Relationship Violence
For Information on the Wyoming State Statutes Regarding Domestic Violence click here.
Progression of Abuse
There is a certain progression of abuse that most batterers will follow:
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Pre-battering Violence – This includes emotional and verbal abuse, hitting or breaking objects, and threats of violence.
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Beginning Levels – Pushing or shoving, restraining, blocking doorways or exits.
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Moderate Levels – Slapping, punching, hitting, kicking, and pulling out hair. If the punching or kicking causes severe damage (breaking bones or drawing blood), it has risen to the next level of violence.
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Severe Levels – Strangling, beating with objects (includes any tools such as a belt, stick, or cord), using or threatening to use weapons, and rape.
What Should You Do If You Are in an Abusive Relationship?
What is Domestic Violence?
Domestic Violence is an umbrella term for family and relationship violence. There are different categories of domestic violence including but not limited to violence in intimate partner relationships, families, and within households.
What is Relationship Violence?
A purposeful conduct perpetrated against an intimate partner in a current or former dating, married, familial or cohabitative relationship. It is a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors. These include physical, sexual, and psychological attacks, as well as economic control. While physical abuse is often a major component of relationship violence, abusers are also very likely to use non-assaultive types of abuse, such as emotional abuse, verbal abuse, threats and intimidation. Relationship violence, above all else, is about one person gaining and maintaing power and control over another
Psychological/Emotional Abuse
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Emotionally and physically neglecting
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Threatening, intimidating and/or harassing
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Ridiculing, insulting, humiliating, embarrassing
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Ignoring and/or withholding affection and approval
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Abusing pets to hurt/scare partner
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Keeping partner isolated from other friends and/or family members
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Controlling the finances of partner
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Becoming jealous for no reason
Physical Abuse
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Pushing, shoving
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Locking in/out of the house or car
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Biting, kicking
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Abandoning in dangerous places
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Subjecting to reckless driving
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Hitting, punching, slapping
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Use of or threatening use of a weapon
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Strangling or "choking"
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Grabbing and/or pulling hair
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Refusing help to a sick/injured household member
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Throwing objects
Sexual Abuse
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Forcing unwanted sexual acts including rape
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Insisting on unwanted or uncomfortable touching
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Treating others as sex objects
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Making demeaning, sexually-suggestive remarks about others
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Physically attacking sexual parts of the body
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Controlling or sabotoging contraception
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Not taking "no" for an answer
Relationship violence is NOT: A misconception, a disagreement, a marital spat, a lovers’ quarrel, or an anger management problem.
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