V is for Violence. What are we talking about here?

Violence can happen anywhere, at home, at school, at work, or in your community.

What is Violence?

Violence is when someone does or says something to hurt or have control over another person. Violence is a desire to hurt, threaten, or frighten someone else on purpose. It is usually repeated over time and takes many forms. There are many types of victims and many types of abusers.

Violence can have terrible effects on a person that can last forever. What we do know is that NOBODY deserves to be abused or violated.

Violence can take many forms and includes:

Physical Abuse
Physical violence is when someone injures another person. It could be by hitting, punching, pinching, arm-twisting, slapping, biting or other forms of physical contact. It can also happen when someone hits another person with an object, uses a weapon against them or restrains them in a physical way.
Emotional Violence
Emotional violence is when someone says or does something to make another person feel stupid or worthless. Emotional violence includes name calling, blaming all relationship problems on the other person, using silent treatment, and humiliating or making fun of another person.
Psychological Violence
Psychological violence is when someone uses threats and causes fear in another person to gain control. Examples of psychological violence are stalking, threatening to harm the other person or their family if they leave the relationship, threats of violence or abandonment, controlling another person's activities, and threats to harm self if you leave.
Sexual Violence
Sexual violence includes all unwanted sexual contact or activity. It is any sexual activity that is unwanted, unsafe, degrading, was not agreed to or was forced upon someone unable to agree. It can include petting, fondling, intercourse, rape, forced prostitution, use of pornography, and sex with weapons. It can also include insulting comments, humiliation, criticism of someone's sexuality, and trying to control another person's sexual relationships. People who commit sexual violence are most often known to their victims.
Cultural Violence
Cultural violence is when a person is harmed as a result of practices that are part of their culture, religion or tradition. It includes "honour" or other crimes against girls, women and other vulnerable groups in some parts of the world. Cultural violence may include lynching or stoning, banishment, female circumcision, punishment for being raped or falling in love with the wrong person, forced marriage, sexual slavery or murder.
Spiritual Violence
Spiritual (or religious) violence is when someone uses a person's spiritual beliefs to control or manipulate that person. Spiritual violence includes trying to prevent someone from practicing their religious or spiritual beliefs, making fun of their beliefs, being forced to raise children in another religion or spiritual choice, and using these beliefs to control a person.
Verbal Abuse
Verbal abuse is when someone uses language, whether spoken or written, to cause harm to another person. Verbal abuse includes name calling, lying, yelling, swearing, insults and constantly pointing out a person's past mistakes.
Financial Abuse
Financial (or economic) abuse is when someone controls, takes or steals a person's money or financial resources without their consent. It includes withholding money for food or medicine or making someone beg for money for necessary items like clothes or children's items. Financial abuse can also include keeping a person from attending school, forbidding employment or controlling their choice of job.
Neglect
Neglect is when someone has the responsibility to provide care or assistance for you but does not. Neglect includes failing to meet the needs of a person who is unable to meet those needs alone, not remaining with a person who needs help and abandonment in a public setting. It also includes not providing basic necessities such as food, clothing, medical care and shelter.

Other definitions relate to violence in certain settings:

Cyber Violence
Technology has enabled people to commit violence or abuse others in new ways. Social media, instant messaging, chat rooms, text messaging, digital cameras, web cams, web sites and blogs have made communicating fast and fun. But posting nasty messages or pictures, spreading rumours, tricking people into revealing information or sharing inappropriate photos of themselves and forwarding it to others are all ways to abuse, embarrass and intimidate people. And once the information is out there, you can't control where it goes or who is seeing it.
Family Violence
Some people commit violence against members of their own family. Violence in families can happen when people are married or living together. It can be kids abusing their parents/guardians or siblings, or it might be parents/guardians abusing the kids. It might also be parents/guardians being abusive to each other. When children are exposed to family violence they can become sad, angry, afraid, depressed, or feel guilty and helpless to do anything about the abuse.
Dating Violence
Dating violence can happen on a first date or with a regular partner at any time within a relationship. It often occurs when a dating partner feels jealous, has been drinking, or when one partner says no to sex.
Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is threatened, attempted, or actual violence and abuse by a current or former intimate partner. IPV can be committed by a spouse, an ex-spouse, a current or former boyfriend or girlfriend, or a dating partner.
Criminal Harassment
Criminal harassment is often called stalking, and causes you to fear for your safety. Common forms of criminal harassment are when someone follows you, calls you at home, at a friend's house or at your workplace, or watches you.

Violence is NEVER acceptable.
Stand Up. Reach Out. Step in. Stop the Violence.