A marital separation and divorce can be a volatile time. If you've seen any data from stress questionnaires, you'll notice that it ranks up there under death of a spouse. That stress sometimes causes people to act impulsively, without thought to consequences, and with retribution in mind.

For all of these reasons, this article is devoted to ensuring your personal safety, and the protection of your children and your property. It will also deal with preserving your sanity if there is emotional abuse, stalking, and harassment. We are not trying to alarm you with instructions to secure your house with boards on the windows or to take precautions you might term extreme. However, in cases where there has been domestic violence, a woman is most vulnerable to attack (emotional or physical) when she tries to break away and establish a new life.

Even if you feel you have not experienced abuse, still read this info. You'll become familiar with patterns of abusive behavior and know exactly how to protect yourself if you feel sufficiently threatened. Besides, now that you are living alone, there are safety measures that any woman can benefit from learning.

What Is Domestic Violence? So often we view domestic violence solely as physical assault. For many years in a marriage, things might not seem right. Of course many women never ended up in an emergency room, but they felt threatened, terrorized by certain actions, and abused by words and behaviors. It may not be until you seek individual therapy and counseling at a women's shelter that you come to terms with the fact that you may be a victim.

Domestic abuse knows no boundaries. It occurs without regard to race, religion, income, profession, neighborhood, or social status. Second, domestic violence encompasses the following:

1. Physical abuse is hitting, pushing, shoving, kicking, slapping, burning, and choking. It involves objects or weapons intended to cause injury, and it includes physical force that might prevent you from leaving home or fleeing an attack.

2. Mental abuse includes telling you what you can and can't do, calling you names, using foul language and words that hurt, threatening you, or belittling you in verbal assaults. This type of abuse also includes withholding postures, the persistent use of passive aggression, and manipulation.

3. Sexual abuse is identified as rape, forcing you to perform particular sexual activities against your will, or touching you in a manner you deem inappropriate or unpleasant.

4. Property and economic abuse entails stealing or destroying personal belongings, even if those belongings were marital property. Examples include kicking doors, breaking windows, and smashing your favorite antique vase. It includes hurting pets, withholding money, or refusing to meet needs for shelter, food, and clothing.


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