Information for students

Colchester and Tendring Women's Refuge supports research on domestic violence. If you are a student interested in this subject we hope you will find the information we offer here useful to you in your studies.

What is domestic violence?

Domestic violence is essentially a pattern of behaviour characterised by the exercise of control and the misuse of power by one person, usually a man, over another, usually a woman, within the context of an intimate relationship. It is manifested in various ways, including, but not restricted to, physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse, and the imposition of social isolation, and is most commonly a combination of them all.

In practical terms this covers a variety of behaviour. It is not just about being hit or punched and insulted.

A woman might be:

• prevented from seeing friends and family
• followed
• ignored or shouted at
• forced to ask for money
• made to have sex

As a result of such behaviour women often start to feel that:

• there's no option but to put up with it
• as long as the children are OK, it's worth staying
• their children will be taken away if they do anything
• they couldn't support themselves or their family living elsewhere
• it's best they do as they're told
• they aren't worth anything anyway

Please email us and tell us how helpful you found these pages and also how we might improve them.