It is any type of physical violence, which takes place between people who live together as a family. This could be between a husband and wife or a boyfriend and girlfriend or a parent and child, brother-in law and sister- in law.

Physical violence means any kind of attack by one person on another, either using one’s hands, an instrument or weapon such as a belt, a stick, an axe, a hot iron or anything that can harm another person. It could also involve something being thrown at another person.

The legal word for such violence is assault. People usually use the word beating to describe an assault.

Domestic violence also includes behaviour, which does not involve physical attacks, but harms a person emotionally or mentally. For example, a man may prevent his wife from visiting her family, may threaten her with violence, or a woman may constantly ridicule her husband.

Anyone who is beaten by a member of his or her own family is a victim of domestic violence. The largest numbers of victims are women who are beaten by their husbands. However, there are also men who are assaulted by their wives. Many children are beaten by their parents, especially stepparents.

Some victims may be attacked only rarely, but most victims of domestic violence experience many beatings. The beating becomes a regular part of their lives, which they come to expect and sometimes even accept and learn to live with. A woman who is constantly beaten by her husband is often called a battered woman.

If a member of a family uses physical violence during an argument, it does not bring any solution to the problem being discussed. It means that the person is simply forcing his or her partner or child into submission. The problem will remain. In the end, family problems have to be solved by agreement. The more violence there is, the harder this becomes.

If the beating is bad, victims may also have injuries which have to be treated, causing them to miss work, or not be able to care for the family and home.

Most people think about physical injury—broken bones, bruises, and wounds. Many forget that the broken bones are what friends or work mates can see. What they cannot see are the emotional injuries. By this we mean the hurt someone feels inside when they are attacked by someone who is supposed to love and protect them— the feelings of never trusting that person again, of fear, of insecurity that we have mentioned above.

All of these mean that a person’s life is disturbed and they cannot carry on their normal life because they are always frightened and nervous.

We know that all families have quarrels and disagreements. There are very few couples who do not argue with each other, and few parents who do not sometimes shout at their children. This is a normal part of the lives of most families. However, why do some families find that whenever there is a quarrel, they fight physically? Why can they not resolve their differences in other ways? What is the real reason for using violence?

Violence is not an expression of love. Usually, it is an expression of anger or frustration, but unfortunately, it is directed against someone whom you love.

Physical violence by a husband against his wife is often a combination of various causes. But the real reason underlying all of them is a feeling of POWER and CONTROL: if you think about all of the reasons given below, you will see that all of them have something to do with power. A man feels that he should be the dominant person in the home, and in order to show this power he beats his wife.