Why Partner Abuse
At Soft Landing Society, we’re using the term Partner Abuse instead of Domestic Violence or Intimate Partner Violence because we want to use the most inclusive language possible.
There are five different types of abuse Emotional, Physical, Financial, Sexual & Technological. We need to use a term that encompasses all types of abuse. Due to the lack of general information around types of abuse that are not physical many women are unaware that what they are experiencing is a form of abuse. Sometimes it takes years for women living in abuse to understand that they have been controlled by their partner.
To create a clearer understanding of the breadth of abuse, we need to use different language. Domestic Violence has been tied to physical abuse to the exclusion of the other types of abuse. This means that women may not use Domestic Violence resources if they are experiencing a different type of abuse. This term also indicates that people need to live together for one of them to experience partner abuse, which is not the case.
The term Intimate Partner Violence indicates that a sexual relationship needs to be established for abuse to take place. Abuse is about mind control and can begin far before sexual intimacy begins.
Partner Abuse is meant to be inclusive of all types of relationships between any two people. Control & violence can be found in all forms of romantic-type relationships
It’s confusing for people to think that a person must be physically harmed for their abuse to ‘count’ as abuse. Too many people we’ve met have not included themselves in an abusive relationship because no one had hit them. Our goal is to change this understanding so that anyone who is being abused/punished/coerced by their romantic partner will find the information they need so that they can leave that situation.
Partner Abuse – To be emotionally, physically and/or financially controlled by someone a person is romantic with.