The Forms of
Conjugal Violence
Conjugal violence can take many forms, sometimes very explicit and other times more subtle. Here is some information to help you recognize it.
Psychological Violence
Psychological violence mainly takes the form of repeated humiliating actions or words. The controlling man criticizes, demeans, denigrates or ignores his partner.
Psychological violence undermines the abused woman’s image, dignity and emotional stability.
Economic Violence
Economic violence is surely one of the least known forms of conjugal violence. However, it occurs frequently. In this type of violence, the man exerts financial control over his partner, monitoring her expenses, forbidding her to access the family’s financial information, depriving her of financial resources, controlling her professional life, preventing her from working or, at the other extreme, requiring that she provide for all the needs of the household.
Economic violence results in the abused woman’s loss of financial independence.
Any act performed without consent is violence, even in the context of an intimate relationship.
Sexual Violence
Sexual violence occurs when a man doesn’t respect his partner’s body. He may require that she have sexual relations with him or other people, may perform unwanted sexual acts on her or require that she perform sexual acts against her will, accuse her of having lovers, behave very jealously, force her to look at pornographic material, etc.
Sexual violence undermines the physical and psychological integrity of the abused woman.
Social Violence
Social violence occurs when a man denigrates his partner’s family or friends, criticizes her job or coworkers, makes fun of her hobbies, keeps her from going out, makes scenes in public or frightens the people in her circle.
This type of violence undermines the abused woman’s social life and leads to her isolation.
Spiritual or Religious Violence
Spiritual or religious violence is a form of psychological violence that consists of denigrating or making fun of a person’s beliefs. A controlling man may prevent his partner from practising her religion or visiting her place of worship, or accuse her of failing to observe religious practices. He may also use religion to manipulate her, or to justify his violence or dominance.
This type of violence can give rise to feelings of shame and/or doubt in the abuse woman, which often lead to her abandoning her religious practice.
Physical Violence
Physical violence can take many forms and can be expressed with different levels of intensity: shaking, pushing, punching, holding down, biting, threatening with a weapon, choking and confinement.
It can lead to serious injuries and become extremely dangerous for the health and physical integrity of the abused woman.
Verbal Violence
A person will use verbal violence to intimidate or humiliate their partner. It has many different forms and shades, including insults, criticism, threats, blackmail, shouting, orders and sarcasm.
Cyberviolence
Cyberviolence is another form of psychological violence. Perpetrated remotely through new forms of technology (email, text messages, social media, etc.), it is increasingly prevalent, especially in teen and young adult relationships.
Cyberviolence allows the partner to exert continuous control. It can be expressed in many ways: GPS location tracking, spying, harassment through non-stop calling or messaging, posting demeaning images or messages, fraud, identity theft, etc.
If you fear for your safety, don’t hesitate to call the police at 911
or SOS violence conjugale at 514-873-9010 or 1 800-363-9010.
These services are always available.