by Shawn Nelson, MSA.
(c) 2004. All Rights Reserved.

All my life I've heard or witnessed domestic violence acts of men abusing women and women abusing men. Whether it was walking down the street seeing a man aggressively grab his lady, hearing a scream come from a building I was passing or hearing the crys behind closed doors.

The sad part is there are so many women (and men) accepting this as “normal” behavior. It's difficult to admit to oneself that you are in a Domestic Violence relationshp and are being abused. You think, “How could this happen to me?”

Below are simple indications that you are being abused physically, emotionally or sexually which is an excerpt from New York City, Human Resource Administration Pamphlet.

Sometime the most innocent things they allow to happen are the signs you need to be aware of! After today, you will have the information needed to identify abuse!

Domestic Violence refers to violence ocurring between partners in an ongoing relationship. It is violence and/or the types of abuse committed by on intimate partner against another, or by an ex-intimate partner against another, including partners of the same or opposite sex.

You are being physically abused if someone:

• Pushes or shoves you
• Slaps or hits you
• Pulls your hair
• Kicks or punches you
• Restrains you with force
• Chokes you
• Throws objects at you
• Abandons you in a dangerous place

You are being emotionally abused if someone:

• Ignores your feelings
• Witholds approval, appreciation or affection as punishment
• Continueally criticizes you, calls you names, shouts at you
• Makes all decisions for you
• Wants to conrol all your actions
• Humiliates you in public or private
• Ridicules your most valued beliefs, your religion, race or heritage
• Manipulates you with lies and contradictions
• Subjects you to reckless driving

You are sexually abused if someone:

• Makes demeaning remarks about your gender
• Calls you names
• Forces you to take off your clothing
• Touches you in ways that make you feel uncomfortable
• Forces you to have sex against your will
• Treats you and members of your gender as objects
• Insists you dress in a more sexual way than you want to dress, or insist you dress less sexually
• Minimizes the importance of your feelings about sex
• Accuses you of sexual activity with others

While there is much more you should get the idea. There are so many resources out there to assist you if you're suffering from abuse and Domestic Violence. Do yourself a favor and avail yourself to the resources on the Internet by typing “Domestic Violence” in the search engines. To get statistics on abuse and domestic violence visit: http://endabuse.org/resources/facts/

Also, check out the Battered Woman's & Man's Guide of Signs To Look For In A Battering Personality visit: http://www.mrgoodman.com/articles/batteringpersonality.html

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Shawn Nelson, MSA is a Motivational Speaker and Life Counselor who creates guides, e-Courses and run several web sites that help people achieve their relationship, personal, life and professional goals. To learn more visit www.mrgoodman.com

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"Invest in yourself for it's the only thing you can control"--Shawn Nelson, MSA