What Is Considered Spousal Abuse?
Spousal abuse, according to victim advocacy groups is defined as "the use of physical force" and use of repeated verbal assaults to intimate or instill fear, by one marital partner against the other "to control and maintain power" over the other person..
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Types of Spousal Abuse
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Physical abuse involves physical assaults and including hitting, slugging, pushing, kicking, pulling of hair, shoving, slapping. Emotional abuse reflects a pattern of repetitive humiliating comments or threats of violence towards a spouse or other family members says the Focus on the Family website. Sexual abuse includes forcing a spouse to do sexual acts against their will.
Function
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As observed at Help Guide.org, spousal abuse is motivated by one partner's desire to "gain and maintain total control" over the other partner.
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The Facts
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One county prosecutor's web site notes that physical spousal abuse is treated by authorities as a crime. Yet the absence of injuries causes emotional abuse to go largely unnoticed according to Mary J. Yerkes, of Focus on the Family, even though many victims "describe it as the most painful and destructive form of domestic violence."
Considerations
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The Mayo Clinic staff notes that spousal abuse often proves cyclic because the "abuser threatens violence, abuser strikes, abuser apologizes, promises to change and offers gifts, the cycle repeats itself."
Identification
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Signs of an abusive relationship from Help Guide.org include one spouse fearing the other, threats of suicide if the other leaves them, extreme jealousy or possessiveness, patterns of acts intended to humiliate and one spouse dominating the other.
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References
Resources
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