Domestic Violence

Share this:

Definition

Domestic violence is a systematic pattern of behaviors that include physical battering, coercive control, economic abuse, emotional abuse, and/or sexual violence.  It is intended to gain or maintain power and control over a romantic or intimate partner to intimidate, frighten, terrorize, humiliate, blame, or injure.  It can happen to anyone of any age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, religion, education level, or socioeconomic background; regardless of whether couples are married, living together, dating, or hooking-up.

Ethnic-Specific Factsheets on Domestic Violence

Ethnic-specific compilations of statistics on domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and help-seeking in Asian communities in the U.S.

Quick Facts

Couple conflict is distinct from domestic violence – all relationships experience conflicts, disagreements, fights, angry arguments, harsh words, unwilling compromises, resentments, selfish decisions, pain and anguish.  In healthy relationships, couples use a variety of behaviors and strategies to cope with or resolve their conflicts without resorting to domestic violence.

Analysis

Domestic violence is gendered: In the U.S., 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime and reported an IPV-related impact. Among female survivors, 73% reported at least one impact, compared to 36% of male survivors (CDC: NISVS 2010-2012 State Report).

 

Domestic violence is more than a series of violent incidents on an identifiable cycle. It is about living in a climate of fear and disempowering restrictions that threaten and affect one’s selfhood, psychological well-being, health, economic independence, and emotional availability for parenting.

Stress and marginalized identities are not the cause or explanation for domestic violence. Women have the same life experiences and stresses: they come from violent homes, they have childhood histories of abuse, neglect or abandonment, they get cut off on the freeway, they get high or drunk, they get fired from their jobs, they juggle economic hardships, etc.  Women are socialized in cultures with legacies of colonialism, live in war zones, endure racism, deal with new cultures as immigrants and face societal and linguistic barriers. And yet, women by and large do not resort to physical abuse. Non-abusive men are also subject to the same stressors. Women and non-abusive men do of course have personal and inter-personal difficulties, psychological problems, feel depressed, lack parenting insights, have inadequate job skills, are constrained by poverty, but cope without resorting to violence.  Finally, men who do not have any of these difficulties or deficits, batter.  It is important therefore, to de-link external factors as the root causes of domestic violence.

Two Significant, Differing Dynamics In Asian Homes

Domestic violence is a universal problem, but its cultural expressions differ. Drawing attention to such differences can serve to confirm stereotypes because nuanced complexities are hard to convey; but advocacy that is not rooted in cultural contexts is even more problematic.

Multiple Batterers, Single Victim

  • Perpetrators can include marital family members: husbands, mothers-in-law, fathers-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, ex-wives, new wives; and/or members of a woman’s natal family – her parents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings.
  • Multiple batterers may act separately, each using different types of abuse.
  • Multiple batterers can act together, playing different roles in one incident.
  • In-laws may encourage or support domestic violence, but not perpetrate it themselves.
  • Multiple abusers may use coercive control tactics; exercise micro-controls on daily movements – monitoring, tracking, and reporting on them; exert power and control from afar through texting, webcams, other technologies.

Push & Pull Factors

  • Pull factors are behaviors and statements that ‘pull’ or lure her back into the relationship by offering apologies, reassurances and promises to change.
  • Push factors are meant to ‘push’ her out of the relationship, rather than draw her back in.
  • Asian women report feeling pushed out of the relationship or marital home (with statements such as “leave the house, give me a divorce, I can always find another wife”) more frequently than they are pulled or enticed back into it.
  • Push and pull factors affect how survivors make decisions, especially about leaving.

Resources on Domestic Violence

Defending Criminalized Survivors Workshop

Defending Criminalized Survivors Workshop

What happens when the laws that are supposed to protect survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault become turned against them? Survivors can be criminalized for reacting in self-defense, participating in criminal activity under their abusers’ coercion, or for failing to protect their children from witnessing or being impacted by violence in the home. Survivors of color, who struggle with mental health or substance dependency, or who otherwise don’t fold the “perfect victim” mold are disproportionately incarcerated. In this workshop, API-GBV will be joined by Hyejin Shim and Neda Said of Survived & Punished, who will guide participants through a discussion of the criminalization of survivors, and how advocates can support criminalized survivors.

Making Our Home and Community Safe: Responding to Afghan Evacuees

Making Our Home and Community Safe: Responding to Afghan Evacuees

Following the sudden withdrawal of U.S. military presence from Afghanistan nearly 100,000 Afghan refugees were evacuated to the United States, with many still remaining on U.S. military bases and resettlement to happen by the end of January 2022. Many evacuees now face uncertainty related to their immigration status, concern about families back in Afghanistan, and the challenge of acclimating to life in the U.S.

Relationship Violence in Five Los Angeles Asian American Communities: Intergenerational Risk and Strengthening Factors

Relationship Violence in Five Los Angeles Asian American Communities: Intergenerational Risk and Strengthening Factors

This study explores risk and protective factors in five Asian American communities: Cambodian, Chinese, Korean, North Indian Hindu, and Pakistani Muslim. These factors include cultural traditions, norms, attitudes and beliefs, particularly around gender roles, intergenerational family dynamics, intimate relationships, and approaches to child-rearing. This study involved 23 semi-structured focus groups (163 total participants) to gather the perspectives of youth/young adults, parents, community leaders, and service providers in six different languages across the five communities.

How COVID-19 and Systemic Responses Are Impacting Asian and Pacific Islander Survivors of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

This advisory explains how the COVID-19 outbreak is impacting Asian and Pacific Islander (API) survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and describes policies enacted to address the pandemic including the CARES Act, and API and immigrant survivors’ eligibility for the programs and services offered in the legislation, as well as the implications of utilizing the services. The Advisory also discusses the effect of systematic responses to the COVID-19 crisis and the unique issues that API survivors face that systems must account for to support survivor safety during the pandemic.

Domestic Violence Hotlines

National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or online chat

Love Is Respect
1-866-331-8453 | Text ‘loveis’ to 22522
or online chat

StrongHearts Native Helpline
1-844-762-8483