Types of Violence Against

Women:
A Life Cycle Approach
LYRE DIAMOND ABAQUITA
What is Violence Against Women?

 Violence against women is often a cycle of abuse that manifests itself in

many forms throughout their lives.
 Violence against women – particularly intimate partner violence and
sexual violence – is a major public health problem and a violation of
women’s human rights.
 Violence can negatively affect women’s physical, mental, sexual and
reproductive health, and may increase the risk of acquiring HIV in some
settings.
Phases of Violence Against Women

Pre-birth

Elderly Infancy

Reproductive
Age
Girlhood

Adolescence
Pre-birth

Sex-selective abortion,
battering during pregnancy
(emotional and physical
effects on the woman;
effects on birth outcome);
coerced pregnancy
(for example, mass rape in
war)
Examples:

 Sex selective abortion

-  is the practice of terminating a pregnancy based upon the predicted sex of the infant.
 Coerced Pregnancy
- any behaviors intended to coerce or pressure a partner to become or not become
pregnant.
 Battering during pregnancy
- occurs during pregnancy with women reporting blows to the pregnant abdomen,
injuries to the breast and genitals, and sexual assault.
Infancy

Female infanticide;
emotional and physical
abuse; differential access to
food and medical care for
girl infants
Examples:

 Infanticide
- the act of deliberately causing the death of a very young child (under 1 year old)
 Physical abuse
-  is any intentional act causing injury, trauma, bodily harm
 Differential access to food and medical care
- Drugs or medication taken in pregnancy can cross the placenta and impact on the
developing baby.
Girlhood

Child marriage; genital

mutilation; sexual abuse
by family members and
strangers; differential
access to food and
medical care; child
prostitution.
Examples

 Child marriage
- any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or
another child. 
 Genital mutilation
- comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female
genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
 Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by family members and strangers
 Differential access to food, medical care, and education
 Child trafficking
- the illegal movement of children, typically for the purposes of forced labor or
sexual exploitation.
Adolescence

Dating and courtship

violence; economically
coerced sex; sexual
abuse in the workplace;
rape; sexual harassment;
forced prostitution;
trafficking in women.
Examples:

 Violence during courtship

 Economically coerced sex
 Sexual abuse
 Forced marriage
-  a marriage that takes place without the consent of one or both people in the marriage.
 Acid Attack
- a form of violence, in which acid or another corrosive substance is thrown at a person -
usually a woman or a girl - with the intention of maiming, torturing or killing them.
 Trafficking
 Bullying
Reproductive Age

Abuse of women by
intimate male partners;
marital rape; dowry abuse
and murders; partners
homicide; psychological
abuse; sexual abuse in the
workplace; sexual
harassment; rape; abuse of
women with disabilities.
Examples:

 Physical, physiological and sexual abuse

 Forced pregnancies by partner
 Harassments; rape
 Homicide
- the killing of one human being by another
 Economic abuse
- involves the control of a partner or ex-partner's money and finances, as well as the things
that money can buy.
 Political abuse
- the deliberate misuse of a political position for the benefit of power itself
Splatter-proof room, pots of human soup: The grisly murder
of Hong Kong model Abby Choi
Elderly

Abuse of widows; elder

abuse
Examples

 Abuse of widows, including property grabbing; accusations of witchcraft

- In many countries widows find themselves the victims of physical and mental violence –
including sexual abuse – related to inheritance, land and property disputes.
 Physical and psychological violence by younger family members
-  include hitting, restraining a person inappropriately, hair pulling, forcibly feeding a person,
pinching, pushing, and any other mechanism intentionally used to cause physical harm.
 Differential access to food and medical care