Spousal abuse

Spousal abuse is the term applied to physical or sexual abuse perpetuated by one spouse upon another. The term was coined in the late 1970's when such crimes were given wider attention in society. There are separate legalities and punishments applied to such a crime as opposed to random assault or assaults of another nature.

Organizations dealing with domestic violence:

• To learn more about how to pretect yourself from spousal abuse, or your rights, contact RAINN by visiting www.rainn.org.
• Stop Abuse For Everyone (http://www.safe4all.org). Offers services for victims of domestic violence who typically fall between the cracks, such as abused men, gay and lesbian victims, the elderly, teens, and immigrants.

See Also: Domestic violence