Join Us for The Center for Empowerment and Education’s Virtual Annual Meeting
Wednesday, December 4, 2024 at 7:00-8:00 PM
Understanding Abuse and Violence
Abuse can affect anyone—regardless of age, gender, race, sexuality, or background—and it impacts every community. By learning about the different forms abuse can take, we can better support survivors, challenge harmful norms, and build safer, more informed communities for everyone.
Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior used intentionally by one person to gain or maintain power and control over another in a close relationship. Types of domestic violence include:
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): Abuse between current or former partners or spouses.
Teen Dating Violence: Abuse in teen dating relationships, including controlling behavior, threats, or physical harm.
Family Violence: Abuse involving family members, such as siblings, parents, or extended relatives.
Elder Abuse: Harm or neglect toward older adults, often by someone in a position of trust.
Assaulting, threatening or stalking an intimate partner is a crime in the state of Connecticut.
Domestic violence does not discriminate. It happens in every neighborhood, community, race, ethnicity, income bracket, age, and sexual orientation.
Abuse can take many different forms. Below are some examples of what it can look like:
Physical Abuse:
- Hitting, kicking, punching, shoving
- Holding or restraining
- Strangling or choking
- Inflicting bruises
- Welts and lacerations
- Dragging or pulling by hair
- Throwing things
- Marking or branding
- Threats of violence
Sexual Abuse:
- Coercing/forcing victim to engage in sexual activity
- Unwanted exposure to sexually explicit material
- Sexual exploitation/trafficking
- Reproductive coercion (When one partner strips the other of the ability to control their own reproductive system)
- Sabotaging birth control (pills, condoms, etc.)
- Pregnancy pressure
- Refusal to participate in preferred birth control method (or to not use at all)
Emotional Abuse:
- Threats, intimidation
- Humiliation
- Extreme jealousy/possessiveness
- Ignoring or dismissing the victim
- Denying, minimizing, and blaming
- Gaslighting
- Insulting/belittling
Cultural Abuse:
- Mocking their identity
- Refusing to acknowledge cultural identities
- Refusing to use correct pronouns
- Denying part(s) of their identity
- Gatekeeping
- Racial gaslighting
Digital Abuse:
- Tracking location
- Demanding check-ins
- Excessive texts
- Spyware
- Spoofing, catfishing
- Monitoring communications
- Demanding passwords
- Controlling social media posts/friends
Financial Abuse:
- Using money as a tool to establish control in a relationship
- Monitoring/controlling spending
- Pressured spending
- Withholding money
- No access to bank accounts/ATM/credit cards
- Ruining victim’s credit
- Stealing/taking victim’s paychecks
- Gambling
This is not an exhaustive list. If you feel your relationship with someone close in your life is unhealthy or abusive, we are here to support you.
Sexual violence includes any sexual act or behavior committed against someone without their consent. It can happen to anyone, regardless of age, gender, or background. Forms of sexual violence include:
Rape and Sexual Assault: Any non-consensual sexual contact or penetration.
Sexual Exploitation: Taking advantage of someone sexually for personal or financial gain.
Sexual Harassment: Unwanted sexual attention, comments, or actions that create a hostile environment.
Non-Consensual Image Sharing: Sharing or threatening to share intimate images without consent, often called “revenge porn.”
Sexual violence is any type of unwanted sexual contact. This includes words and actions of a sexual nature against a person’s will and without their consent. A person may use force, threats, manipulation, or coercion to commit sexual violence. Sexual assaults are most often committed by someone close to the victim: this can include family members, partners, former partners, coworkers, friends, or other acquaintances.
Sexual assault is a crime in Connecticut. If you have experienced a form of sexual violence, our advocates are here to inform you of your rights and options.
Child abuse includes any harm, mistreatment, or exploitation of a child. It can be physical, emotional, sexual, or involve neglect.
- Experiencing Domestic/Family Violence in the Home
- Neglect: Child neglect is when a parent or caregiver does not give the care, supervision, affection and support needed for a child’s health, safety and well-being.
- Physical: abandonment, unsafe living conditions, inadequate food/malnutrition, and erratic or unsafe behavior of the caregiver which adversely impacts the child.
- Medical: unreasonable delay, failure, or refusal of the caregiver to seek or obtain medical, dental, or mental health services necessary to the child’s continued health.
- Educational: when a school-aged child has excessive absences from school through the intent or neglect of the caregiver.
- Emotional: denial of proper care, or failure to respond to the child’s affective needs in a way that adversely impacts their positive emotional development. This can be inappropriate expectations; lack of support, affection and attention; and exposure to family violence.
- Witnessing Domestic Violence in the home
- Feeling tension building in home prior to assault
- Hearing threats of physical harm
- Hearing or seeing assault on their parent/guardian
- Being denied care because parent/guardian is injured or depressed
- Being forced to watch or participate in violence against their parent/guardian
- Child Sexual Abuse
- A form of child abuse that includes sexual activity with a minor. Child sexual abuse does not need to include physical contact between a perpetrator and a child.
- Assault, molestation, pressuring, coercion
– Grooming: intentionally developing a relationship and gaining the trust of the victim for the purposes of manipulation, exploitation, and abuse - Can take place online convincing them to take and send intimate photos
- Exposure to explicit, inappropriate material
- Having sexual relations with a family member or close relative
- A person is guilty of incest when he marries a person whom he knows to be related to him within any of the degrees of kindred {Conn. Gen. Stat. 53-A-191 (2013)}.
All children deserve to grow up free from violence and abuse. In addition to our services here at CEE, we often collaborate with other agencies and resources in the community that provide comprehensive wrap-around services to child victims of abuse including the Multi-Disciplinary Team of which we are a part of.
Stalking is a pattern of repeated, unwanted attention or contact that causes fear or distress. It can include following someone, sending excessive messages, showing up uninvited, or monitoring someone’s activities. Stalking often occurs alongside other forms of abuse, especially in intimate partner relationships.
Stalking can include “electronic or social media” as part of the “action, method, device or means” by which stalking can occur.
Examples of stalking:
- Following or showing up places where they know the victim will be
- Sending unwanted gifts or items
- Monitoring texts or calls
- Tracking where someone is with a GPS
- Driving by someone’s home, where they work, where they hang out
- Finding out information about someone by researching someone, going through their things, and/or harassing friends or family
Leaving an abusive relationship is often the most dangerous time for a victim and when stalking is most likely to occur.
Stalking should be taken seriously. It can also escalate to further violence or homicide.
Human trafficking is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to exploit someone for labor or sex. Victims may be manipulated or threatened into working in dangerous or degrading conditions.
Sex Trafficking: Forcing or coercing someone into commercial sex acts, often through violence, deception, or manipulation. The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for a commercial sex act, in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age.
Labor Trafficking: Forcing someone to work under unfair, unsafe, or exploitative conditions without the ability to leave. The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
Survival sex: The exchange of sex or sexual acts for drugs, food, shelter, protection, other basics of life, and/or money for the purpose of sexual gratification, financial gain, personal benefit, or advantage, or any other non-legitimate purpose.
Human trafficking is against both federal and state law. If you or someone you know is believed to be a victim of human trafficking, we are here to support you.
Warning Signs of Domestic Violence
Frequent put-downs, insults, or name-calling
Controlling behavior (e.g., monitoring phone, limiting access to money or transportation)
Isolation from friends, family, or support systems
Unexplained injuries or frequent “accidents”
Fearful, anxious, or withdrawn behavior
Pressure to stay in the relationship despite feeling unsafe
Sudden changes in mood, behavior, or daily routine
A partner or family member making threats or destroying property
In elder abuse: neglect of basic needs, fear of caregivers, or financial exploitation
Warning Signs of Sexual Violence
Sudden withdrawal or changes in mood, especially after being alone with someone
Fear or discomfort around certain individuals or situations
Unwanted sexual comments, jokes, or messages
Feeling pressured, coerced, or unable to say “no” to sexual contact
Fear of retaliation for rejecting someone sexually
Being threatened with the sharing of intimate photos or videos
Receiving or seeing sexual images shared without consent
Avoidance of certain places or social settings
Warning Signs of Child Abuse
Fearful, anxious, or overly compliant behavior
Regression (bed-wetting, thumb-sucking, etc.) in younger children
Sudden drop in school performance or attendance
Nightmares or trouble sleeping
Avoidance of specific people or places
Inappropriate knowledge of or interest in sexual behavior
Unexplained bruises, injuries, or changes in hygiene
Expressions of wanting to run away or feeling unsafe at home
Warning Signs of Stalking
Receiving excessive, unwanted calls, messages, or gifts
Feeling constantly watched or followed
Someone showing up uninvited at home, school, or work
Sudden fear of going places alone
Monitoring of social media, emails, or phone activity
Property damage (e.g., slashed tires, broken windows)
Changes in routines due to fear (changing routes, avoiding events)
Talking about someone who won’t leave them alone or won’t take “no” for an answer
Warning Signs of Human Trafficking
Inability to speak freely or alone, especially in the presence of others
Working excessively long hours under poor conditions
Having few or no personal possessions or identification documents
Signs of fear, anxiety, or submission around a controlling individual
Tattoos or branding that could indicate ownership
Being unsure of their location, address, or details about their job
Saying they “owe” someone something or must work to repay a debt
Evidence of being transported frequently or living at the workplace
These are just some examples of possible warning signs — every situation is different. If you’re unsure or have questions, you can contact us and speak confidentially with an advocate who is here to support you.
What to do if you or someone you know needs help?
Know you are not alone. We believe you and are here to support you. Concerned for yourself or a loved one? You can:
- Call our Domestic Violence Hotline at 203.731.5206
- Call our Sexual Assault Hotline at 203.731.5204
- Come in to speak to an Advocate at our main office: 2 West Street, Danbury, CT 06810 during business hours
An Advocate is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to listen and offer support, as well as to provide you with information and resources to help you best decide what to do next. All services are no cost and confidential. There is no problem too big or too small, no matter much time has passed, we are here to help you cope and heal.
Where we Help
CEE is available to help anyone, though we focus on the following towns and zip codes.
Success Story
Mr. Deluco
While working with Mr. DeLuco’s (name changed for privacy) 4th grade class there was a brief moment between activities where a young lady came up to our educator.
Resources
We support our clients with a network of available agencies and community resources.
Get Help
The Center for Empowerment and Education (CEE) provides a safe and secure environment for victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Crisis Intervention
The Center for Empowerment and Education (CEE) provides two 24-hour hotlines for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, and our trained advocates provide on-site emergency response at area hospitals, police departments, courts and at other community agencies.