Intimate partner sexual violence

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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. [1] [2] Women are the primary victims of this type of violence. [3]

Contents

Domestic violence and sexual abuse

Domestic sexual violence, such as forced sex or marital rape, may follow or be part of physical abuse, but is not always the case. In Mexico and the United States, studies estimate that 40–52% of women experiencing physical violence by an intimate partner have also been sexually coerced by that partner. [4] [5]

Sexual violence may occur without physical violence. [6] In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, in a representative sample of over 6000 men, 7% reported having sexually and physically abused their wives, 22% reported using sexual violence without physical violence and 17% reported that they had used physical violence alone. [7]

The percentage of women who are victims of physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner is around seventy. [8]

Types of coercion

Aggressors can use different techniques to sexually abuse their partner. [9]

Emotional coercion

Emotional coercion can be seen through the use of threats, manipulation, harassment, and neglect. A study shows that the harm done through this type of coercion is comparable to that done by rape. [9]

Threats to a third party

Threats to a third party involve threatening the intimate partner to do what the male wants or else he will inflict pain on people she cherishes. [9]

Threats of harm to the victim

Threats of harm to the victim imply threatening to inflict pain on the victim, whether by the intimate partner or by outsiders. [9]

Physical force

Physical force is the use of objects, substances, and/or one's own body to obtain sex. Homicide committed by an intimate partner is often preceded by sexual acts obtained through physical force. [9]

Health effects

Intimate partner sexual violence is linked to sexual, physical, psychological, and reproductive damage. [9] [3] [10] The effects can vary in duration. [3]

Women who are victims of intimate partner sexual violence are at high risk of getting HIV and STIs. [9] [11] [10] One reason for this is that men who are violent in this manner usually have dangerous habits like engaging in sexual acts with many individuals. [11]

Victims of intimate partner sexual violence are also at risk of having undesirable pregnancies, abortions, miscarriages, and stillbirths. Infertility is another possible consequence of this violence on women. [9]

Young victims of intimate partner sexual violence can come to adopt unhealthy behaviors such as the use of alcohol and drugs. [10]

Children who have seen intimate partner sexual violence are profoundly affected psychologically. They can experience post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Children are likely to incorporate what they see into their belief systems because they are accustomed to it. [9]

Incidence by country

Studies indicate that sexual assault by an intimate partner is neither rare nor unique to any particular region of the world. For instance, 23% of women in North London, England, reported having been the victim of either an attempted or completed rape by a partner in their lifetime. Similar figures have been reported for Guadalajara, Mexico (23.0%), León, Nicaragua, (21.7%), Lima, Peru (22.5%), and for the Midlands Province in Zimbabwe (25.0%). The prevalence of women sexually assaulted by an intimate partner in their lifetime (including attempted assaults) has also been estimated in a few national surveys (for example, Canada 8.0%, England, Wales and Scotland (combined) 14.2%, Finland 5.9%, Switzerland 11.6% and the United States 7.7%, Nigeria 22.3). [12] in France According to estimates, 220,000 women are victims of violence, 94,000 are raped each year and at least 100 were killed by their partners in 2021. Around 30% of sexual violence offenders were found to have committed violence before, 29% of complaints cases failed to move from police to the judiciary and 80% are closed without getting justice. [13]

The table below summarizes some available data on the prevalence of sexual coercion by intimate partners.

Percentage of adult women reporting sexual assaults by an intimate partner
selected population-based surveys

1989 - 2000

CountryStudy populationYearSample sizeAssaulted in the past 12 months attempted or completed sexEver assaulted attempted or completed forced sexEver assaulted completed forced sex
Brazil São Paulo 20009412.8%10.1%
Pernambuco 200011885.6%14.3%
Canada [14] [15] national1993123008.0%
Toronto 1991 to 199242015.3%
Chile [16] Santiago 19973109.1%
Finland [17] national1997 to 199870512.5%5.9%
Japan Yokohama 200012871.3%6.2%
Indonesia [18] Central Java 1999 to 200076513.0%22.0%
Mexico [19] Durango 199638442.0%
Guadalajara 199665015.0%23.0%
Nicaragua [20] [21] León 199336021.7%
Managua 199737817.7%
Peru Lima 200010867.1%22.5%
Cusco 2000153422.9%46.7%
Puerto Rico [22] national1993 to 199670795.7%
Sweden [23] Umeå 19912517.5%
Switzerland national1994 to 1995150011.6%
Thailand Bangkok 20001 05117.1%29.9%
Nakhon Sawan 2000102715.6%28.9%
Turkey [24] East and south-east Anatolia 199859951.9%
United Kingdom [25] [26] England, Scotland and Wales 1989100714.2%
North London 19934306.0%23.0%
United States [27] national1995 to 199680000.2%7.7%
West Bank and Gaza Strip [28] Palestinians 1995241027.0%
Zimbabwe [29] Midlands Province 199696625.0%

See also

Related Research Articles

Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which includes child sexual abuse, groping, rape, or the torture of the person in a sexual manner.

Acquaintance rape is rape that is perpetrated by a person who knows the victim. Examples of acquaintances include someone the victim is dating, a classmate, co-worker, employer, family member, spouse, counselor, therapist, religious official, or medical doctor. Acquaintance rape includes a subcategory of incidents labeled date rape that involves people who are in romantic or sexual relationships with each other. When a rape is perpetrated by a college student on another student, the term campus rape is sometimes used.

A proportion of victims of rape or other sexual violence incidents are male. Historically, rape was thought to be, and defined as, a crime committed solely against females. This belief is still held in some parts of the world, but rape of males is now commonly criminalized and has been subject to more discussion than in the past.

Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim. It occurs in times of peace and armed conflict situations, is widespread, and is considered to be one of the most traumatic, pervasive, and most common human rights violations.

Violence against women Violent acts committed primarily against women and girls

Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls. Such violence is often considered a form of hate crime, committed against women or girls specifically because they are female, and can take many forms.

Rape by gender classifies types of rape by the sex and/or gender of both the rapist and the victim. This scope includes both rape and sexual assault more generally. Most research indicates that rape affects women disproportionately, with the majority of people convicted being men; however, since the broadening of the definition of rape in 2012 by the FBI, more attention is being given to male rape, including females raping males.

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.

Teen dating violence is the physical, sexual, or psychological / emotional abuse within a dating relationship among adolescents. Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been a well examined and documented phenomenon in adults; however, there has not been nearly as much study on violence in adolescent dating relationships, and it is therefore not as well understood. The research has mainly focused on Caucasian youth, and, as of 2013, there are no studies which focus specifically on IPV in adolescent same-sex relationships.

Factors associated with being a victim of sexual violence

One of the most common forms of sexual violence around the world is that which is perpetrated by an intimate partner, leading to the conclusion that one of the most important risk factors for people in terms of their vulnerability to sexual assault is being married or cohabiting with a partner. Other factors influencing the risk of sexual violence include:

Initiatives to prevent sexual violence

As sexual violence affects all parts of society, the responses that arise to combat it are comprehensive, taking place on the individual, administrative, legal, and social levels. These responses can be categorized as:

Domestic violence Abuse of members of the same household

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, 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.

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.

Domestic violence in the United States

Domestic violence in United States is a form of violence that occurs within a domestic relationship. Although domestic violence often occurs between partners in the context of an intimate relationship, it may also describe other household violence, such as violence against a child, by a child against a parent or violence between siblings in the same household. It is recognized as an important social problem by governmental and non-governmental agencies, and various Violence Against Women Acts have been passed by the US Congress in an attempt to stem this tide.

Domestic violence in India

Domestic violence in India includes any form of violence suffered by a person from a biological relative but typically is the violence suffered by a woman by male members of her family or relatives. Although Men also suffer Domestic violence, the law under IPC 498A specifically protects only women. Specifically only a woman can file a case of domestic violence. According to a National Family and Health Survey in 2005, total lifetime prevalence of domestic violence was 33.5% and 8.5% for sexual violence among women aged 15–49. A 2014 study in The Lancet reports that although the reported sexual violence rate in India is among the lowest in the world, the large population of India means that the violence affects 27.5 million women over their lifetimes. However, an opinion survey among experts carried out by the Thomson Reuters Foundation ranked India as the most dangerous country in the world for 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 is prominent in Nigeria as in other parts of Africa. There is a deep cultural belief in Nigeria that it is socially acceptable to hit a woman as a disciplinary measure. Cases of Domestic violence are on the high and show no signs of reduction in Nigeria, regardless of the age, tribe, religion or even social status. The CLEEN Foundation reports 1 in every 3 respondents admitting to being a victim of domestic violence. The survey also found a nationwide increase in domestic violence in the past 3 years from 21% in 2011 to 30% in 2013. A CLEEN Foundation's 2012 National Crime and Safety Survey demonstrated that 31% of the national sample confessed to being victims of domestic violence.

Domestic violence in Kenya constitutes any harmful behavior against a family member or partner, including rape, assault, physical abuse, and forced prostitution. Domestic violence in Kenya reflects worldwide statistics in that women are the overwhelming majority of victims. Over 40% of married women in Kenya have reported being victims of either domestic violence or sexual abuse. Worldwide, over 30% of "ever-partnered women" aged 15 and older have experienced physical or sexual partner violence. The distinct factors and causes of this high percentage have often not been studied due to lack of data.

Domestic violence in same-sex relationships

Domestic violence in same-sex relationships 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.

Sexual assault of LGBT persons

Sexual assault of LGBT people 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.

Domestic violence in South Korea Domestic violence directed against women in South Korea

Domestic violence in South Korea is the mental, physical, verbal or sexual abuses or crimes of violence committed towards a victim in a domestic setting of marital relations and cohabitation. Domestic violence describes violence towards a domestic partner, towards children and between siblings. According to the Domestic Violence Survey of South Korea in 2010, elder abuse was estimated to be 10%, physical abuse accounted for 2.2%, emotional abuse 9%, economic abuse 1.2%, and neglect 2.5%. Marital violence has been the most prevalent form of family violence in South Korea. One out of six couples in South Korea had more than one episode of physical violence from their spouse.

References

  1. ↑ Advocacy. "Intimate Partner Sexual Violence". www.wcsap.org. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  2. ↑ "Definitions | Sexual Violence Research Initiative". www.svri.org. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  3. 1 2 3 "WHO | Intimate partner and sexual violence (violence against women)". WHO. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  4. ↑ Campbell JC, Soeken KL. Forced sex and intimate partner violence: effects on women’s risk and women’s health. Violence Against Women, 1999, 5:1017–1035.
  5. ↑ Granados Shiroma M.Salud reproductiva y violencia contra la mujer: un ana lisis desde la perspectiva de género. [Reproductive health and violence against women: an analysis from the gender perspective of Nuevo Leon, Asociación Mexicana de Población, Colegio de México, 1996.
  6. ↑ Hakimi M et al. Silence for the sake of harmony: domestic violence and women’s health in central Java. Yogyakarta, Gadjah Mada University, 2001.
  7. ↑ Martin SL et al. Sexual behaviour and reproductive health outcomes: associations with wife abuse in India. Journal of the American Medical Association, 1999, 282:1967–1972.
  8. ↑ "Facts and figures: Ending violence against women". UN Women. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 McOrmond-Plummer, Louise; Levy-Peck, Jennifer Y.; Easteal, Patricia (2016-12-08). Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence : A Multidisciplinary Approach to Prevention, Recognition, and Intervention. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-315-69342-2.
  10. 1 2 3 World Health Organization (2014). "Violence against women : intimate partner and sexual violence against women : intimate partner and sexual violence have serious short- and long-term physical, mental and sexual and reproductive health problems for survivors : fact sheet". hdl:10665/112325.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. 1 2 World Health Organization (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. Italy: World Health Organization. p. 22. ISBN   978-92-4-156462-5.
  12. ↑ "Nigeria". evaw-global-database.unwomen.org. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  13. ↑ "French march against violence against women, Yellow Vest movement".
  14. ↑ Rodgers K. Wife assault: the findings of a national survey. Juristat Service Bulletin, 1994, 14:1–22.
  15. ↑ Randall M et al. Sexual violence in women’s lives: findings from the women’s safety project, a community-based survey. Violence Against Women, 1995, 1:6–31.
  16. ↑ Gillioz L, DePuy J, Ducret V. Domination et violences envers la femme dans le couple. [Domination and violence against women in the couple.] Lausanne, Payot-Editions, 1997.
  17. ↑ Heiskanen M, Piispa M. Faith, hope and battering: a survey of men’s violence against women in Finland. Helsinki, Statistics Finland, 1998.
  18. ↑ Hakimi M et al. Silence for the sake of harmony: domestic violence and women’s health in central Java. Yogyakarta, Gadjah Mada University, 2001.
  19. ↑ Heise LL, Ellsberg M, Gottemoeller M. Ending violence against women. Baltimore, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Center for Communications Programs, 1999 (Population Reports, Series L, No.11).
  20. ↑ Morrison A et al. The socio-economic impact of domestic violence against women in Chile and Nicaragua. Washington, DC, Inter-American Development Bank, 1997.
  21. ↑ Ellsberg MC. Candies in hell: domestic violence against women in Nicaragua. Umea˚, Umea˚ University, 1997.
  22. ↑ Puerto Rico: encuesto de salud reproductiva 1995– 1996. [Puerto Rico: reproductive health survey 1995–1996.] San Juan, University of Puerto Rico and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998.
  23. ↑ Risberg G, Lundgren E, Westman G. Prevalence of sexualized violence among women: a populationbased study in a primary healthcare district. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 1999, 27:247–253.
  24. ↑ Ilkkaracan P et al. Exploring the context of women’s sexuality in Eastern Turkey. Reproductive Health Matters, 1998, 6:66–75.
  25. ↑ Painter K, Farrington DP. Marital violence in Great Britain and its relationship to marital and nonmarital rape. International Review of Victimology, 1998, 5:257–276.
  26. ↑ Mooney J. The hidden figure: domestic violence in north London. London, Middlesex University, 1993.
  27. ↑ Tjaden P, Thoennes N. Full report of the prevalence, incidence and consequences of violence against women: findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey. Washington, DC, National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000 (NCJ 183781).
  28. ↑ Haj Yahia MM. The incidence of wife abuse and battering and some demographic correlates revealed in two national surveys in Palestinian society. Ramallah, Besir Centre for Research and Development, 1998.
  29. ↑ Watts C et al. Withholding sex and forced sex: dimensions of violence against Zimbabwean women. Reproductive Health Matters, 1998, 6:57–65.

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