Programs & Services > Violence Against Women > Women abuse overview
What You Should Know about Woman Abuse
What is woman abuse?
Definition of Abuse:
Woman abuse involves the intent by a male partner to intimidate and control his female partner, either by threat or by use of physical force on her person or her property. The purpose of abuse is to induce fear and thus gain control. Underlying all abuse is a power imbalance between the victim and offender.
How much do you know? Take our Woman Abuse Quiz to find out
Intimate partner violence in older women is broadly defined as:
- actual or threatened physical or sexual violence used by an intimate partner to cause death, disability, injury or harm to victims, and psychological abuse used to cause trauma in victims;
- physically violent acts include but are not limited to scratching, shoving, choking, punching and shaking;
- sexually violent acts include the use of physical force to compel victims to engage in a sexual act against their will, an attempted or completed sex act on [sic] a person who is unable to understand the nature or condition of the act, and abusive sexual contact; and
- psychological abuse includes acts such as controlling what victims can and cannot do, using verbal put downs, isolating victims, prohibiting access to transportation or the telephone, and inflicting humiliation.
(Amy E. Bonomi, A. et al. (2007). Intimate Partner Violence in Older Women. The Gerontologist. 47 (1), 34)
For information on same-sex partner abuse see David Kelley section of our website
Types of abuse
Emotional and Psychological
- involves threats to children, family, pets or self:
Examples include:
- threats to take the children away
- insults, name-calling, put-downs, abusive language
- cheating, lying
- mind games
- throwing away or destroying possessions
- threatening with a weapon
- devaluing a woman’s opinion
- ridiculing a woman’s family and friends
- using children as pawns to control or manipulate
- forcing a woman to do degrading things
- isolating from family and friend
- controlling or attempting to control all of a woman’s activities.
Economic
- involves any material threat to a woman’s ability to survive independently with or without children
Examples include:
- deprivation of money
- making women account for every penny
- controlling all access to cash and/or credit
- stealing money
- denial of access to financial records, bank statements, monetary resources
- minimizing resources necessary to sustain basic needs
- coercing women into co-signing loans
- forcing women to cover past debts
- lying about money earned or spent, payment of bills
- making women beg for money
Sexual
- involves any type of unwanted sexual approach, innuendo, suggestion or act:
Examples include:
- jokes demeaning to women
- unwanted touching
- sexual insults
- forced, non-consenting sex
- sexual accusations
- distasteful, painful sexual acts [i.e., rape]
- flaunting stories of affairs
- comparisons to other women
- being treated as a sex object
- denying pleasure to control or manipulate
- unwanted use of pornographic material
- engaging in risky sexual behaviours
- refusing to accept no as an answer to request for sexual contact
Physical
- involves any type of physical force used to compel or control a woman, any aggressive behaviour done by the abuser to a woman’s body:
Examples include:
- pushing
- pulling
- grabbing
- spitting
- holding, restraining
- pinching
- pulling hair
- slapping
- hitting
- punching
- choking
- throwing objects
- using weapons
- poisoning
- clubbing
- whipping
- burning
- throwing acid
- stabbing
- shooting
- killing
To arrange for counselling, please call our Service Access Unit, Tel: 416.595.9618
