Abuse of Women: Forms, Causes, and Impacts

This literature review focuses on abuse that is carried out against the women and states forward the theoretical reasons why the women are tortured. It covers different forms of abuse, including physical, sexual, financial, and digital abuse, and discusses the causes and impacts of each form. The review also highlights the vulnerability of women with disabilities and immigrant women to abuse.

Running head: ABUSE OF WOMEN
Abuse of Women
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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The women in the society have to experience violence in different ways and this has
physical along with emotional effects on their health. The violence that is perpetrated on the
women can be in the form of physical abuse, sexual assault, financial abuse or sexual
harassment. The violence on women can also be termed as hate crimes as this type of
violence is on the basis of gender (Donnelly & Whelan, 2017). This literature review focuses
on abuse that is carried out against the women and states forward the theoretical reasons why
the women are tortured.
Intimate partner violence includes physical and emotional abuse and it is carried out
by a person with whom the abused has a close personal relationship. Intimate partner
violence affects a large number of women in the United States. Staying in a verbally abusive
relationship produces long-lasting effects on the physical along with mental health of an
individual. It can pave the path for chronic pain or anxiety in the women. It has been stated
by Peters and Wolper (2018),that domestic violence occurs when another individual controls
the actions of another person and humiliates the person on purpose. The male partner can
control the birth control and insists that the partner should become pregnant that gives rise to
domestic violence. Domestic violence takes place when the male partner wants to dominate
the female partner. According to Hassanian-Moghaddam, Zamani and Sarjami (2016), the
abusers want to control the partner owing to low self-esteem and jealousy. The male partner
may feel inferior pertaining to education along with socioeconomic background and this
causes them to inflict violence on the opposite gender.
Digital abuse is carried out against the women by making use of technology like
social media. The digital abuse carried out against the women can include harassment on the
social media and it involves repeated unwanted calls. The partners respect the relationship
boundaries in the case of a healthy relationship. According to Alshammari, McGarry and
Higginbottom (2018), In the event of a person overstepping the relationship boundaries,

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abuse is perpetrated on the women. Digital abuse takes place in the event of the partner not
being able to respect the relationship boundaries. The male partner may feel that he has the
right to know every minute details about the life of the partner that can cause digital abuse.
Elder abuse takes place in the event of a trusted caregiver harming an older person.
Elder abuse is perpetrated on the women when a person knowingly neglects the older person
so that harm is inflicted on them by withholding of food or the medical care. According to
Hassanian-Moghaddam, Zamani and Sarjami (2016), elder abuse occurs more against the
women as compared to the men and it can occur in the nursing home or in the assisted living
facility. Elder abuse happens because the abuser has control over the older person. The drug
and the alcohol problem can also pave the path for elder abuse. In the event of a family
having history pertaining to anti-social behaviour elder abuse takes place. Abuse takes place
when the family goes through a time that involves high amount of stress.
Financial abuse occurs when the abuser takes control of the finances that can cause
the abuser to maintain power within a relationship. The abuse can take control of the money
and hide the financial information from the victim. Financial abuse takes place in the case of
physically abusive relationships. Financial abuse is carried out against the women when they
are asked to leave the job or prevented from working (Donnelly & Whelan, 2017). The
women are not provided with the opportunity to access the bank accounts and the assets are
hidden from them that gives rise to financial abuse against the women. Financial abuse
occurs in the event of the greed of an individual being greater than their ability of staying fair
and honest.
Sexual harassment occurs against the women in the workplace in the event of another
person making unwelcome sexual advances. It is also inclusive of verbal or the physical
behaviours that affects the job of an individual. Sexual harassment violates the work and it

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can be said to be illegal. According to García-Moreno et al. (2015), sexual harassment can
also take place in the form of sexual coercion. Coercion occurs when an individual is forced
in nonphysical way into that of sexual activity. Sexual harassers in the workplace can be the
managers or the co-workers. Sexual harassment takes place as they lack power and their
insecure positions in the society makes them vulnerable to sexual harassment. According to
Womenshealth.gov. (2018), one in ten women in United States are sexually assaulted at the
course of their life and more than half of the women living with the men have faced incidents
related to domestic violence. The male perception related to masculinity causes sexual
harassment.
The female immigrants have to face various challenges like the fear of losing custody
of the children that often compels them to hide incidences of sexual abuse. According to
Beijer et al. (2018), the refugee women do not report about violence as they feel that they can
be humiliated by the community and they are taught that family duty should take the
precedence. The immigrant women have higher chances of getting abused owing to the
language barriers and the immigration laws. A study carried out at New York City has
revealed that 51 % of that of intimate partner homicide victims are foreign-born whereas 45
percent are born within the United States (Heise, 2018). The abusers feel that immigration
status of the partner can act as a tool in relation to control.
Research has brought out the fact that the women suffering from disabilities have
more chances of experiencing domestic abuse because they incapable of reporting about the
abuse. They feel isolated and they cannot report as they may be dependent on abuser.
According to Jaising (2018), there are more chances that the women in the family are abused
by people whom they know like partner or a member of a family. It has been stated by
Maseroli et al. (2018) that violence against the women who have disabilities is carried out
mostly by the spouses or the partners. The women who have disabilities have to face abuse

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from the personal assistants. The women having disabilities needs help in relation to the daily
activities like bathing and dressing that makes them more vulnerable to abuse.
Women in society have to undergo violence in various forms that has repurcussions
on their mental along with physical health. There are different forms of domestic violence
like physical abuse, financial abuse and sexual harassment. Domestic violence occurs in the
event of the male partner trying to dominate female partner. Self-esteem along with jealousy
causes the abuser to inflict violence on the victim. A partner not being able to respect
relationship boundaries can pave the path for domestic violence. Elder abuse takes place
when an abuse wants to control older person. A person suffering from alcohol problem can
lead an individual to perpetrate violence on another individual. Financial abuse takes place
when individual greed becomes greater as compared to their ability of staying honest. Sexual
harassment is inflicted on the women because of their insecure position within the societal
framework. The perception of the male gender in respect to masculinity gives rise to sexual
harassment. The women who have disabilities have greater chances of being abused as they
cannot report regarding the abuse. The women who are disabled feel isolated and they have to
rely on abuser that causes the abuse.

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References:
Alshammari, K. F., McGarry, J., & Higginbottom, G. M. A. (2018). Nurse education and
understanding related to domestic violence and abuse against women: An integrative
review of the literature. Nursing Open.
Beijer, U., Scheffel Birath, C., DeMartinis, V., & af Klinteberg, B. (2018). Facets of male
violence against women with substance abuse problems: women with a residence and
homeless women. Journal of interpersonal violence, 33(9), 1391-1411.
Donnelly, J., & Whelan, D. J. (2017). International human rights. Hachette UK.
García-Moreno, C., Zimmerman, C., Morris-Gehring, A., Heise, L., Amin, A., Abrahams, N.,
... & Watts, C. (2015). Addressing violence against women: a call to action. The
Lancet, 385(9978), 1685-1695.
Hassanian-Moghaddam, H., Zamani, N., & Sarjami, S. (2016). Violence and abuse against
women who have attempted suicide by deliberate self-poisoning: A 2-year follow-up
study in Iran. Journal of interpersonal violence, 31(7), 1257-1273.
Heise, L. (2018). Violence against women: the missing agenda. In The health of women (pp.
171-196). Routledge.
Jaising, I. (2018). Violence against women: The Indian perspective. In Women's rights,
human rights (pp. 51-56). Routledge.
Maseroli, E., Scavello, I., Rastrelli, R., Limoncin, E., Cipriani, S., Jannini, E., ... & Vignozzi,
L. (2018). 059 Psychological and Sexual Correlates of Sexual Abuse in Women with
Sexual Dysfunction. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 15(6), S114.
Peters, J. S., & Wolper, A. (Eds.). (2018). Women's rights, human rights: International
feminist perspectives. Routledge.

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Womenshealth.gov. (2018). Office on Women's Health. Retrieved from
https://www.womenshealth.gov/