Are You Experiencing Domestic Violence? Know Your Rights and Let the Family Court Help You

The United States Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women defined domestic violence as a pattern of abusive behavior in any type of relationship by one partner.

Know the Forms of Domestic Violence

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It is advisable that you know the different types of domestic violence, so as to protect yourself. The following are the most common forms of this type of violence:

• Physical Abuse. This includes slapping, hitting, biting, shoving, battering, cutting, pulling hair, punching, and pinching, among others.
• Emotional Abuse. This involves devaluing the victims’ self-worth and self-esteem. It includes making criticism, name-calling, destroying the victim’s relationship with his/her children or making negative comments on the victim’s abilities.
• Sexual Abuse. The abuser has contact without the consent of the victim. It also includes marital rape, demeaning the victim sexually, telling sexual jokes at the victims and physical violence followed by a forced physical contact.
• Psychological Abuse. The abuser is guilty of this abuse when he threatens to physically hurt herself/himself, children, the victim and his/her family or friends or the pets. It also involves a destruction of property, prohibiting the victim from going to work, and isolating the victim.
• Economic Abuse. This happens when the abuser makes the victim financially reliant and takes control over their financial resources. He/She also withholds the victim’s access to funds and does not allow the victim to go to school or work.
• Stalking. This involves spying on the victim, harassing, making phone calls, appearing at a victim’s home or workplace. Although these may seem legal, if done continuously may lead to stalking crime.
• Cyberstalking. This refers to making an online action or emailing the victim resulting in emotional distress.

Victims of Domestic Violence

Often, the victims of domestic violence are one of the spouses, probably a wife or a husband. Usually, it is the wife, yet domestic violence is also experienced by other people. These include the sexual/dating/intimate partners, family members, children, and cohabitants. If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, you must go to court and ask for justice.

Pursuing a Domestic Violence Lawsuit

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A victim of domestic violence must sue his/her abuser in the civil court. These acts of domestic violence result in criminal liability in tort law, which provides legal solutions for those who are hurt. Domestic violence is a type of injury. So, the victim should file a domestic violence lawsuit in court.

Learn here the things to consider before filing for a domestic violence lawsuit. Once the victims sue their abuser, usually they experience an emotional relief and a strong sense of control.

The damages that could be litigated are medical expenses, lost wages, pain, and suffering and punitive damages, which only available in some states. The litigation is quite costly. On the other hand, the court could let the abuser pay for your fees. In cases with money damages, the lawyers work on contingency bases. This means that the fee you pay them depends on the money that the court will grant you.

Domestic Violence Legislation

The law regarding domestic violence differs from every state. It differs from the type of domestic abuse and its law depends on the state you live in. It is advisable that you must know or read the existing domestic violence law in your state before you file a domestic violence lawsuit.

The Conclusion

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A victim of domestic violence may find it difficult to sue the abuser if he/she is a family member or a spouse. It is a complicated process and the victim must have the courage and the will to file a domestic lawsuit.

Once he/she takes this step, he/she will be able to finally escape the horrors of the abuses done to him/her. If you are a victim or you know someone who has been abused, you must get a professional assistance such as the family law lawyer who will help you determine your options and win the case for you. It is recommendable that you consult an experienced local lawyer to evaluate your case and know how the law could help you get back your freedom.