The Four Types Of Domestic Violence Or Intimate Partner Violence

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The terms Domestic Violence or Intimate partner violence are gender-neutral as it is assumes that any gender can be a victims and a perpetrator of abuse. Domestic violence refers to the use of physical or sexual force, actual or threatened violent acts in an intimate relationship (Alberta Justice Communications, 2014). It can also be understood as a pattern of behavior use by an individual’s to gain power and control over another individual with whom he or she has or had an intimate relationship (Ontario Health and Safety Council of Ontario, 2013).
Intimate partner violence can be described as a subset of domestic violence with involves intimate partners. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Intimate partner violence refers to the acts of physical violence, sexual violence, stalking and psychological aggression, including coercive behaviors, by a current or former intimate partner, i.e. spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, dating partner or ongoing sexual partner. The center conceptualizes the term based on four types:
1. Physical violence: This
However, the term is traditionally connoted to suggest gender-oriented undertones as men are portrayed as perpetuators and women as victims. In the same document, the WHO (2010) mentioned that women can be violent in relationships with men, `often in self-defense’, and the most common perpetrators of violence against women are male intimate partners or ex-partners. They also suggested that men are likely to experience violent acts by strangers or acquaintances than by someone close to them. This tends to deflect the reality of intimate partner abuse from being interpreted as a violent behavior but a gender-oriented phenomenon which reaffirms the patriarchal structure in the society, according to feminist

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