Does your partner…

• Embarrass you with put-downs?
• Look at you or act in ways that scare you?
• Control what you do, who you see or talk to, or where you go?
• Stop you from seeing your friends or family members?
• Take your money or Social Security check, make you ask for money or refuse to give you money?
• Make all the decisions?
• Tell you that you’re a bad parent or threaten to take away or hurt your children?
• Prevent you from working or attending school
• Act like the abuse is no big deal, blames you for the abuse, or denies abusing you?
• Destroy your property or threaten to kill your pets?
• Intimidate you with guns, knives, or other weapons?
• Shove you, slap you, choke you, or hit you?
• Force you to try and drop charges?
• Threaten to commit suicide or threaten to kill you?

• 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and 1 in 4 men (28.5%) have experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime, affecting more than 12 million people each year.
• Each year around 8 million paid work days (equating to 32,000 full-time jobs) are lost due to domestic violence related issues.

In Our Christian Families:

• Researchers in the field of family violence have consistently argued that abuse crosses all religious boundaries and that the rates inside and outside the walls of the church are similar.
• 54% of religious victims and 38% of non-religious victims sought help from a religious professional in the aftermath of violence in the home.

Against Our Children:

• 30 – 60% of men who batter women also batter their children, making the presence of spouse abuse the single most identifiable risk factor for predicting child abuse. (National Domestic Violence Hotline)
• Studies have shown that children who witness violence in the home are 15 times more likely to experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime.

To learn specific actions that constitute abuse, please refer to the Power And Control wheel below.