Red Flags

Below is a list of risks that increase the chances of that person believing they have the right to offer harm and/or violence towards you.

Statistical Risk Factors

Significant Age Disparity: A gap of ten years or more between partners.
Young Age: Individuals in the 15–25 age bracket are statistically at the highest risk for both victimization and perpetration.
Prior Justice System Involvement: A history of criminal convictions or recurring contact with law enforcement.
Gang Affiliation: Active membership or close association with organized criminal groups.
Intergenerational Trauma: A history of witnessing or experiencing violence during childhood (Adverse Childhood Experiences).
Economic Instability: Current unemployment, lack of sustainable income, or financial dependence on a partner.
Low Educational Attainment: Statistically linked to a lack of alternative social problem-solving resources and economic stress.
Significant Life Transitions: High-risk periods such as pregnancy, recent birth, or the process of relationship separation.
Residential Instability: Frequent moves or lack of stable, permanent housing.
Co-occurring Mental Health Challenges: Untreated depression, high levels of hostility, or personality disorders that affect impulse control.
Substance Dependency: Long-term patterns of alcohol or drug addiction (distinct from the immediate behavior of being intoxicated).
Disability Status: Disabled individuals statistically face higher rates of both physical and economic abuse due to increased dependency and systemic neglect.

High-Risk Behaviors

Familial Disrespect: Abusive or disrespectful behavior toward parents.
Inadequate Conflict Management: Maladaptive or aggressive responses to disagreement or tension.
Alcohol Misuse & Intoxication: Risks associated with the frequency, volume, and behavioral changes during alcohol consumption.
Susceptibility to Peer Pressure: Allowing external social circles to influence harmful actions or choices.
Coercive Control: Dominating decision-making and controlling all aspects of daily life.
Social Isolation: Deliberate efforts to restrict contact with friends, family, and support networks.
Emotional & Verbal Abuse: Using insults, shifting blame, or using threats of self-harm/suicide as a tool for manipulation.
Medical Non-Compliance: Discontinuing essential medications against professional medical advice.
Economic Control: Restricting access to bank accounts, sabotaging employment, or controlling all household financial decisions.
Technological Monitoring: Demanding passwords, checking phone logs, or using GPS/social media to track movements and interactions.
Physical Intimidation: Damaging property (punching walls, breaking phones), throwing objects, or using body size and posture to create a sense of fear.
High-Lethality Indicators: Any history of non-fatal strangulation (“choking”) or the presence/threatened use of weapons.
Stalking & Surveillance: Unwanted following, constant “check-in” calls, or showing up uninvited to the victim’s workplace or social gatherings.
Threats to Dependents: Threatening to harm or take away children, or using the mistreatment of family pets as a way to exert power.
Cultural & Spiritual Abuse: Misusing cultural protocols or spiritual beliefs to demean the victim, isolate them from their community, or justify abusive behavior.
Gaslighting & Reality Distortion: Persistently denying that abusive events happened, or telling the victim they are “crazy” or “unstable” to make them doubt their own perceptions.
Extreme Possessiveness: Irrational jealousy regarding minor social interactions or accusations of infidelity without cause.

Outlier Risk Factors

Relational Instability: A historical pattern of frequent, high-conflict, or rapidly dissolving intimate partnerships.
Restricted Parental Access: Legal or informal barriers to child visitation, often stemming from past safety concerns or high-conflict custodial disputes.
History of Non-Domestic Violence: A record of aggression or violence toward people outside the family unit (e.g., strangers, acquaintances, or authority figures).
Isolation from Pro-Social Peers: A lack of contact with friends or family members who model healthy, non-violent relationships.
High-Conflict Separation: The period immediately following a relationship breakdown, particularly when there are ongoing litigation or disputes over assets and children.