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Features of violence against women

Science
Characteristics of violence against women.

✓ One in three women worldwide has experienced physical or sexual violence.

✓ Violence against women is a serious human rights violation and a form of discrimination against women. It is also an extreme manifestation of gender inequality.

✓ Gender-based violence against women refers to violence that is directed at a woman because she is a woman or that disproportionately affects women.

✓ Violence can take many forms: physical violence, psychological violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, sexual violence including rape, stalking, sexual harassment, forced abortion and forced sterilization.

✓ Domestic violence refers to all acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence that occur within the family or household or between former or current spouses or partners.

✓ When faced with violence, victims suffer short-term as well as long-term effects on the physical, psychological, social and economic levels.

✓ A form of rebuilding victims’ self-confidence is to treat them with care and respect, and to avoid blaming the victims. This increases victims’ trust in the justice system and increases the likelihood that women will report cases of violence.

✓ Violence against a mother often has a strong impact on her children when they directly or indirectly witness it.

✓ Violence against women affects all levels of society in terms of general well-being, health and safety, productivity and budgetary costs. The economic costs are high for society as a whole, not just the victim.

See also: Istanbul Convention of 11 May 2011.