All services are free and confidential.

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On any given night, 100 women and children sleep safely at our residential campus.

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All services are available in English and Spanish

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To access all Genesis services, call the 24-hour helpline.

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All services are free and confidential. • On any given night, 100 women and children sleep safely at our residential campus. • All services are available in English and Spanish • To access all Genesis services, call the 24-hour helpline. •

Types of Abuse 

Domestic abuse can take many forms.

Abuse isn’t always physical.

Abuse can be verbal, emotional, financial, digital, sexual or spiritual.

Domestic abuse is a pattern of violent or manipulative behavior one person uses to exert power and control over another.

Self-defense is NOT domestic abuse.

Verbal Abuse

A type of emotional abuse in which a person uses words, body language or behavior to cause emotional pain or distress to another person. With verbal abuse, the abuser uses words as a way to exert control and dominance over their partner.

    1. Gaslighting (a type of abuse that uses statements to create doubt).

    2. Name-calling.

    3. Making crude marks or put-downs.

    4. Yelling and screaming.

    5. Making threats or spreading rumors.

    1. One in five college women have been verbally abused by a dating partner.

    2. One in four dating teens is abused or harassed online or through texts by their partner.

    3. Survivors of digital abuse and harassment are two times as likely to be physically abused, 2.5 times as likely to be psychologically abused and 5 times as likely to be sexually coerced.

    1. Partner constantly criticizes or insults, humiliates and even ignores.

    2. Partner minimizes experiences.

    3. Partner doesn’t support or makes derogatory comments about the things they love.

    1. Acknowledge that the victim is in a very difficult and scary situation, and then be supportive and listen.

    2. Be non-judgmental.

    3. Regardless of if they end the relationship, continue to be supportive.

    4. Encourage them to participate in activities outside of the relationship with friends and family.

    5. Help them develop a safety plan.

    6. Encourage them to talk to people who can provide help and guidance.

 
 

Emotional Abuse

An attempt to control, in just the same way that physical abuse is an attempt to control another person. The only difference is that the emotional abuser does not use physical hitting, kicking, pinching, grabbing, pushing or other physical forms of harm.

    1. Using shaming and belittling language.

    2. Withholding affection.

    3. Refusing to communicate at all.

    4. Constantly criticizing.

    5. Displaying passive-aggressive behavior.

    1. More women experience emotional abuse than physical violence.

    2. 35% of women who are or have been married or in a common-law relationship have experienced emotional abuse.

    3. The lack of accessible, affordable housing, inadequate income support, legal aid and day care can prevent a woman from having the resources to live free from abuse. As a result of these and other barriers, an emotionally abused woman usually leaves her partner an average of five times before ending her relationship.

    1. Loss of confidence.

    2. Crying often.

    3. Canceling plans with friends and family often or always bringing partner along.

    4. Being secretive about relationship.

    5. Seeming disengaged with old habits.

    1. Gather information about emotional abuse and the resources available.

    2. Recognize that emotional abuse has as much, if not more, of an impact on a victim’s overall health and well-being as physical violence.

    3. Assure the victim that you believe them and that you take emotional abuse seriously.

    4. Do not blame them or make excuses for their partner.

    5. Support them to be safe and ask them how you can help.

    6. Respect their decisions and support them if they stay. A victim may not want to leave their partner, even if you think that’s what’s best for them.

 

Financial Abuse

Making or attempting to make a person financially dependent, e.g., maintaining total control over financial resources and withholding access to money are some forms of financial abuse (also called economic abuse).

    1. Sabotaging employment opportunities.

    2. Forbidding partner from working.

    3. Controlling how money is spent.

    4. Denying direct access to bank accounts.

    1. 99% of domestic violence cases include financial abuse. Partners are prevented from acquiring, using and/or maintaining financial resources. Without financial resources, it is impossible for survivors to “just walk away” from their abuser.

    2. Nearly eight in 10 Americans (78%) say they haven’t heard much about financial abuse as it relates to domestic violence. Additionally, Americans believe that financial abuse is the least likely (3%) form of abuse to be recognized by an outsider.

    3. 65% of survey respondents don’t believe that their family or friends would know if they were in a financially abusive relationship. 70% say they wouldn’t know how to help them.

    4. Only 39% of women have taken steps in their own relationship to protect themselves from financial abuse.

    1. Being on a “budget” (can’t spend money without partner’s permission).

    2. Not being allowed to work (partner wants them at home).

    3. Always paying in cash (potentially a sign that they’re trying to avoid partner tracking their finances).

    4. Seems to be in the dark (signs papers, agreements and tax returns without knowing what they are).

    5. Chronic headaches, fatigue or stomach pain; pelvic pain; or vaginal or urinary tract infections.

    6. Signs of depression.

    7. Abuse of alcohol and/or drugs.

    1. Help the victim make an exit plan.

    2. Suggest that they document the situation.

    3. Help them create an emergency fund.

    4. Suggest that they establish credit in their own name.

    Are you starting over after leaving an abusive relationship? Learn more about how to rebuild your finances here.

 

Spiritual Abuse

The mistreatment of a person who is in need of help, support or greater spiritual empowerment, with the result of weakening, undermining or decreasing that person's spiritual empowerment.

    1. Using religious texts or beliefs to minimize or rationalize abusive behaviors.

    2. Ridiculing or insulting another person’s religious or spiritual beliefs.

    3. Preventing a partner from practicing their religious or spiritual beliefs.

    4. Using a partner’s religious or spiritual beliefs to manipulate or shame them.

    5. Forcing children to be raised in a faith that the partner has not agreed to.

    6. Having polygamous relationships.

  • According to national statistics, one in every four women will experience some tactic of spiritual, emotional, physical, psychological or sexual abuse from a male intimate partner in her lifetime.

    1. Distortion in standards of honor, respect and authority.

    2. Being driven into submission through fear and shame.

    3. Maximizing partner’s sins and weaknesses while minimizing own sins and weaknesses.

    4. Being in an internal bubble/isolated from family, friends.

    5. Chronic headaches, fatigue or stomach pain; pelvic pain; or vaginal or urinary tract infections.

    6. Signs of depression.

    7. Abuse of alcohol and/or drugs.

    1. Make the safety of the victim and children a top priority.

    2. Hold the abuser accountable.

    3. Listen to and believe the victim’s story.

    4. Accompany them to court hearings.

    5. Help establish a safety plan.

    6. Seek education and training.

Physical Abuse

Non-accidental use of force that results in bodily injury, pain or impairment. This includes, but is not limited to, being slapped, burned, cut, bruised or improperly physically restrained.

    1. Punching, hitting, kicking.

    2. Driving recklessly.

    3. Using weapons.

    4. Attempting to kill.

    5. Abusing children.

    1. Two out of five Hispanic women in Texas report experiencing severe abuse.

    2. 38% of Texas women experience family violence in their lifetime.

    3. More than 100 Texas women are killed each year due to intimate partner violence.

    4. A woman is assaulted every nine seconds.

    5. Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crimes.

    6. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury for women ages 15 to 44.

    7. 21 LGBT people were killed by their partners in 2013.

    8. 9.4% of high school students report physical abuse by their significant others.

    9. Intimate partner violence alone affects over 12 million people each year.

    10. Nearly one in four women experience severe physical violence from an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime.

    1. Physical symptoms such as bruises, burns, bite marks.

    2. Fear of disagreeing with partner.

    3. Chronic headaches, fatigue or stomach pain; pelvic pain; or vaginal or urinary tract infections.

    4. Signs of depression.

    5. Abuse of alcohol and/or drugs.

    1. Acknowledge that the victim is in a very difficult and scary situation, and then be supportive and listen.

    2. Be non-judgmental.

    3. Regardless of if they end the relationship, continue to be supportive.

    4. Encourage them to participate in activities outside of the relationship with friends and family. Help them develop a safety plan.

    5. Encourage them to talk to people who can provide help and guidance.

 

Sources & More Information

If you or someone you know might be experiencing domestic violence, call or text our 24-hour helpline at 214.946.HELP (4357)