The Assault & Battery Support Center

Every person is unique, but when you face a challenge like being a victim of assault and battery, you are never alone.  Countless men, women and children have faced the exact same incident and have survived and thrived.  The following guide is designed to help you navigate your journey with the best information and resources that helped other survivors when they faced the same challenge.  

TSC has scoured the Internet and assembled links to the very best assault & battery resources: articles, blogs, forums and tools that can help you make better decisions and take action to overcome the range of physical, emotional and other challenges that you face.

As you’ll see, we always welcome your ideas and suggestions to make this Assault & Battery Guide even more helpful to survivors like you.   

JUST FOUND OUT 

Survivors Say: Best Resources for Assault and Battery

• Expert Law: Assault and Battery
  
• Free Dictionary: Assault and Battery
• Violent Crimes: What is The Difference Between Assault and Battery?

The Big Picture

If you ever find yourself as the unfortunate victim of an assault and battery then you need to understand exactly how the law considers this a crime.  According to the statues “An assault is the threat of bodily harm that reasonably causes fear of harm. Battery is the actual physical impact.” In other words, an assault is the threat of harm while battery is the actual harm itself. You could merely be threatened by someone and it would be considered an assault. If someone goes so far as to spit on you in a malicious manner, this could be looked upon as a battery charge.

What Are The Differences Between Assault and Battery?

One some level you could be the victim of an assault without ever having suffered any physical harm. However, you most like won’t be the victim of battery without the assault coming first. Don’t let the legal definitions confuse you. Any attack upon your person is a crime.

The Difference Between Assault and Battery

Your Assault & Battery Incident

If you become involved in an assault and battery incident, the first response should be to call the police immediately. This action will serve as the first official record of this potential crime.

Legal Match: Assault and Battery - Criminal Lawyers

Within the broad context of assault and battery, there are many different degrees of severity from misdemeanors to felonies. The degree of the charge depends on the circumstances.

Expert Law: Assault, Battery and Domestic Violence 

Your World

One of the most upsetting and egregious acts of assault and battery can be of the domestic sort. Here the victims are often women and children who have no means of immediate escape. You could walk away from a bar fight but it’s extremely difficult when the abuse is happening in your own home.

Health: Domestic Violence Assault Crimes

Understanding the nature of this type of crime doesn’t excuse it but can certainly help you process the incident.

Help Guide: Domestic Violence and Abuse

Assault & Battery Myths

• Someone who was drinking or was drunk and was sexually assaulted is partially to blame.
• Domestic violence occurs in only a small percentage of the population and is rare.
• Sex crimes are crimes of passion and desire.

Information and Recommended Links for Survivors

• Assault and Battery
  
• Find Law: Assault and Battery
  
• E Local Lawyers: Assault/Battery
  

Types of Assault & Battery

Aggravated Assault & Battery

This type of assault involves the use of a weapon. However, this is not limited to merely a gun; anything that can be used to cause bodily harm can be considered a weapon.

Violent Crimes Glossary of Terms

Domestic Assault & Battery

Domestic assault and battery relates to anything that occurs in what is considered to be a domestic residence. These incidents can occur between any couple or between a parent and a child.

Article Archives: Domestic Assault Numbers Rising; Advocacy Group Aiding Police

Sexual Assault & Battery

Within this heinous category all are crimes pertaining to sexual acts such as rape, date rape and abuse of minors.

FindLaw: Laws - Cases and Codes

Juvenile Assault & Battery

Perpetrators of assault and battery aren’t limited to adults. There is an increase in juvenile offenders and in many cases the criminals are tried as adults.

Juvenile Justice Bulletin: Domestic Assaults by Juvenile Offenders 

Assault and Battery Cases

Assault and battery cases are the leading charges brought before judges. There is a wide range of cases from neighbor disputes to fights over parking spaces to more serious domestic and sexual abuse. Every police blotter is full of new cases each and every day.

• Article Archives: Criminal Assault & Battery
  
• All Business: Criminal Assault & Battery
  

Legal Remedies

If you are a victim of an assault and battery, the person who committed this crime will be prosecuted. But your legal remedies might not end there. You can sue in a civil court to recoup damages and medical expenses.

Law Leaf: Assault & Battery Lawsuit Funding

Creating a support circle

• Set up your TSC Survivor Profile
• Join support groups of other survivors or set up your own
• Interact and provide updates on your profile or our forums
  

Insurance & Work Matters

Insurance Matters

Businesses need to have an inclusive insurance package to protect them and their customers. This can include coverage that pertains to potential assault and battery incident.

Coverage Counsel: Assault & Battery Exclusion Held to Apply to Stabbing Incident Outside Insured's Deli 

Work Matters

Just because you employer has created a safe working environment doesn’t mean you’ll always be protected from different forms of assault and battery. Some of this can come in the form of harassment from abusive co-workers.

Assault and Battery in the Workplace: Your Legal Rights [PDF]

Health-care Providers Who Can Help

Too often, health-care providers find themselves on the frontline of assault and battery crimes especially as they are related to domestic and sexual assaults. This has lead to improvements on how to counsel and provide assistance to victims of this type of crime.

National Institute of Justice: Documenting Domestic Violence - How Health Care Providers Can Help Victims

Resources to Find Help

Each state has their own resources for helping victims of assault and battery. A search of your local government can help you find medical, emotional and legal assistance. This is the example of one such resource center in California.

Help for California Crime Victims

The Emotional Roller-coaster

Surviving with an assault and battery attack proves to be a challenge to everyone who has gone through this type of situation. Many survivors panic and break down under the stress of battling the emotional and physical aftermath. To avoid this, it's important to continue living your life normally, participating in the same daily activities you've always done. Support groups are also important to maintaining a healthy emotional state. Other than that, educating yourself on the reality of assault and battery crimes and exposing yourself to books and stories written by those who have dealt with these acts in their past can help give you and your loved ones hope while dealing with his crisis.

Books Survivors Recommend

• Hostile Ground
• Finding Your Way Through Domestic Violence
• Escaping Domestic Abuse
• Sexual Assault: Will I Ever Feel Normal Again

What Survivors Wish They’d Known


Communicating with Your Legal and/or Health-care providers

• Bring a friend or family member with you to your appointments not only to provide support but to lend an extra ear to understand everything your legal or health-care provider has to say and to think up any more questions you may not realize are important at the time.
• Don't be afraid to ask any questions you feel you need the answer to, even if you may be scared of the answer. Ignorance won't help you overcome this situation - emotionally or physically.
• Write down any questions you may have ahead of time and the answers to those questions as your legal or health-care provider walks you through them.  Don't be afraid to ask for clarification on anything.
  

Dealing with Assault & Battery: Information and Recommended Links for Co-Survivors

How you can help

• If your friend or family member is a victim of an assault or battery assist them with their day-to-day duties or chores, but be sure to find a good balance so as not to throw off their pattern of living, which may increase their stress as they may feel they are becoming a burden.
• Preserve your friend or family member's daily activities. It's normal to feel protective but excluding victims from activities or decisions you don't see them as fit enough to do or make contributes to feelings of helplessness.
• Involve your friend or family member with others. Don't focus exclusively on the crime and any pending criminal or civil case when interacting with them. Talk to them about yourself or make plans to visit friends and loved ones. A survivor involved with others has a better chance of avoiding feelings of abandonment.
  

What to say    

 

• "This wasn’t your fault."
• "There are a lot of people who want to keep you safe."
• Tell them how much you care about them

What not to say

• “You brought this on yourself."
• "There is nothing you can do."
• "This abuse isn’t ever going to stop."
  

Things you can do for a survivor every day

Offering day-to-day support is a great gift to give a family member who is the victim of assault and battery or a friend/neighbor that has been a victim as well. If the survivor isn't a family member, help out the victim’s family when by, making meals, going grocery shopping, etc. If the survivor is a family member, help out with chores or other duties they may have fallen behind on.

How to build a support network

• Set up your TSC Co-Survivor Profile
• Create a support group for your friend or family member.
• Interact and provide updates
  

How to help a survivor deal with day-to-day challenges

Crisis Support Network: Domestic Violence 

After recovery, assess and share with others how you feel emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Recovering from a crime like assault and battery is almost as shocking as going through the incident in the first place. By telling your story, you can not only put into perspective your thoughts and feelings but you can provide hope to others who are going through a similar journey themselves, whether it be with domestic or sexual assault and battery.

Recovery

The Federal government is keenly aware of the impact of domestic abuse as it pertains to assault and battery. They have put together a helpful booklet discussing the issue and offering tips for prevention and how to break the cycle of violence.

Domestic Violence Awareness Handbook

There are many other resources available for victims of domestic assault and battery including a national domestic violence hotline 1-800-799-7233.

Help Guide: Domestic Violence and Abuse

Any victim of assault and battery should never feel alone because there are many of helpful centers willing and able to lend immediate assistance.

Domestic Violence Facts - Help for Survivors

As horrible as these incidents of abuse are, there are many inspiring stories of recovery and survival.


Life Tools: The Road To Recovery

Give back


What helped you while you were dealing with the aftermath of the assault and battery incident, undergoing treatment and realized you had recovered?  Take a look back at your journey and share with other what helped you and what you wished you would have known/done during your experience. You can create a profile, reach out to other survivors, join support circles or share your story by following the links at TheSurvivorsClub.org. Check out this group for positive coping methods. http://www.sassnh.org/support.cfm

Sometimes it is not easy to understand why things happen. Often victims of assault and battery torture themselves with “what if” scenarios. Sadly, what starts out as a small incident can quickly escalate to a felony murder charge.

The Reeves Law Group: Swedish Musician Arrested for Assault and Battery in Los Angeles 

For advice on overcoming challenges related to sexual assault and battery read through:

E How: How to Find a Sexual Abuse Support Group