Family violence is when someone uses coercion, power, fear, or intimidation to control someone they are in a close, intimate, or household relationship with.
- It can be physical, sexual, psychological, or economic.
- It usually, but not always, happens in the home (not in a public place), therefore it is hidden.
- The coercion, control, and other abuse tactics are often subtle and difficult for victims to explain to others.
- These tactics adversely impact every aspect of victims’ (and their children’s) lives, including their health, their dignity, and their opportunities to build safe, viable, and fulfilling lives.
- The majority of perpetrators are men, and the majority of victims are women and gender minorities.
- Disabled women, rainbow/takatāpui (especially people who are bisexual and transgender) wāhine Māori, and young women are the most likely to be subjected to family violence.
- Psychological or Emotional Abuse
Threatening to harm you or the children, damaging belongings, stalking, isolating from friends and whānau, actions or threats, hurting animals or pets, constant put downs and belittling, exposing children to trauma. - Economic Abuse
Withholding money, monitoring the finances, making all the financial decisions, demanding proof of all expenditure and checking receipts, alloting a allowance. - Sexual Abuse
Forced to have sex, feeling sexually harassed, being made to engage in degrading or unsafe sexual behavior, being made to watch pornographic material. - Physical Abuse
Slapping, beating, punching, kicking, strangling, shaking, biting or pinching. It may involve the use of weapons and can cause serious long term injury or fatality. - Spiritual Abuse
Feeling as though your spirit/wairua is being attacked, stops you from expressing your spiritual or religious beliefs, stops you going to church/ temple, puts down your beliefs, uses their/your religious beliefs to justify their behaviour.
