Violence is the use of physical force to cause harm to people, animals, or property, such as pain, injury, death, damage, or destruction. Some definitions are somewhat broader, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation."
Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to social gender roles. Transphobia is a type of prejudice and discrimination, similar to racism, sexism, or ableism, and it is closely associated with homophobia. Transgender people of color can experience many different forms of discrimination simultaneously.
The gender binary is the classification of gender into two distinct forms of masculine and feminine, whether by social system, cultural belief, or both simultaneously. Most cultures use a gender binary, having two genders.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is domestic violence by a current or former spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner. IPV can take a number of forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic and sexual abuse. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines IPV as "any behavior within an intimate relationship that causes physical, psychological or sexual harm to those in the relationship, including acts of physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behaviors." IPV is sometimes referred to simply as battery, or as spouse or partner abuse.
Domestic violence occurs across the world, in various cultures, and affects people across society, at all levels of economic status; however, indicators of lower socioeconomic status have been shown to be risk factors for higher levels of domestic violence in several studies. In the United States, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 1995, women reported a six times greater rate of intimate partner violence than men. However, studies have found that men are much less likely to report victimization in these situations.
Intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) deals with sexual violence within the context of domestic violence. Intimate partner sexual violence is defined by any unwanted sexual contact or activity by an intimate partner in order to control an individual through fear, threats, or violence. Women are the primary victims of this type of violence.
Domestic violence is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. Domestic violence is often used as a synonym for intimate partner violence, which is committed by one of the people in an intimate relationship against the other person, and can take place in relationships or between former spouses or partners. In its broadest sense, domestic violence also involves violence against children, parents, or the elderly. It can assume multiple forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, religious, reproductive, financial abuse, or sexual abuse. It can range from subtle, coercive forms to marital rape and other violent physical abuse, such as choking, beating, female genital mutilation, and acid throwing that may result in disfigurement or death, and includes the use of technology to harass, control, monitor, stalk or hack. Domestic murder includes stoning, bride burning, honor killing, and dowry death, which sometimes involves non-cohabitating family members. In 2015, the United Kingdom's Home Office widened the definition of domestic violence to include coercive control.
Violence against prostitutes occurs worldwide, both through physical and psychological forms. The victims are predominantly women. In extreme cases, violent acts have led to their murder while in their workplace.
Pregnancy when coupled with domestic violence is a form of intimate partner violence (IPV) where health risks may be amplified. Abuse during pregnancy, whether physical, verbal or emotional, produces many adverse physical and psychological effects for both the mother and fetus. Domestic violence during pregnancy is categorized as abusive behavior towards a pregnant woman, where the pattern of abuse can often change in terms of severity and frequency of violence. Abuse may be a long-standing problem in a relationship that continues after a woman becomes pregnant or it may commence in pregnancy. Although female-to-male partner violence occurs in these settings, the overwhelming form of domestic violence is perpetrated by men against women. Pregnancy provides a unique opportunity for healthcare workers to screen women for domestic violence though a recent review found that the best way in which to do this is unclear. Reducing domestic violence in pregnancy should improve outcomes for mothers and babies though more good quality studies are needed to work out effective ways of screening pregnant women.
Reproductive coercion is a collection of behaviors that interfere with decision-making related to reproductive health. These behaviors are meant to maintain power and control related to reproductive health by a current, former, or hopeful intimate or romantic partner, but they can also be perpetrated by parents or in-laws. Coercive behaviors infringe on individuals' reproductive rights and reduce their reproductive autonomy.
Domestic violence within lesbian relationships is the pattern of violent and coercive behavior in a female same-sex relationship wherein a lesbian or other non-heterosexual woman seeks to control the thoughts, beliefs, or conduct of her female intimate partner. In the case of multiple forms of domestic partner abuse, it is also referred to as lesbian battering.
Transgender health care includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions, as well as gender-affirming care, for transgender individuals. A major component of transgender health care is gender-affirming care, the medical aspect of gender transition. Questions implicated in transgender health care include gender variance, sex reassignment therapy, health risks, and access to healthcare for trans people in different countries around the world.
Strangulation in the context of domestic violence is a potentially lethal form of assault. Unconsciousness may occur within seconds of strangulation and death within minutes. Strangulation can be difficult to detect and until recently was often not treated as a serious crime. However, in many jurisdictions, strangulation is now a specific criminal offense, or an aggravating factor in assault cases.
Domestic violence in same-sex relationships or intragender violence is a pattern of violence or abuse that occurs within same-sex relationships. Domestic violence is an issue that affects people of any sexuality, but there are issues that affect victims of same-sex domestic violence specifically. These issues include homophobia, internalized homophobia, HIV and AIDS stigma, STD risk and other health issues, lack of legal support, and the violence they face being considered less serious than heterosexual domestic violence. Moreover, the issue of domestic violence in same-sex relationships has not been studied as comprehensively as domestic violence in heterosexual relationships. However, there are legal changes being made to help victims of domestic violence in same-sex relationships, as well as organizations that cater specifically to victims of domestic violence in same-sex relationships.
Transgender sex workers are transgender people who work in the sex industry or perform sexual services in exchange for money or other forms of payment. In general, sex workers appear to be at great risk for serious health problems related to their profession, such as physical and sexual assault, robbery, murder, physical and mental health problems, and drug and alcohol addiction. Though all sex workers are at risk for the problems listed, some studies suggest that sex workers who engage in street-based work have a higher risk for experiencing these issues. Transgender sex workers experience high degrees of discrimination both in and outside of the sex industry and face higher rates of contracting HIV and experiencing violence as a result of their work. In addition, a clear distinction needs to be made between consensual sex work and sex trafficking where there is a lack of control and personal autonomy.
Sexual assault of LGBT people, also known as sexual and gender minorities (SGM), is a form of violence that occurs within the LGBT community. While sexual assault and other forms of interpersonal violence can occur in all forms of relationships, it is found that sexual minorities experience it at rates that are equal to or higher than their heterosexual counterparts. There is a lack of research on this specific problem for the LGBT population as a whole, but there does exist a substantial amount of research on college LGBT students who have experienced sexual assault and sexual harassment.
Emily M. Douglas is a political scientist conducting research on child and family well-being, the child welfare system, fatal child maltreatment, domestic violence and divorced families, and corporal punishment. She is a full professor and the chair of the Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy at Montclair State University.
Violence against transgender people in the United States includes sexual, physical, and emotional violence. These acts of gender-based violence may result in the death of a transgender person. Transgender people are more likely to be violently attacked than cisgender ones. The murder rate for transgender individuals is estimated to be lower than that of cisgender people, though the trend is reversed for young Black or Latina transgender women. Between 2008 and 2020, 271 murders on trans people were reported in USA, giving c. 0.83 murders per 1,000,000 inhabitants and placing USA somewhere in the middle between "safe" and "unsafe" states, with reservation for inaccuracies and possible underreporting from some locations.
Discrimination against transgender men and transmasculine individuals, sometimes referred to as transandrophobia, anti-transmasculinity, or transmisandry, is a similar concept to transmisogyny and discrimination against non-binary people. Transmisogyny, discrimination against transgender men and discrimination against nonbinary people are types of transphobia which affect trans women, trans men and nonbinary people respectively.
LGBT trauma is the distress an individual experiences due to being a lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer person or from possessing another minoritized sexual or gender identity. This distress can be harmful to the individual and predispose them to trauma- and stressor-related disorders.
