Physical Abuse
Any physical acts meant to hurt, punish, injure, or kill another person. Acts included but are not limited to hitting, kicking, strangulation, slapping, use of a weapon, grabbing, biting, or restraint. (5)
Sexual Abuse
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines sexual violence (SV) as any sexual act that is committed against someone who does not consent or is unable to consent or refuse. (41)
The perpetration of SV includes:
- Nonconsensual sex acts (e.g., rape, unwanted penetration)
- Attempted nonconsensual sex acts or abusive sexual contact (e.g., unwanted touching)
- Noncontact sexual abuse (e.g., threatened SV, exposure to exhibitionism, verbal sexual harassment) (41)
Psychological/Emotional/Proprietary Control
Proprietariness is defined as a set of beliefs and values, considering one’s partner as a type of property. (18)
- Attempting to control thoughts and actions of another, manipulation, name calling, exploitation of vulnerability, limiting access to friends, family, monetary resources, cell phone usage, etc.
Stalking
Consistently following, calling, emailing, texting another person, sending unwanted flowers, damaging personal property, threatening family, friends, pets, etc. (5)
*Women are more likely than men to be victims of rape, physical assault, and stalking (40). There are increasing rates of male victimization; however, many men decline to report IPV due to fear of emasculation. (23)
* Women tend to exhibit more psychological abuse while men tend to initiate physical violence (25).
Effects of Physical and Sexual Violence
- Physical and sexual abuse may have acute and long-term mental health consequences such as depression, anxiety, fear and PTSD. (6)
- Survivors feel guilty or shameful regarding the encounter.
- Resulting trauma is often repressed in order to experience short-lived peace.
- Signs of depressive or anxiety disorders may have delayed manifestations. (6)
- Victims, especially women who feel they have limited control over the decisions made in their relationship, may adopt a hopeless perspective on life.
- Hopelessness Theory of Depression- a negative life event (for example IPV) combined with a pessimistic view of life (hopelessness), has enough potential for depression to manifest within an individual. (6)
- Feeling a loss of control prohibits depressed individuals from believing they have the power to change their dangerous situation—creating a subordinate breeding ground for the abuser to possess control.
- Anxiety, on the other hand, is a mixture of unpleasant future oriented thought patterns and emotions that involve excessive worrying, self-doubt, and negativity. Abuse has the potential to distort the perceptions of its victims—causing them to channel the (often false) fear response whenever deemed appropriate. (6)
Negative Health Issues Associated with Sexual Violence
- Women in abusive relationships are more likely to have an abortion than those in non-abusive relationships. (33)
- Those with unintended pregnancies report higher levels of abuse than those with intended pregnancies. (33)
- Increased health issues and symptoms correlated with being sexually abused include:
- vaginal infections
- amenorrhea
- urinary tract infections
- menstrual cycle changes (22)
- Cervical cancer and other STDs are positively associated with physical and sexual abuse in women. (8)
- There are significant associations between physical, sexual, emotional violence, and negative reproductive health problems (12).
- Abuse is related to depression, anxiety, substance abuse, suicide attempts. (12)
- There is a higher prevalence of violence within those who have had miscarriages or abortions. (12)
