Domestic Violence

Abstract

Nearly all literature across the world equates domestic violence (DV) with violence against women specifically. Encompassing-but not limited to-domestic violence, the United Nations (UN) defines acts of violence against women as acts of gender-based violence with numerous effects, such as mental, sexual, or physical harm. These effects extend not only to the public sphere, but to the private too, encompassing threatening and coercive acts, as well as any acts that endanger one’s freedoms. However, intimate partner violence (IPV) is considered by primary literature as a subset under domestic violence, referring to the harm that may be enacted in an intimate relationship-such as a romantic or sexual relationship-with effects manifesting themselves in sexual, psychological, or physical harm.