WOMEN AND VIOLENCE

Women and Violence

Women and Violence

Introduction

Violence against women is a serious, persistent, and global social problem. Scholars and activists primarily embed violence against women in a discourse connected to the universal right for all women to live free from violence. Women are disproportionately at risk for experiencing interpersonal violence when compared to their male counterparts. Violence against women takes many forms, including physical abuse, sexual violence, psychological or emotional abuse, and stalking. Cross-cultural research indicates that violence is associated with other socio-cultural factors that limit women's access to resources. Data indicate that in the United Kingdom, women are at the greatest risk for experiencing violence during their reproductive years, ages 16 to 24. Violence against women is therefore deeply rooted in the larger body of knowledge pertaining to violence against women overall.

Types of Violence

In the United Kingdom, data on violence against women are collected according to four primary types: physical abuse, sexual violence, psychological or emotional abuse, and stalking. Physical abuse is described as acts of physical aggression. These acts range from behaviours such as slapping to severe acts that include perpetrating an assault with a deadly weapon such as a gun or knife. Approximately 20-25 percent of adult women in the United Kingdom have been physically abused by a male intimate partner in their lifetime. Among women in childbearing or reproductive years, this rate increases to 32 percent. Fractures, bruises, and bullet holes are not the only physical manifestation of abuse; physical health problems such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are also related to violence against women.

Acts of sexual violence, including rape, are persistent problems in today's world. Sexual violence is defined as sexual acts perpetrated against someone's will. These acts may be a result of force, threats of force, or other acts of coercion, and may be perpetrated by an individual known or unknown to the victim. Approximately 7.7 percent of women report being raped by an intimate partner throughout their life. Marital rape is also a widespread problem, and was previously not recognized as a crime or therefore prosecuted through the justice system. It was not until 1986 that the Federal Sexual Abuse Act criminalized marital rape throughout the United Kingdom. Sexual violence is particularly difficult to accurately measure, and is further complicated by significant rates of underreporting of sexual violence.

Psychological abuse, also known as emotional violence, refers to behaviours in relationships that undermines or manipulates a person's self-esteem, sense of control, or safety. The United Kingdom's Justice Department defines psychological/emotional violence as actions causing fear by intimidation; threatening physical harm to self, partner, children, or partner's loved ones or pets; destruction of property; or forcing isolation from family, friends, school, or work. Consistently defining and measuring psychological abuse remains a challenge in violence against women research. Some reports indicate that psychological abuse is so pervasive that it has become a common component of intimate relationships. Among college-aged women, who are considered to be in their reproductive years, psychological/emotional violence is more common than physical or ...