Violence Against Women


The United Nations defines violence against women as any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.

There are many forms of violence against women, including sexual, physical, or emotional abuse by an intimate partner; physical or sexual abuse by family members or others; sexual harassment and abuse by authority figures (such as teachers, police officers or employers); trafficking for forced labour or sex; and such traditional practices as forced or child marriages, dowry-related violence; and honour killings, when women are murdered in the name of family honour. Systematic sexual abuse in conflict situations is another form of violence against women.

At Birmingham & Solihull Women’s Aid, we recognise that different forms of violence against women are inter-connected due to perceived and actual male privilege in society. Although each woman’s experience is unique, there are common factors in the types of abuse and also in the kinds of support women need.

This section of the website exists to give information on different forms of violence against women for students, other professionals and members of the public who are interested in these subjects. Each page will give an explanation of the subject and examples of resources, including websites, publications, case studies and news items. We will endeavour to keep these up-to-date and accurate; however, we do not accept liability for information on external websites. We welcome contributions to this section – please visit the Contact Us page to let us know.

NB: We will use the terms ’survivor’, ‘victim’ and ‘victim/ survivor’ in these pages. Many people prefer ’survivor’ as ‘victim’ can be viewed as a negative term; however, it is a term used by the police and other public services with no intention to cause offence. ‘Survivor’ can be seen as more positive; however, it does infer that the person has ‘come through’ the experience, as opposed to being currently affected by it, hence the need to use both words at different times.

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