Defining Domestic Violence
Defining Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence: A Simple Guide
What is Domestic Violence? Domestic violence is harmful behaviour in a home. It includes physical harm, threats, or controlling actions by a partner, family member, or caregiver that make someone feel scared or unsafe.
Understanding Coercive Control Coercive control is when someone uses tactics to dominate and control another person. This includes:
Isolation from friends and family.
Controlling finances or access to resources.
Monitoring movements and communications.
Making threats or humiliating the person.
Domestic violence is a complex and deeply harmful pattern of behavior that can take many forms. Here's a comprehensive breakdown of how it's defined across various contexts in Australia:
🧠 Core Definition
Domestic violence refers to any behavior used to control, dominate, coerce, or instill fear in another person within an intimate or family relationship. It’s not limited to physical harm—it includes emotional, psychological, financial, and other forms of abuse.
🏠 Types of Relationships Involved
Domestic violence can occur in:
Intimate relationships: married, de facto, dating, or separated partners
Family relationships: parents, children, siblings, extended family, in-laws
Care relationships: informal caregiving situations (excluding paid carers)
🔍 Forms of Abuse
Domestic violence can manifest in many ways:
Physical: Hitting, choking, damaging property, hurting pets
Emotional/Psychological: Manipulation, threats, verbal insults, gaslighting
Sexual: Non-consensual acts, coercion, sexual degradation
Financial: Controlling money, denying access to finances
Social: Isolation from friends/family, relocation to isolate
Verbal: Humiliation, insults, degrading comments
Spiritual: Misusing religious beliefs to justify abuse
Technological: Stalking, harassment via social media or devices
Systems Abuse: Misusing legal or bureaucratic systems to control
Reproductive Abuse: Coercion around pregnancy or contraception
Exposure of Children: Children witnessing or being affected by abuse
🌀 Coercive Control
A key concept in modern definitions is coercive control—a pattern of behavior that strips away autonomy and instills fear over time. It’s often subtle and cumulative, making it harder to recognize but just as damaging. In NSW, Coercive Control laws changed on July 1st 2024, however perpetrators cannot be convicted on past behavious.
📊 Legal and Policy Frameworks
In NSW, the government defines domestic and family violence as behaviour that causes someone to live in fear, including threats, intimidation, and isolation. The Queensland Courts emphasize that it’s about domination and control, not just physical harm.