Wikipedia source excerpts
, and shame, or to protect children. As a result of abuse, victims may experience physical disabilities, dysregulated aggression, chronic health problems, mental illness, limited finances, and a poor ability to create healthy relationships. Victims may experience severe psychological disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
In India, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 came into effect in 2006. The Act also includes Sexual Abuse which is defined as any sexual act which harms the dignity of a woman. Marital rape was included in the sexual abuse.
As per the National Family Health Survey - 3 (2005-06), 10% females have faced sexual violence by their husbands ever.
In NFHS -4 (2015-16), 7% females faced sexual violence by their husbands ever.
In NFHS - 5 (2019-21), 6% females faced sexual violence by their husbands ever.
So, after coming of Civil Law - Prevention of Women from Domestic Violence, 2005, percentage of females who faced sexual violence by their husbands decreased from 10% to 6%.
The law was made because the females wanted to live in violence free homes and did not want to involve the police.
In the National Family Health Survey of India conducted under the Health Ministry of India, Sexual Violence is defined as follows :
physically force you to have sexual intercourse with him even when you did not want to;
physically force you to perform any other sexual acts you did not want to;
force you with threats or in any other way to perform sexual acts you did not want to.
In India, There is provision of punishment of imprisonment or fine or both for Marital Rape under these cases :
1.When the female or male is a minor.
2.When a female and her husband are living separately means their marriage is on pause.
Like other forms of domestic violence, domestic sexual violence is generally faced by females but also faced by males.
The W.H.O. defines sexual abuse 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 injury 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, Middle East and also in Indonesia.
Sexual contact between a closely related adult and a child is one form of familial sexual violence. In some cultures, there are ritual 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 a 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 health-care.
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 who use contraception 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 UN 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 Istanbul Convention, 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.
Emotional or psychological abuse is a pattern of behavior that threatens, intimidates, dehumanizes or systematically undermines self-worth. According to the Istanbul Convention, psychological violence is "the intentional conduct of seriously impairing a person's psychological integrity through coercion or threats".
Emotional abuse includes minimizing, threats, isolation, public humiliation, unrelenting criticism, constant personal devaluation, coercive control, repeated stonewalling and gaslighting. Stalking is a common form of psychological intimidation, and is most often perpetrated by former or current intimate partners. Victims tend to feel their partner has nearly total control over them, greatly affecting the power dynamic in a relationship, empowering the perpetrator, and disempowering the victim. Victims often experience depression, putting them at increased risk of eating disorders, suicide, and drug and alcohol abuse.
Coercive control involves a controlling behavior designed to make a person dependent by isolating them from support, exploiting them of independence and regulating their everyday activities. It involves the acts of verbal assault, punish, humiliation, threats or intimidation. Coercive control can occur physically, for example through physical abuse, harming or frightening the victims. The victim's human rights might be infringed through being deprived of their right to liberty and reduced ability to act freely. Abusers tend to dehumanize, make threats, deprive basic needs and personal access, isolate, and track the victim's daily schedule via spyware.