.

      Australia: call 1800RESPECT at 1800 737 732.
      Worldwide: visit International Directory of Domestic Violence Agencies for a global list of helplines and crisis centers.

      Male victims of abuse can call:

      UK: ManKind Initiative
      Australia: One in Three Campaign

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      • Warning Signs & Red Flags

        If you're beginning to feel as if your partner or a loved one's partner is becoming abusive, there are a few behaviors that you can look out for. Watch out for these red flags and if you're experiencing one or more of them in your relationship, call the hotline to talk about what's going on.

        • Telling you that you can never do anything right
        • Showing jealousy of your friends and time spent away
        • Keeping you or discouraging you from seeing friends or family members
        • Embarrassing or shaming you with put-downs
        • Controlling every penny spent in the household
        • Taking your money or refusing to give you money for expenses
        • Looking at you or acting in ways that scare you
        • Controlling who you see, where you go, or what you do
        • Preventing you from making your own decisions
        • Telling you that you are a bad parent or threatening to harm or take away your children
        • Preventing you from working or attending school
        • Destroying your property or threatening to hurt or kill your pets
        • Intimidating you with guns, knives or other weapons
        • Pressuring you to have sex when you don't want to or do things sexually you're not comfortable with
        • Pressuring you to use drugs or alcohol

        Go to this page: The National Domestic Violence Hotline: Abuse Defined

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        • Signs Of Physical Abuse:

          • Pulling your hair, punching, slapping, kicking, biting or choking you
          • Forbidding you from eating or sleeping
          • Damaging your property when they're angry (throwing objects, punching walls, kicking doors, etc.)
          • Using weapons to threaten to hurt you, or actually hurting you with weapons
          • Trapping you in your home or keeps you from leaving
          • Preventing you from calling the police or seeking medical attention
          • Harming your children
          • Abandoning you in unfamiliar places
          • Driving recklessly or dangerously when you are in the car with them
          • Forcing you to use drugs or alcohol (especially if you've had a substance abuse problem in the past)

          Go to this page: The National Domestic Violence Hotline: Physical Abuse

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          • Signs Of Emotional Abuse:

            • Calling you names, insulting you or continually criticizing you
            • Refusing to trust you and acting jealous or possessive
            • Trying to isolate you from family or friends
            • Monitoring where you go, who you call and who you spend time with
            • Demanding to know where you are every minute
            • Punishing you by withholding affection
            • Threatening to hurt you, the children, your family or your pets
            • Humiliating you in any way
            • Blaming you for the abuse
            • Gaslighting
            • Accusing you of cheating and being often jealous of your outside relationships
            • Serially cheating on you and then blaming you for his or her behavior
            • Cheating on you intentionally to hurt you and then threatening to cheat again
            • Cheating to prove that they are more desired, worthy, etc. than you are
            • Attempting to control your appearance: what you wear, how much/little makeup you wear, etc.
            • Telling you that you will never find anyone better, or that you are lucky to be with a person like them

            Go to this page: The National Domestic Violence Hotline: Emotional Abuse

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            • Signs Of Sexual Abuse:

              • Forcing you to dress in a sexual way
              • Insulting you in sexual ways or calls you sexual names
              • Forcing or manipulating you into to having sex or performing sexual acts
              • Holding you down during sex
              • Demanding sex when you're sick, tired or after hurting you
              • Hurting you with weapons or objects during sex
              • Involving other people in sexual activities with you against your will
              • Ignoring your feelings regarding sex
              • Forcing you to watch pornography
              • Purposefully trying to pass on a sexually transmitted disease to you

              Signs Of Sexual Coercion:

              • Making you feel like you owe them sex. Because you're in a relationship, because you've had sex before, because they spent money on you or bought you a gift
              • Giving you drugs and alcohol to "loosen up" your inhibitions
              • Playing on the fact that you're in a relationship, saying things such as: "Sex is the way to prove your love for me," "If I don't get sex from you I'll get it somewhere else"
              • Reacting negatively with sadness, anger or resentment if you say no or don't immediately agree to something
              • Continuing to pressure you after you say no
              • Making you feel threatened or afraid of what might happen if you say no
              • Trying to normalize their sexual expectations: ex. "I need it, I'm a man"

              Go to this page: The National Domestic Violence Hotline: Sexual Abuse

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              • Signs Of Reproductive Coercion:

                • Refusing to use a condom or other type of birth control
                • Breaking or removing a condom during intercourse
                • Lying about their methods of birth control (ex. lying about having a vasectomy, lying about being on the pill)
                • Refusing to "pull out" if that is the agreed upon method of birth control
                • Forcing you to not use any birth control (ex. the pill, condom, shot, ring, etc.)
                • Removing birth control methods (ex. rings, IUDs, contraceptive patches)
                • Sabotaging birth control methods (ex. poking holes in condoms, tampering with pills or flushing them down the toilet)
                • Withholding finances needed to purchase birth control
                • Monitoring your menstrual cycles
                • Forcing pregnancy and not supporting your decision about when or if you want to have a child
                • Forcing you to get an abortion, or preventing you from getting one
                • Threatening you or acting violent if you don't comply with their wishes to either end or continue a pregnancy
                • Continually keeping you pregnant (getting you pregnant again shortly after you give birth)

                Reproductive coercion can also come in the form of pressure, guilt and shame from an abusive partner.

                Go to this page: The National Domestic Violence Hotline: Reproductive Coercion

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                • Signs Of Financial Abuse:

                  • Giving an allowance and closely watching how you spend it or demanding receipts for purchases
                  • Placing your paycheck in their bank account and denying you access to it
                  • Preventing you from viewing or having access to bank accounts
                  • Forbidding you to work or limiting the hours that you can work
                  • Maxing out credit cards in your name without permission or not paying the bills on credit cards, which could ruin your credit score
                  • Stealing money from you or your family and friends
                  • Using funds from children's savings accounts without your permission
                  • Living in your home but refusing to work or contribute to the household
                  • Making you give them your tax returns or confiscating joint tax returns
                  • Refusing to give you money to pay for necessities/shared expenses like food, clothing, transportation, or medical care and medicine

                  Go to this page: The National Domestic Violence Hotline: Financial Abuse

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                    • National Center On Domestic & Sexual Violence

                      > Safety Tips For Victims Of Domestic Violence

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                      • Personalized Safety Plan
                        http://domesticviolence.org

                        Your safety is the most important thing. Listed here are tips to help keep you safe. These resources ican help you to make a safety plan that works best for you. It is important to get help with your safety plan. [ click here ]

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