ABSTRACT
Abuse between intimate partners has reached epidemic proportions. Primarily, partner violence is viewed as violence precipitated by men against women. Generally, the data suggest that in situations of domestic abuse men are significantly more abusive toward women than the reverse, male abuse results in more damage than that of female, and male victims generally experience less emotional fear than female victims. Moreover, women’s violence against men often involves actions initiated in self-defense (Mattaini, 1999). Recently, the term intimate partner violence (IPV) has often been used to refer to violence that occurs between heterosexual or same-sex intimates whether in a marriage or other intimate relationship (Karmen, 2013). With that said, it should be recognized that violence can and does occur in intimate relationships of various characteristics.
