Domestic violence or abuse is a complex behavior pattern that might include physical acts of violence, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. Women generally experience domestic abuse at a far greater rate than the men do, and women and kids often live their life in fear that results from the abuse mainly done by the men to have control over their partners. Domestic abuse is one of the major public health concerns, and it is very common in Australia. Though several agencies are now working in domestic violence services, women do not feel protected in their own homes.

In the last decade, domestic abuse is declared as the major public health issue. It affects all categories of people, irrespective of the social, economic, educational, racial, and geographic background. It results in significant mortality and morbidity. Due to the lack of proper features and signs of domestic abuse, it makes identifying the cases much more difficult. In this blog, we will define domestic violence and what should be done to stop women from getting physically and mentally tortured at home.

Under Australian law, the term “domestic violence” means that the violence caused by the heterosexual partner includes intimidation, serious harassment, physical injury, indecent behaviour, a threat to life, and wilful damage of the property. However, in terms of the health perspective, domestic violence is better said as the chronic syndrome characterised by episodes of physical harm and the psychological and emotional abuse that the committers do to control their partners. Most of the women report about partner abuse than men. Women also mention that physical violence is least damaging than the psychological violence that cripples and breaks a woman.

Some of the Behavioural Patterns of Domestic Abuse Includes-

1. Physical abuse refers to causing pain and injury, deprivation of sleep, warmth or nutrition, sexual assault, violence to property, denial, or needed medical support and disablement
2. Verbal abuse refers to the abuse done in public or private, designed to degrade, demean, intimidate, subjugate, and humiliate. This also includes the threat of physical abuse
3. Economic abuse includes deprivation of basic needs, unreasonable denial of means, seizure of the income, and so on.
4. Social abuse- refers to the isolation, controlling all social activities, deprivation of liberty, and many more.

Women are at higher risk of domestic violence if they are less than 40 years of age, are socially isolated, have undergone any recent divorce, have a history of child abuse or who is abused recently, having a partner who is over-attentive or who are non-compliant.

Social welfare organisations like WA Suffragettes Equal Pay in Australia are working to develop programs that will help women in Australia and worldwide stand up and fight for their rights. If you face a similar situation at home and want to prevent your partner from doing physical torture on you, join or work as a volunteer to help yourself and other women around you fight against this social curse.