It can include a range of behaviour:
Physical violence - slapping, burning, beating, kicking, biting, knife wounds often leading to permanent injuries and
sometimes death.
Sexual abuse - rape, forced sexual acts, sexual degradation.
Emotional abuse - intimidation, bullying, constant criticism, keeping someone locked up and isolated from family and friends.
Threats - to harm your family, to take your children away, to kill you.
Women's Aid defines domestic abuse as "a pattern of abusive and controlling behaviour in close or intimate relationships. It includes physical, emotional, sexual and mental abuse"
Any woman can experience domestic abuse regardless of race, ethnic or religious group, disability or lifestyle.
