What is Domestic Abuse?

Domestic abuse is recognised as abusive acts between two people aged 16 or over who are personally associated with each other, including: people who are married or have been married, in civil partnerships, have a child together or who are relatives.

Domestic abuse takes on many forms and can manifest in the following ways:

  • Any calculated, actual or attempted, physical act, which results in injury to another person, such as; hitting, kicking, choking, spitting (considered assault in Jersey).

  • Behaviours directed at emotionally controlling, mistreating or manipulating the other person such as; derogatory name-calling, terrorisation, humiliation, isolating the person from support networks such as family/friends.

  • Being denied access to information and being restricted from making any decisions regarding finances; including controlling all finances, or confining their access to finances, halting any possibility of work or keeping employment, expecting the person to pay for utilities when not in a position to pay.

  • Any sexual pursuit which happens without consent or by pressuring, manipulating, menacing, threatening and/or deceiving the other person into a sexual activity: For example, rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, upskirting, revenge porn.

  • A behaviour that degrades and intimidates the other person; such as following and tracking the other person's day-to-day activities including travel to/from work, waiting in specific areas for them, barrage of unwanted calls or messages.

  • An intentional act of a persistent pattern to maintain control over another person: such as threatening behaviour, controlling the other person’s daily activities, pushing boundaries which invades the other person’s privacy.

  • Technology-facilitated abuse is any form of controlling behaviour that includes the use of technology as a means to coerce, stalk or harass another person.

    • Delivering abusive texts, emails or messages via social media

    • Making continuous controlling or threatening phone calls

    • Making a person(s) prove where they are by sending photos of their location

    • Checking person(s) text messages, social media activity or internet activity

    • Forbidding someone from having a phone or limiting who they can contact via phone or internet

    • Spying on, monitoring or stalking someone through any type of surveillance device (such as a tracking system or spyware)

    • Sharing intimate photos of someone without their consent (sometimes called revenge porn.

  • Being continuously harassed or monitored can, like any other form of abuse, leave you feeling powerless and justifiably fearful for your safety.

    A person who uses technology to abuse you is probably also making it harder for you to leave the relationship, by limiting your ability to talk privately with friends or contact support services that could help you.

    This person may also use technology to harass, abuse, monitor or track your location after you leave the relationship. The time after leaving a family violence situation can be very dangerous.

    Information provided by safesteps.org.au

Credit: Safeguarding Partnership Board. Click here to download ‘Spot the Red Flags Toolkit’ PDF

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