Violence against women and girls is one of the world’s most prevalent human rights violations, taking place every day, many times over, in every corner of the globe. It has serious short- and long-term physical, economic and psychological consequences on women and girls, preventing their full and equal participation in society.

The magnitude of its impact, both in the lives of individuals and families and society as a whole, is immeasurable. Conditions created by humanitarian, health and environmental crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts, and climate change have further intensified violence against women and girls, exacerbated existing challenges and generated new and emerging threats.

This article provides an overview of the main forms of violence against women and girls, along with other commonly used terms, that any gender equality activist should have in their vocabulary toolkit.

Gender-based violence

Gender-based violence is defined as violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty.

Discrimination against women and inequality in the distribution of power and resources between men and women are root causes of violence against women.

Types of violence against women

Intimate-partner violence

Intimate partner violence refers to behaviour by an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behaviours. This is one of the most common forms of violence experienced by women globally.

Intimate partner violence is one of the manifestations of domestic violence. Domestic violence is violence that occurs within the private, domestic sphere, generally between individuals who are related through blood or intimacy. Domestic violence is not confined to women, for example it also includes child abuse and elderly abuse in the domestic sphere.

Types of Intimate partner violence:

• Physical violence: Acts like slapping, choking or burning.
• Sexual violence: Coercive acts including spousal rape.
• Psychological violence: Tactics of fear and control such as intimidation or forced isolation.
• Economic violence: Maintaining total control over financial resources, withholding access to money, and/or forbidding attendance at school or employment, among others.

Learn more: The signs of relationship abuse and how to help

Sexual violence

Sexual violence is any sort of harmful or unwanted sexual behaviour that is imposed on someone. It includes acts of abusive sexual contact, forced engagement in sexual acts, attempted or completed sexual acts with a woman without her consent, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, threats, exposure, unwanted touching, incest, and others.

Sexual violence can include the following:

• Sexual harassment may involve any conduct of a verbal, nonverbal or physical nature, including written and electronic communications. Sexual harassment can take a variety of forms – from looks and words though to physical contact of a sexual nature. Examples of sexual harassment include sharing sexual or lewd anecdotes or jokes; unwelcome touching, including pinching, patting, rubbing, or purposefully brushing up against another person, repeatedly asking a person for dates or asking for sex and making sexual comments about appearance, clothing, or body parts, among others.
• Rape is any sexual penetration without consent or as a result of intimidation, force, fraud, coercion, threat, deception, use of drugs or alcohol, abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, or the giving or receiving of benefits. This can be by any person known or unknown to the survivor, within marriage and relationships, and during armed conflict.
• Corrective rape is a form of rape perpetrated against someone on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. It is intended to force the victim to conform to heterosexuality or normative gender identity.
• Sexual exploitation are acts of abuse of a position of vulnerability, power or trust, or use of force or threat of force, for profiting financially, physically, socially or politically from the prostitution or sexual acts of a person. Sexual exploitation is the most prevalent form of human trafficking.
• Sexual violence in conflict: Acts of violence against women include violation of the human rights of women in situations of armed conflict, such as systematic rape, sexual slavery and forced pregnancy, as well as forced sterilization, coercive/forced use of contraceptives, female infanticide and prenatal sex selection.

Femicide

Femicide (feminicide) is the intentional killing of a woman or a girl because she is a woman or a girl. The gender-related motivation of the killing may range from discrimination towards women and girls, harmful stereotypes, to unequal power dynamics between women and men. Femicide is the most extreme and brutal expression of gender-based violence.

Femicide can take place in a wide range of contexts, both private and public, and within different types of relationships between the perpetrator and victim. Often, gender-related killings involve cases with a previous record of physical, sexual, or psychological violence/harassment. Femicide is also found in situations involving human trafficking, forced labour, or slavery. In some cases, the body of the victim is disposed of in a public space, pointing to the perpetrator’s intent to display power and reinforce fear.

Gender-related killings can also include so-called honor killings, where family members, usually targeting women or girls within the family unit, commit murder for the purported reason that the person has brought dishonor or shame upon the family. These killings often have to do with ideas of sexual purity and supposed transgressions that are culturally condemned, leading to brutal consequences for female family members.

Human trafficking

Human trafficking is a global crime that trades in people and exploits them for profit. Physical and sexual abuse, blackmail, emotional manipulation, and the removal of official documents are used by traffickers to control their victims. Exploitation can take place in a victim's home country, during migration or in a foreign country.

Human trafficking has many forms. While men, women and children of all ages and from all backgrounds can become victims of this crime, women are the primary targets and girls are mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation.

Harmful practices

Harmful practices are a violation of human rights that put women’s and adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health and rights at great risk. A variety of harmful practices exist, including female genital mutilation (FGM), child and forced marriage, virginity testing and related practices, extreme dietary restrictions, including during pregnancy (force-feeding, food taboos), binding, scarring, branding/ infliction of tribal marks, corporal punishment, stoning, violent initiation rites, widowhood practices, accusations of witchcraft and ritual attacks, son preference, daughter aversion and gender-biased sex selection, honor crimes, dowry related violence, menstruation restrictions,  infanticide, incest and body modifications that are performed for the purpose of beauty or marriageability of girls and women.

Harmful practices can include the following:

• Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It is most often carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15.

  FGM has no health benefits and can lead to serious, long-term complications and even death. Immediate health risks include hemorrhage, shock, infection, HIV transmission, urine retention and severe pain. Psychological impacts can range from a girl losing trust in her caregivers, to longer-term feelings of anxiety and depression. In adulthood, girls subjected to FGM are more likely to suffer infertility or complications during childbirth, including postpartum hemorrhage, stillbirth and early neonatal death.

  Numerous factors contribute to the persistence of the practice. Yet in every society in which it occurs, FGM is an expression of deeply rooted gender inequality. In every form in which it is practiced, FGM is a violation of girls’ and women’s fundamental human rights, including their rights to health, security and dignity. It was first classified as violence in 1997 via a joint statement issued by WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA.

• Child, early and forced marriage: Child marriage is any marriage where at least one of the parties is under 18 years of age. Forced marriage is a marriage in which one and/or both parties have not personally expressed their full and free consent to the union. A child marriage is considered to be a form of forced marriage, given that one and/or both parties have not expressed full, free and informed consent.

  It is widely recognized that child marriage is a violation of children’s rights and has several harmful effects on the lives of children (overwhelmingly girls), including early and frequent pregnancies, higher risks of maternal mortality and morbidity, limited decision-making in family matters and school dropout.

Online or technology-facilitated violence

Technology-facilitated violence against women is any harmful act that is committed, assisted, aggravated, or amplified by the use of digital tools or information communication technologies. These acts can result in or have the potential to cause, physical, sexual, psychological, social, political, or economic harm, as well as infringe on rights and freedoms. This violence can occur in online spaces, and it can be perpetrated offline through the use of technological means, such as controlling a woman’s whereabouts by using a GPS tracker.

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence not only intensifies existing forms and patterns of violence against women, such as intimate-partner violence, but also introduces new forms of violence such as online stalking and image-based abuse through artificial intelligence like deepfake videos.

While all women and girls who are online or who use digital tools may face violence online, some groups are at greater risk. These include women who are most visible online, including women in public life, journalists, human rights defenders, politicians, young women and girls and feminist activists.

Online violence can include the following:

• Cyberbullying: involves sending intimidating or threatening messages.
• Non-consensual sexting: sending explicit messages or photos without the recipient’s consent.
• Doxing: public release of private or identifying information about the victim.

To read the Albanian version, click here.