Real Crime Stories/Paranormal Hauntings/Conspiracy Theories Book II

What Is Domestic Violence? (Part IV)

Sexual

Percentage of women who reported actual or attempted sexual assault by an intimate male partner (late 1990s):

Switzerland 12%

Germany 15%

US 15%

Canada 15%

Nicaragua 22%

UK 23%

Zimbabwe 25%

India 28%

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is concentrated in 29 countries with wide variations in prevalence. FGM is included in the WHO definition of sexual violence.

Sexual abuse is defined by World Health Organization as any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person's sexuality using coercion. It also includes obligatory inspections for virginity and female genital mutilation. Aside from initiation of the sexual act through physical force, sexual abuse occurs if a person is verbally pressured into consenting, unable to understand the nature or condition of the act, unable to decline participation, or unable to communicate unwillingness to engage in the sexual act. This could be because of underage immaturity, illness, disability, or the influence of alcohol or other drugs, or due to intimidation or pressure.

In many cultures, victims of rape are considered to have brought 'dishonor' or 'disgrace' to their families and face severe familial violence, including honor killings. This is especially the case if the victim becomes pregnant.

Female genital mutilation is defined by WHO as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons." This procedure has been performed on more than 125 million females alive today, and it is concentrated in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East.

Incest, or sexual contact between an adult and a child, is one form of familial sexual violence. In some cultures, there are ritualized forms of child sexual abuse taking place with the knowledge and consent of the family, where the child is induced to engage in sexual acts with adults, possibly in exchange for money or goods. For instance, in Malawi some parents arrange for an older man, often called "hyena", to have sex with their daughters as a form of initiation. The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse was the first international treaty to address child sexual abuse occurring within the home or family.

Reproductive coercion (also called "coerced reproduction") are threats or acts of violence against a partner's reproductive rights, health, and decision-making; and includes a collection of behaviors intended to pressure or coerce a partner into becoming pregnant or ending a pregnancy. Reproductive coercion is associated with forced sex, fear of or inability to make a contraceptive decision, fear of violence after refusing sex, and abusive partner interference with access to healthcare.

In some cultures, marriage imposes a social obligation for women to reproduce. In northern Ghana, for example, payment of bride price signifies a woman's requirement to bear children, and women using birth control face threats of violence and reprisals. WHO includes forced marriage, cohabitation, and pregnancy including wife inheritance within its definition of sexual violence. Wife inheritance, or levirate marriage, is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his widow, and the widow is obliged to marry her deceased husband's brother.

Marital rape is non-consensual penetration perpetrated against a spouse. It is under-reported, under-prosecuted, and legal in many countries, due in part to the belief that through marriage, a woman gives irrevocable consent for her husband to have sex with her when he wishes. In Lebanon, for instance, while discussing a proposed law that would criminalize marital rape, Sheik Ahmad Al-Kurdi, a judge in the Sunni religious court, said that the law "could lead to the imprisonment of the man where in reality he is exercising the least of his marital rights." Feminists have worked systematically since the 1960s to criminalize marital rape internationally. In 2006, a study by the United Nations found that marital rape was a prosecutable offense in at least 104 countries. Once widely condoned or ignored by law and society, marital rape is now repudiated by international conventions and increasingly criminalized. The countries which ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, the first legally binding instrument in Europe in the field of violence against women, are bound by its provisions to ensure that non-consensual sexual acts committed against a spouse or partner are illegal. The convention came into force in August 2014.