Many of you will have caught the dispatches programme on the television last night entitled 'when did you last beat your wife'. I have posted this training session that I use with Social Workers in the hope that it will give you a clearer understanding of what domestic abuse is and how the victim can become trapped in an abusive relationship -cut off from family and freinds, financially trapped, socially stigmatised as someone who should know better or leave the environment in which they find themselves. Domestic abuse is a crime and as such criminal justice has a duty to society to tackle this problem which claims the lives of two women a week. That is murder and criminal justic has a duty to protect potential victims from murderers.

Definition of Domestic abuse
Patterns of behaviour characterised by the misuse of power and control by one person over another who are or have been in an intimate relationship. It can occur in mixed gender relationships and same gender relationships and has profound consequences for the lives of children, individuals, families and communities. It may be physical, sexual, emotional and/or psychological. The latter may include intimidation, harassment, damage to property, threats and financial abuse (CAFCASS, 2001)

Forms of Physical Abuse
Direct Physical Violence, ranging from UNWANTED PHYSICAL CONTACT to RAPE and MURDER.

Indirect Physical Violence, including destruction of objects, throwing objects near the victim, harm to animals.
Non-verbal threats including gestures, facial expressions and body postures.

Mental/Emotional Abuse
Verbal threats of physical violence to the victim, the self, or others including children. Ranging from explicit detailed and impending to implicit and vague as to both content and time frame.
Verbal violence, including threats, insults, put-downs and attacks, in private or in public designed to intimidate and/or humiliate the victim.
Economic/Social Abuse
Controlling victim's money and other economic resources

Preventing victim from seeing friends and relatives.

Actively sabotaging victim's social relationships.

Isolating victim from social contacts
The victim is often
Isolated from family and friends
Frightened of not knowing, when, where, what
Lacking in confidence, low self-esteem
Unable to speak out without being found out
Faces Social stigma – labelling
Financially trapped

Societal/Cultural Norms
1736 Ruling – Sir Mathew Hale declared that ‘A Husband cannot be guilty of rape by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind of unto her husband which she cannot retract’ ( quoted in R. Hall et al. 1984:20)

Police receive an estimated 570,000 calls relating to domestic violence a year in Britain, (Stanko 2000)

In the year up to 31 August 2002 National Women’s Aid 24 hr Helpline received 56,666 calls (Women’s Aid 2002)

BCS, SCS and self report studies do not illustrate the true extent of the crime of domestic abuse.

Statistics
Domestic violence claims the lives of approximately 2 women a week.

One in four women and one in six men will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime with women at greater risk of repeat victimisation and serious injury.

One incident of domestic violence is reported to the police every minute.

89% of those suffering 4 or more incidents are women.

Domestic abuse accounts for 16% of all violent crime.

One of the major tasks is to alter public perceptions of what domestic abuse is and to enable the victims of domestic abuse to come forward to report this crime in safe environments.
To assist them in whatever course of action they wish to take. ( client centred)
Always ensuring that the physical and mental safety of the victim and their family is given priority.