27 Domestic Violence Survey Questions

Emotional and Psychological Abuse Questions

Patterns of control often speak louder than bruises.

Why & When to Use

Use this part of a domestic violence survey questions when you need to capture harm that may not leave physical evidence but still shapes daily life in a big way.

Many domestic violence questions and domestic violence assessment questions should cover coercion, intimidation, humiliation, gaslighting, and isolation, because abuse is not always loud or visible.

Here’s the thing: people often recognize behaviors before they recognize labels like “abuse,” so behavior-based domestic abuse questions usually get clearer, more honest answers.

That makes this section especially useful for research questions about domestic violence, counseling intake, support programs, and broader questionnaires on domestic violence that aim to measure patterns of control over time.

When writing violence questions, keep examples specific but not graphic, so respondents can identify experiences without feeling pushed into a painful replay.

Plus, make sure your questionnaire on domestic violence separates normal conflict from repeated coercive behavior, because one bad argument and a long-term control pattern are not the same animal.

Helpful writing choices include:

• Use behavior-based wording instead of legal or clinical labels.

• Include clear examples of emotional and psychological abuse.

• Focus on repeated patterns, not isolated disagreements.

• Use response scales like never, once, sometimes, often, and very often.

Sample questions

1. Has a current or former partner ever pushed, slapped, punched, kicked, or otherwise physically hurt you?

2. Has anyone at home ever used or threatened to use a weapon against you?

3. Have you ever been choked, strangled, or prevented from breathing by a partner or family member?

4. Has a partner ever forced or pressured you into sexual activity when you did not want it?

5. Have injuries from violence ever required medical care, even if you did not seek treatment?

Research from CDC’s NISVS shows behaviorally specific survey questions improve reporting of psychological aggression, including humiliation, insults, and coercive control by partners (source).

Physical and Sexual Violence Questions

Clear, behavior-based wording helps people answer hard questions more safely.

Why & When to Use

Use this part of a domestic violence survey when you need to measure direct harm, incident severity, and urgent safety concerns.

These domestic violence questions and domestic violence assessment questions should be specific, plain, and sensitive, because vague wording can hide serious experiences in a fog of confusion.

Here’s the thing: asking whether someone was "physically abused" is often less useful than naming behaviors like pushing, hitting, choking, or forced sexual contact.

This section works especially well for crisis intake, formal assessments, prevalence studies, and research questions about domestic violence that need clearer incident detail for a questionnaire on domestic violence.

On top of that, privacy and consent matter a lot here, because people may be answering while scared, watched, or emotionally overloaded, which is about as ideal as doing taxes on a roller coaster.

Practical writing notes include:

• Ask about choking or strangulation separately, because it signals especially high risk.

• Use behavior-based domestic abuse questions instead of vague labels.

• Separate lifetime prevalence from recent incidents, such as ever versus past 12 months.

• Avoid collecting graphic or highly intrusive detail unless it clearly supports the purpose of the domestic violence survey.

• Keep questionnaires on domestic violence focused on safety, clarity, and respondent control.

Sample questions

1. Has a partner controlled your access to money, bank accounts, benefits, or basic necessities?

2. Has someone prevented you from working, studying, attending appointments, or keeping a job?

3. Have you been forced to ask permission for routine spending, transportation, or contact with others?

4. Has a partner taken your phone, keys, ID, or important documents to limit your independence?

5. Have household rules or restrictions made you feel trapped, watched, or unable to make personal decisions?

Coercive Control, Financial Abuse, and Daily Life Restriction Questions

Control does not need bruises to do real damage.

Why & When to Use

Use this part of a domestic violence survey to capture non-physical tactics that limit your freedom, choices, and day-to-day safety.

Many domestic violence questions focus on assault, but domestic violence assessment questions should also explore coercive control, money, mobility, and decision-making because those patterns often shape the whole relationship.

Here’s the thing: many research questions about domestic violence now look closely at financial abuse and daily restriction, since control can be constant even when physical violence questions get a "no."

This section fits especially well in legal aid, advocacy programs, housing support, and deeper questionnaires on domestic violence where autonomy and dependence need a clearer spotlight.

On top of that, survivors may describe these behaviors as normal, expected, or just "how things are," so examples matter a lot in domestic abuse questions and any questionnaire on domestic violence.

Practical writing notes:

• Include financial abuse, document control, and restricted access to transportation, communication, or basic needs.

• Measure control even without physical violence, because silence does not equal safety.

• Use examples that fit shared households, marriage, dating, and caregiving relationships.

• Keep violence questions culturally aware, but anchor them in clear behaviors people can recognize.

Sample questions

1. Do you believe the violence or threats have become more frequent or more severe recently?

2. Has the person ever threatened to kill you, your children, themselves, or someone close to you?

3. Does the person who harmed you have access to weapons or use objects to intimidate you?

4. Have you been followed, repeatedly contacted, or watched in ways that made you fear for your safety?

5. Are you afraid that a violent incident could happen again in the near future?

A 2025 validation study found a 20-item psychological abuse scale reliably captured coercive emotional, restrictive isolating, and financial abuse in relationships. Source

Safety, Escalation, and Immediate Risk Questions

These questions help spot danger before it gets louder.

Why & When to Use

Use this part of a domestic violence survey when your goal includes danger assessment, crisis planning, or urgent referral, not just basic screening.

These domestic violence questions are designed to identify escalation, credible threats, stalking, weapon access, and fear of serious harm, which can signal that immediate support may be needed.

Here’s the thing: general domestic violence assessment questions often ask whether harm happened, but this section asks how risky the situation feels right now and whether the danger is growing.

That makes it especially useful for shelters, crisis lines, healthcare response teams, campus support services, and other frontline settings where timing matters a lot. Plus, this is not the place to "just gather data" and hope for the best.

Practical writing notes:

• Treat these violence questions as high-stakes tools, not casual check-in prompts.

• Include escalation markers such as stalking, threats to kill, weapon access, strangulation history, and sudden increases in control or aggression.

• Make sure referral options, safety planning steps, and emergency resources are ready before using questionnaires on domestic violence with immediate-risk items.

• Explain clearly that this section differs from general screening because it focuses on near-term danger, not only relationship history.

Sample questions

1. How has violence or abuse affected your mental health, such as anxiety, depression, sleep, or concentration?

2. Have you missed work, school, childcare, or important appointments because of fear, injury, or control at home?

3. Have children in the home seen, heard, or been affected by the abuse?

4. Has the abuse affected your housing stability, finances, or ability to meet basic needs?

5. Have you changed your daily routine, relationships, or activities because of safety concerns?

Impact on Health, Children, Work, and Daily Functioning Questions

Impact data shows what abuse costs in real life.

Why & When to Use

Use this part of a domestic violence survey to measure what happens after the incident, not just the incident itself.

These domestic violence questions help you capture effects on wellbeing, parenting, work, school, social life, and day-to-day stability.

Here’s the thing: domestic violence assessment questions are stronger when they connect abuse patterns to practical outcomes people can actually feel, track, and report.

That matters for program evaluation, public health research, workplace studies, and broader research questions about domestic violence. Plus, funding decisions often follow impact data, not vague concern, which is not glamorous but definitely gets the paperwork to move.

When you write questionnaires on domestic violence, keep the wording neutral so people can describe small disruptions, major losses, or anything in between.

Practical notes:

• Include physical, emotional, social, and economic impacts.

• Avoid assuming every respondent has children, and give space for non-parent answers.

• Use domestic abuse questions that show how safety concerns affect routines, employment, attendance, and relationships.

• Link questionnaire on domestic violence findings to service planning, grant reporting, and policy design.

• On top of that, let respondents describe impact in their own words when possible, because real life rarely fits in one neat little box.

Sample questions

1. Is each question written in clear, behavior-based language rather than labels or jargon?

2. Does the domestic violence survey explain confidentiality, voluntary participation, and any limits to privacy?

3. Are questions ordered from less intrusive to more sensitive where possible?

4. Does the survey include options to skip questions or stop participation?

5. Is there a plan to respond safely if a participant indicates immediate danger?

Best Practices for Writing Domestic Violence Survey Questions

Good survey design protects people and improves answers.

Why & When to Use

Use this section when you are building a domestic violence survey, a questionnaire on domestic violence, or any research tool that includes domestic violence questions.

Strong design does two jobs at once: it improves response quality and reduces the chance of causing extra stress or harm.

Here’s the thing: domestic violence assessment questions work best when they are clear, specific, and easy to answer without making people decode vague wording.

Plus, better structure helps you collect data people can trust, compare, and actually use in service planning or research questions about domestic violence.

Practical do’s:

• Use trauma-informed, person-first language.

• Pilot test domestic abuse questions for clarity, comfort, and safety.

• Use consistent time frames, such as past 12 months or lifetime.

• Offer neutral response choices and avoid leading wording.

• Prepare referral pathways before collecting sensitive disclosures.

Practical don’ts:

• Don’t ask vague violence questions that hide the behavior being measured.

• Don’t force disclosure or ask for graphic detail unless truly necessary.

• Don’t combine multiple behaviors in one item when precision matters.

• Don’t promise confidentiality beyond what you can actually protect.

• Don’t collect sensitive data without a clear purpose and safeguarding plan.

On top of that, if your questionnaire on domestic violence feels confusing, respondents will not magically become mind readers, sadly.

Sample questions

1. Why is “Have you ever been abused?” too vague for a domestic violence survey?

2. How can you rewrite victim-blaming domestic abuse questions into neutral, useful language?

3. What makes stacked domestic violence assessment questions hard to answer accurately?

4. Why do loaded labels weaken questionnaires on domestic violence?

5. How can inclusive wording improve research questions about domestic violence?

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Domestic Violence Surveys

Weak wording can quietly wreck good research.

Why & When to Use

Use this section when you want to clean up a rough draft of domestic violence questions before it goes into a form, interview, or domestic violence survey.

Poorly written domestic violence assessment questions can blur what happened, lower trust, and raise distress for the person answering.

Here’s the thing: this works best as a practical quality-control checklist you can scan before launch.

Common weak examples and better directions:

• “Have you ever been abused?” is too broad and unclear. Rewrite with specific behaviors and a time frame, like asking whether a partner ever slapped, threatened, or controlled them in the past 12 months.

• “Why didn’t you leave sooner?” is victim-blaming. Replace it with a neutral item about barriers to leaving or seeking help.

• “Was the incident serious enough to count as violence?” uses loaded terms and asks the respondent to judge severity. Ask what happened instead.

• “Did your partner hit or threaten and control and stalk you?” is stacked. Split it into separate violence questions so each behavior gets a clear answer.

• “Are you a victim of domestic violence?” relies on identity labels that not everyone uses. Inclusive domestic abuse questions should focus on experiences across varied partners, family, and household structures.

Plus, if your questionnaire on domestic violence makes people guess what you mean, your data will do the same.

Sample questions

1. Which survey responses indicate the need for immediate safety planning or urgent referral?

2. What patterns show the most common forms of abuse in the population surveyed?

3. Which groups report the greatest barriers to seeking help or leaving unsafe situations?

4. What findings suggest gaps in healthcare, legal, workplace, school, or community support?

5. How will survey results be communicated ethically without exposing participants to further harm?

Turning Survey Insights Into Action

Good data should do more than sit in a spreadsheet looking important.

Why & When to Use

Use this closing section when you want to show how domestic violence questions lead to real-world decisions, not just a final report.

The true value of a domestic violence survey shows up after analysis, when findings shape services, policy, staff training, prevention work, and survivor-centered support.

Here’s the thing: strong domestic violence assessment questions are only half the job.

You also need a practical plan for what happens next, so the results improve safety, access, and support instead of collecting digital dust.

A useful way to organize findings is by theme:

• Screening findings that show who is being identified and who is being missed

• Risk findings that point to urgent safety concerns or referral needs

• Impact findings that reveal health, housing, work, school, or emotional effects

• Service-gap findings that highlight barriers in systems meant to help

Plus, this structure makes domestic violence survey results easier to act on.

From there, translate the data into next steps like program updates, training priorities, and outreach strategies for groups facing the biggest barriers.

On top of that, report sensitive findings carefully, using privacy-safe summaries and cautious interpretation.

The best questionnaires on domestic violence do not stop at better research questions about domestic violence.

They help you build safer, smarter, more responsive intervention.