Understanding domestic abuse / Nazima Versay Kudus and Ooi Say Tee

Domestic abuse is an act or a series of acts of abuse committed by one family member against another family member. It is a pattern of behaviour to gain or retain power and control over the other party. It is any action or threat of action that harms another person. Such conducts include frightening and intimidating others as well as manipulating them. Any ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender is susceptible to abuse. One of the common types of abuse is intimate partner violence (IPV) which happens in a marriage, cohabitation, or dating situations and it can impact people from all walks of life (United Nations, n.d.).