What is post-separation domestic violence?
The post-separation period starts the moment a woman who is the victim of domestic violence makes the decision to end an abusive relationship and embarks on the process of regaining power. In this situation, the break-up is unfortunately not synonymous with safety. The ex-partner’s strategies of domination and control can change and multiply, increasing the risk of serious injury, femicide or infanticide. Below are different forms of abuse that may occur after separation:Forms of post-separation domestic violence
Manipulation and threat
1. Attempt to manipulate the woman into showing her best side, expressing love, pain and remorse.
2. Initiate a therapeutic approach without any real intention to change.
3. Blackmailing and threatening (to ask for custody of the children, to abandon the children, to cut off supplies, to disappear, to commit suicide, etc.).
4. Manipulate children or relatives into advocating for him.
1. Monitor the whereabouts of the wife and children.
2. Contacting the woman continuously or introducing yourself to her repeatedly.
3. Contact the woman’s family and friends for information about her.
4. Question the children about the new life of the woman.
Harassment and surveillance
Judicial violence
1. Multiply or unduly prolong separation procedures.
2. Making false accusations (of violence, parental alienation, etc.).
3. Failing to obey no-contact orders.
4. Manipulate, harass or intimidate social workers.
5. File a libel suit against the woman.
6. Filing repeated complaints against the social workers involved in the case.
1. Withholding child support for unreasonable reasons.
2. Initiate unnecessary legal proceedings to inflate the woman’s attorney fees.
3. Contest or refuse to pay their share of the common costs.
4. Hide income or stop working to avoid paying child support
Economic violence
Control via parenting
1. Requiring unreasonable accounts or photos of children.
2. Imposing educational strategies while the child is not in his care.
3. Question the parenting skills of the mother.
4. Hiding information relating to the child.
5. Manipulate or alienate the child against the mother.
6. Not bringing the child back at the scheduled time.
7. Imposing his presence in the mother’s care time
In the context of spousal violence, the breakup can increase the risk of serious injury or death for the woman and her children.