Domestic Violence

Developed by Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence



Definition

Domestic violence (battering) is a pattern of abusive and coercive behavior used to gain power and control over an intimate partner, former partner or family member. Domestic violence perpetrators (batterers) use a variety of legal and illegal tactics to establish a system of dominance known as power and control.

Domestic violence affects all communities, socio-economic levels and sexual orientations. The Department of Justice, Office of Violence Against Women, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and many academic leaders have identified domestic violence as a major criminal justice, health care and social issue.

According to the National Institute for Justice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, women are at significantly greater risk of domestic violence than men.

Types of Violence Associated with Domestic Violence

Signs of Domestic Violence

Batterers use a combination of the following tactics to gain and maintain power and control over the victim. Batterers often choose the circumstances of their violence, including the amount of injury inflicted by their acts. Batterers bear sole responsibility for their actions.

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 or not testify; making her do illegal things

Using intimidation:
Making her afraid by using looks, actions, gestures; destroying her property; abusing pets; displaying weapons

Using emotional abuse:
Putting her down; calling her names; making her think sheÕs crazy; playing mind games; humiliating her; making her feel bad about herself; making her feel guilty

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

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

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

Minimizing, denying, blaming:
Making light of the abuse and not taking her concerns about it seriously; saying the abuse didnÕt happen; shifting responsibility for abusive behavior; saying she caused the abuse

Considerations for Safety Planning

Staying:


Leaving:



RESOURCES

For support, call one of the following:

Kansas Crisis Hotline
1-888-END-ABUSE
(1-888-363-2287)

National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE
(1-800-799-7233)


KANSAS SEXUAL and DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HELPLINE NUMBERS

This table lists the Kansas sexual and domestic violence programs alphabetically by city, services provided, program names and their HOTLINE phone numbers.

CITY SERVICES KCSDV MEMBER PROGRAM CRISIS HOTLINE NUMBER
1. Atchison DV/SA DoVES 800-367-7075 or 913-367-0363
2. Dodge City DV/SA Crisis Center of Dodge City 620-225-6510
3. El Dorado DV/SA Family Life Center of Butler County 316-321-7104 or 800-8870-6967
4. Emporia DV/SA SOS, Inc. 800-825-1295 or 620-342-1870
5. Garden City DV/SA Family Crisis Services 620-275-5911
6. Great Bend DV/SA Family Crisis Center 620-792-1885 or 866-792-1885
7. Hays DV/SA Northwest Kansas Domestic and Sexual Violence Services 800-794-4624 or 785-625-3055
8. Hutchinson DV/SA Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Center
800-701-3630 or 620-663-2522
9. Iola DV/SA Hope Unlimited 620-365-7566
10. Kansas City, KS DV El Centro, Inc. ¡Si Se Puede! 913-677-0177
11. Kansas City, KS DV Friends of Yates Joyce Williams Center 913-321-0951
12. Kansas City, MO DV/SA KCAVP 816-561-0550
13. Kansas City, MO SA MOCSA 816-531-0233
14. Lawrence SA GaDuGi Safe Center 785-841-2345
15. Lawrence DV Women's Transitional Care Services 800-770-3030 or 785-843-3333
16. Leavenworth DV/SA Alliance Against Family Violence 800-644-1441 or 913-682-9131
17. Liberal DV/SA Liberal Area Rape Crisis and DV Services 620-624-8818
18. Manhattan DV/SA The Crisis Center, Inc. 800-727-2785 or 785-539-2785
19. Mayetta DV/SA Prairie Band Potawatomi Family Violence Prevention Program 866-966-0173 or 785-966-0173
20. Newton DV/SA Harvey County DV/SA Task Force 800-487-0510 or 316-283-0350
21. Overland Park DV/SA Safehome 888-432-4300 or 913-262-2868
22. Pittsburg DV/SA Crisis Resource Center of Southeast Kansas, Inc. 800-794-9148 or 620-231-8251
23. Salina DV/SA Domestic Violence Assoc. of Central Kansas 800-874-1499 or 785-827-5862
24. Topeka DV/SA YWCA Battered Women Task Force 888-822-2983 or 785-354-7927
25. Ulysses DV/SA DoVES of Grant County 888-229-8812 or 620-356-2608
26. Wichita DV Catholic Charities Harbor House 866-899-5522 or 316-263-6000
27. Wichita DV StepStone 316-265-1611
28. Wichita SA Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center 316-263-3002 o español: 316-263-2044
29. Wichita DV YWCA Women's Crisis Center 316-267-7233
30. Winfield DV/SA Safe Homes, Inc. 800-794-7672 or 620-221-4357


This project was supported by Grant N0. 2005-WR-AX-0015 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

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