ABOUT GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

Gender-based violence describes any form of harm perpetrated against an individual or group which disproportionately impacts one gender. 

Gender-based violence can come from strangers or people you know well, including sexual or romantic partners. 

Instances of gender-based violence are not always explicitly, physically violent, but their impact is always harmful. 

Some factors – from your immigration status, to working as a sex worker, or financial hardship – can make you more vulnerable to experiencing gender-based violence, and make it harder to access support. 

Regardless of your identity, or the context in which an incident occurred, sexual and gender-based violence are never the fault of the person experiencing them, and you are entitled to support. 

Below is a list of forms gender-based violence can take.  

Please note that this list includes descriptions of violence, which some may find distressing. If you’d like to discuss whether something you have experienced is gender-based violence without reading the list below, please reach out to the Advice Place whose trained and professional caseworkers can advise and support you. 

• Coercive control, including financial abuse: Coercive control describes any behaviour (or pattern of behaviours) that is designed to humiliate and/or intimidate the target. Coercive control might look like your partner isolating you from friends or family, monitoring how you spend your time and/or money, or criticising you and your behaviour. Find out more here. 
• Harassment, including sexual harassment: Harassment describes any unwanted behaviour that makes you feel scared, embarrassed, or humiliated. Sexual harassment might look like comments about your body or sex life, sexually suggestive or explicit messages, or unwanted physical touch (this may also be considered sexual assault). 
• Image-based sexual abuse: Image-based sexual abuse (sometimes known as revenge porn) describes the act of someone taking, sharing, or threatening to share sexual images or videos or you, without your consent. That might look like them photographing you during sex without you being aware, sending private photos you sent them to their friends, or saying that they’ll post sexual videos of you on public websites. Find out more here. 
• Intimate partner violence, including domestic abuse: Intimate partner violence describes any form of sexual or gender-based violence that you experience from a current or previous sexual or romantic partner. You don’t have to be living together, or be in a committed monogamous relationship for it to be considered intimate partner violence, and intimate partner violence may include any of the other forms of sexual and gender-based violence mentioned in this list. Find out more here. 
• Online sexual abuse: Online sexual abuse describes any form of sexual harassment, exploitation, or abuse that takes place digitally; that might be over social media, messaging apps, email, or livestreaming sites. That might look like someone leaving sexual comments on your posts, anonymously sending you sexual images of themself, or trying to coerce you into sharing sexual content of yourself. 
• Rape: Legally, rape describes any non-consensual penetration by a penis of someone’s vagina, anus, or mouth. Rape may include physical violence, but also includes situations where someone is threatened, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or feels unable to say no. 
• Sexual assault: Legally, sexual assault describes any non-consensual sexual act; this may include penetration, or other forms of physical contact, but might also look like someone forcing you to watch a sexual act. Sexual assault may include physical violence, but also includes situations where someone is threatened, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or feels unable to say no. 
• Sexual exploitation: Sexual exploitation describes any situation is which your vulnerability, or a power imbalance between you and the perpetrator, is used for sexual purposes. That might look like someone offering you money, housing, food, or drugs in return for sexual acts, someone asking you for sex when you are distressed, or someone in a position of power over you – for example, a manager at work or a University staff member – making sexual advances towards you. 
• Stalking: Stalking describes a pattern of behaviour which makes you feel surveilled and afraid. That might look like an ex-partner watching your home, someone you rejected on a dating app regularly showing up at your workplace, or someone anonymously repeatedly messaging you. Find out more here. 

Many of these acts are criminal offences, but just because something isn’t a crime or you don’t want to report it to the Police, it doesn’t mean it’s okay, and you’re entitled to support.