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HOTLINE : 1-800-470-1117 (Dickson, Humphreys, Perry Counties)           729-5730 (Hickman County)            National Hotline Number: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)


 

Is It Abuse?

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National Hotline Number:
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
Toll free from any U.S. state,
as well as District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands

  • Pre-battering violence: verbal abuse, hitting objects, throwing objects, breaking objects, and making threats. When abusers hit or break objects or make threats, almost 100% resort to battering.

  • Beginning levels of violence: pushing, grabbing, restraining.

  • Moderate levels of violence : slapping, pinching, kicking, pulling out clumps of hair.

  • Severe levels of violence : choking, beating with objects (sticks, ball bats, bed slats, etc...), use of weapons, and rape. One in three women in a battering relationship are raped. There are two kinds of rape in domestic violence--one, with weapons; and two, she submits out of fear that if she were to say "No" he would get angry and beat her.

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Outward Symptoms of Abuse

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Symptoms of Abuse - Misuse of Power and Control
From the Metro Nashville Police Department Domestic Violence Division

Using Emotional Abuse
*Putting her down
*Making her feel bad about herself
*Calling her names
*Making her think she's crazy
*Playing mind games
*Humiliating her
*Making her feel guilty

 Using Male Privilege
*Treating her like a servant
*Making all the big decisions
*Acting like the "Master of the castle"
*Being the one to define men's and women's roles
Using Economic Abuse
*Preventing her from getting or keeping a job
*Making her ask for money
*Giving her an allowance
*Taking her money
*Not letting her know about or have access to family income		 Using Coercion and Threats
*Making or carrying out threats to do
something to hurt her
*Threatening to leave her, to commit suicide, to report her to welfare
*Making her drop charges
*Making her do illegal things
Using Intimidation
*Making her afraid by using looks, gestures, or actions
*Smashing things
*Abusing Pets
*Displaying Weapons		 Using Children
*Making her feel guilty about the children
*Using the children to relay messages
*Using visitation to harass her
*Threatening to take the children away
Using Isolation
*Controlling what she does, who she sees and talks to, what she reads, & where she goes
*Limiting her outside involvement
*Using jealousy to justify actions		 Minimizing, Denying,
Blaming
*Making light of the abuse and not taking her concerns about it seriously
*Saying the abuse didn't happen
*Shifting responsibility for abusive behavior
*Saying she caused it

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The information on this website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.