Domestic abuse might not leave physical scars

Thinking about being accused of domestic violence might bring up images of what the mass media portrays — physical abuse. This isn’t the only type of abuse that a person can commit. Instead, it is possible for domestic abuse to be emotional, spiritual, sexual or economic.

The thing that makes all of these fall under the domestic abuse umbrella is that the behavior is unwanted and done in order to intimidate the victim. The intimidation is usually done to control the person. When these are present, there might be a case for domestic abuse.

It is interesting to note that most criminal charges stemming from domestic violence are going to be associated with physical abuse. This is partially because physical abuse is so easy to prove. There will usually be marks and bruises and other injuries from the abuse.

When you are facing domestic violence charges, you need to think about the evidence in the case. This is a big component of the case. In domestic violence pertaining to physical abuse, photos, videos and medical records might come into the picture. In other forms of abuse, there might be similar evidence, but it could also come down to a situation where the victim’s word and your word are the primary forms of evidence.

Because domestic abuse is considered a violent crime, these charges must be taken very seriously. You can’t think that they will go away. In fact, even if the victim wants to drop charges, this might not be possible because the decision about whether to do this or not lies with the prosecutor, not the victim.

Source: The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, “Domestic Violence and Abuse: Types, Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Effects,” Tina de Benedictis, Ph.D., Jaelline Jaffe, Ph.D., and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D., accessed Dec. 14, 2017