Authors: Jelena Otović, Anđelija Otović DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Authors: Jelena Otović, Anđelija Otović Student conference on Security and Safety in local communities, Podgorica, Montenegro, 9. 4. 2019 III. International student conference „Safety in local communities-legal and criminological perspectives“’, Podgorica, 9 April 2019

Domestic violence is defined in the law as certain criminal acts committed between persons of opposite sex who live together in the same household or who have lived together in the past; or persons who have a child in common or are expecting a child (regardless of whether they have resided in the same household); or persons related to one another in the following ways: spouse, child, grandparent, former spouse, brother, grandchild, parent, sister.

TYPES OF VIOLENCE Physical: pushing, grabbing, slapping, kicking, hitting with an object use of knife or gun, acid throwing, burning. Verbal: shouting, making threats, calling names, humiliating remarks (gestures). Sexual: forcing intercourse, making her to do sexual things against her will. Exercising control: Isolating her from her family/ friends checking on her, using the children, economic control.

STATISTICS -intimate partner violence alone affects more than 12 million people each year. - Nearly 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have experienced violence by an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime - According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), one in every three women in the world has experienced sexual, physical, emotional or other abuse in her lifetime -The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that in forty-eight surveys from around the world, 10-69% of women stated that they had been physically assaulted by an intimate partner at some point in their lives.

WHY IS VICTIMIZATION OF WOMEN SO COMMON Physically weak. Dependency status. Social tolerance of victimization. Little whom they associate with. Limited mobility

IDENTIFY THE ACTS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Physical Violence Beating Slapping Hitting Biting Kicking Punching Pushing, or Causing bodily injury or pain in any other manner

COERCIVE CONTROL Extreme psychological and emotional abuse An ongoing pattern of behaviour The victim feels isolated, intimidated, and in fear. Can include: Making unreasonable demands Monitoring their whereabouts using GPS, and constantly checking up on them Isolating them from friends and family Putting them down in front of others Forcing them to commit crime Threatening them, their family or pets Online and digital abuse

SOME FACTS It is estimated that about one third of children who are abused or exposed to violence as children become violent themselves in later life. Boys are at increased risk to abuse an intimate partner in adult relationships if they were abused or witnessed abuse between parental figures. The sons of the most violent parents had a rate of wife abuse 100 times higher than the sons of the nonviolent parents. Girls are at increased risk to be abused by an intimate male in adulthood, if they witnessed abuse between parental figures in childhood. Early physical abuse is a strong predictive factor of criminal behavior in adulthood. 40-75% of children exposed to marital are estimated to be victims of physical child abuse also.

LISTEN REMEMBER…. You don’t need to have all the answers. Just by listening you will be helping to break the silence around the situation. Ask them what they want to happen next, so that they feel in control of the situation. Emphasise that you are not in a position to give advice; only the experts can. Ending a relationship with an abusive person is a difficult and risky decision. They may take some time to work out how to do it safely. Don’t pressure them. - If they say there’s nothing wrong or they don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine too. - Just let them know you’re there for them if they ever do want to talk.

IT’ S HARD TO STOP BECAUSE IT’S HARD TO REPORT!!