Recognizing Violence Against Women

• Domestic violence, spousal abuse, intimate partner violence
• Rape, sexual assault
• Family violence, battering
• Marital rape, matricide (killing one's mother)
• Dating violence, date rape (dating violence or date rape is violence that occurs between unmarried couples)
• Elder abuse
• Homicide1
  

Men can be victims of domestic violence, but more than 85 percent of the victims of domestic violence are women.2 Women are significantly more likely to be injured during an assault. A one-time incident is an assault. Men who repeatedly engage in physical or sexual violence, or emotional abuse are considered abusive.

Abuse may include:3

• Emotional or Psychological Abuse
  • Name calling
    
  • Saying mean things in public
    
  • Using cruel or threatening words
    
  • Being critical of statements and actions
    
  • Threatening to hurt the partner, a pet, a family member, or friend
    
  • Creating a state of constant fear
    
• Sexual Abuse
  • Any sexual act or behavior repeated over time without consent. A single incident is sexual assault. Multiple incidents are abuse.

Sexual assault may involve physical force or the threat of force, the use of guns or other weapons, and other tactics that are intended to harm and scare a partner. It includes forced touching of the genitals, anus, groin, or breast against a woman's will. Sexual assault may be committed by a man who is a stranger, friend, family member, or intimate partner.4

• Younger women, aged 18-25 years, experience the greatest number of sexual assaults or rapes.

• Physical Abuse
  • Pushing, shoving, kicking, grabbing
  • Hitting, pulling hair, spitting, punching
  • Choking, beating
• Stalking
  • Harassing or threatening behavior that a person engages in more than one time. (Notify the police immediately if you suspect that a stalker is following you or someone you know.)
  • Repeated receipt of unwanted notes, cards, or phone calls.

Stalking is behavior that makes the victim afraid for her safety. Stalkers usually are someone the victim knows well, such as a boyfriend or spouse.

• Roughly 8 percent of all women in the U.S. have been stalked in their lifetime. More than 1 million women are stalked each year.5
• Women between the ages of 18-29 years are at the highest risk of being stalked.

Men engage in acts of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse as a way to show and keep control. Most of the men who become violent in a relationship believe that it is a woman's duty to serve and obey them. They also may consider a woman's ideas and feelings less important than their own.

Laws relating to violence against women differ from State to State. However, all States have some laws that are designed to protect victims of domestic violence, rape, or other sexual assaults. Under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), committing violence against a woman is also a Federal crime. See Module 11 for more information.

Definitions of domestic violence also vary. In general, domestic violence or intimate partner violence refers to actual or threatened physical, sexual, or psychological (emotional) abuse by a:

• Spouse or ex-spouse
• Boyfriend, girlfriend, ex-boyfriend, ex-girlfriend, or partner
• Date