1 Domestic violence information

• A conservative estimate of the economic consequences of domestic
violence found that it costs at least £900m per annum in London 6
• Domestic violence accounts for 16% of homelessness acceptances 7
• A study conducted into service provision for perpetrators of
domestic violence found that male perpetrators were significantly
more likely than female perpetrators to possess or use weapons.
Police intelligence also showed that one in five (21%) of the
perpetrators in the study were suspected of use of or dealing drugs 8
• Research conducted with male respondents to the Scottish Crime
Survey (2000) found that men were less likely to have been seriously
injured, less likely to have been repeat victims of domestic assault,
and less likely to report feeling fearful in their homes. When retraced,
the majority of the male victims of domestic violence were also
perpetrators of violence (13 of 22). A significant proportion of the
men re-interviewed (13 of 46) later said they had actually never
experienced any form of domestic abuse 9
• A study of 200 women’s experiences of domestic violence found
that 60% of the women had left because they feared that they or
their children would be killed by the perpetrator 10
• Among women surveyed in the British Crime Survey (2003),
domestic violence is highest among those who are separated 11
• Women are at greatest risk of being killed when separating from
a violent partner. 12
A review of domestic violence murders in
London found that 76% occurred after the victim had ended
the relationship 13
1.3 Domestic violence ‘Power and Control Wheel’
Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, Duluth, Minnesota
The Power and Control Wheel was developed by women survivors
of domestic violence in Duluth who had been abused by their male
partners and were attending women’s education groups sponsored
by the women’s refuge. This wheel illustrates some of the different
abusive behaviours used by men toward women and may assist
you in understanding the dynamics of domestic violence.
PHYSICAL VIOLENCE SEXUAL
USING COERCION
AND THREATS
• Making and/or carrying out
threats to do something to hurt her
• Threatening to leave her,
to commit suicide,
to report her to welfare
• Making her
drop charges
USING ECONOMIC ABUSE
• Preventing her from getting or
keeping a job
• Making her ask for money
• Giving her an allowance
• Taking her money
• Not letting her know about or have
access to family income
USING MALE PRIVILEGE
• Treating her like a servant
• Making all the big decisions
• Acting like the ‘master of the castle’
• Being the one to define men’s
and women’s roles
• Making her do
illegal things
USING CHILDREN
• Making her feel guilty
about the children
• Using the children
to relay messages
• Using visitation to harass her
• Threatening to take
the children away
POWER
AND
CONTROL
USING INTIMIDATION
• Making her afraid by
using looks, actions, gestures
• Smashing things
• Destroying her property
• Abusing pets
• Displaying weapons
USING
EMOTIONAL ABUSE
• Putting her down
• Making her feel bad about herself
• Calling her names
• Making her think she’s crazy
• Playing mind games
• Humiliating her
• Making her feel guilty
MINIMIZING, DENYING
AND BLAMING
• Making light of the abuse
and not taking her concerns
about it seriously
• Saying the abuse didn’t happen
• Shifting responsibility
for abusive behaviour
• Saying she caused it
USING ISOLATION
• Controlling what she does,
who she sees and talks to,
what she reads, where she goes
• Limiting her outside involvement
• Using jealousy to justify actions
PHYSICAL VIOLENCE SEXUAL
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© Stella Project Section 3 - Domestic Violence
Copyright Domestic Abuse Intervention Project
202 East Superior Street, Duluth, Minnesota 55802
218-722-2781
www.duluth-model.org
© Stella Project Section 3 - Domestic Violence 105