What Is Domestic Violence?

Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control over another person through fear and intimidation. It happens between people who are or have been in an intimate relationship, and often includes the threat or use of violence. It happens when one person believes they are entitled to control another...and it is a crime.

Domestic violence can take many forms. It can include emotional abuse, such as name-calling and put-downs, and economic abuse, when one person uses money and finances to control the other. Often an abusive partner may be sexually abusive, use or control the children, or threaten, isolate, or intimidate the other. All of these behaviors are used to maintain fear, intimidation and power. Not all of these behaviors -- such as emotional abuse -- are against the law, but none of them is acceptable...and no one deserves abuse. In all cultures, the perpetrators are most commonly men, and women are usually the victims of violence. Acts of domestic violence generally fall into one or more of the following categories:

Power and Control

This is the Power and Control Wheel. At the center of the wheel is the main intent of all the abuse: to establish power and control. Each spoke of the wheel represents a particular tactic, or kind of abuse. The rim of the wheel, which gives it strength and holds it together, is physical abuse.

Description of Power and Control wheel was taken from In Our Best Interest, created by Minnesota Program Development Inc.