Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior in which one intimate partner uses physical violence, coercion, threats, intimidation, isolation and emotional, sexual, or economic abuse to control and change the behavior of the other partner.

The abusive person might be your current or former spouse, live-in lover, or dating partner.

Domestic violence happens to people of all ages, races, ethnicities, and religions. It occurs in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships. A person’s gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation does not determine whether they can be a victim of domestic violence or an abuser.

Economic or professional status does not affect whether someone can commit domestic violence or be the victim of domestic violence – abusers and victims can be laborers or college professors, judges or janitors, doctors or orderlies, teachers, truck drivers, homemakers or store clerks. Domestic violence occurs everywhere from the poorest neighborhoods, to the fanciest mansions and white-picket-fence neighborhoods..

[source: Womens Law]