Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse is an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading or violent behaviour, from a partner, ex-partner or family member. Domestic abuse is a crime.

Statistics show that most domestic abuse is carried out by men and experienced by women – but it can happen to anyone, regardless of age, background, ethnicity, gender, religion or sexuality. Domestic abuse is always the fault of the abuser and is never the fault of the person experiencing it.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 defines domestic abuse as:

“Behaviour of a person (“A”) towards another person (“B”) is “domestic abuse” if:

1. A and B are each aged 16 or over and are personally connected to each other, and
2. the behaviour is abusive.

Behaviour is “abusive” if it consists of any of the following:

1. physical or sexual abuse;
2. violent or threatening behaviour;
3. controlling or coercive behaviour;
4. economic abuse;
5. psychological, emotional or other abuse;

and it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct.”

“Personally connected” includes partners, ex-partners and family members.

For more information and support, contact the 24/7 National Domestic Abuse Helpline: National Domestic Abuse Helpline (nationaldahelpline.org.uk)

Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as cutting, is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as "all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons".

It is usually carried out on young girls between infancy and puberty. FGM is illegal in the UK and the significant health problems it can cause are widely recognised.

For more information and support, contact FORWARD: FORWARD (forwarduk.org.uk)

Forced marriage is a marriage conducted where one or both spouses do not (or cannot) consent to the marriage and duress or pressure is involved. It is also when anything is done to make someone marry before they turn 18, even if there is no pressure or abuse.

The pressure put on people to marry could include physical, emotional, sexual or financial abuse. This is a form of domestic abuse but can also involve people other than family members or partners, and can be an element of so-called ‘honour’-based abuse.

Forced marriage is not the same as an arranged marriage, where both parties enter into the marriage freely.

Harmful 'traditional' practices are types of abuse which have been committed primarily against women and girls in communities for so long that they are considered a part of accepted 'cultural' practice.

The most common forms of harmful practices are forced marriage, so-called ‘honour’-based abuse and FGM, and also include faith-based abuse, breast ironing, acid attacks, corrective rape, female infanticide and others.

Women and girls can be forced, coerced, abused or deceived to enter into prostitution and/or keep them there. This is a form of exploitation. Trafficking is defined as the recruitment, movement, harbouring or receiving of people for these purposes.

Trafficking is a crime under the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which includes holding a person in a position of slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour, or facilitating their travel with the intention of exploiting them soon after. This can include from overseas, but also from within the UK.

There are other reasons people may become involved in sex work, including homelessness, poverty, trauma, drug and alcohol misuse, mental ill health and previous sexual violence.

For more information and support, nia’s exiting prostitution service provides confidential, non-judgemental support to women involved in prostitution: Home - NIA | Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (niaendingviolence.org.uk)

Sexual abuse is any sexual contact, act or activity that is unwanted or without consent. This can include: rape, sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse and exploitation, sexual harassment, unwanted attention, and taking or sharing intimate/sexual images without someone's consent.

Sexual harassment is unwanted sexual behaviour towards another person that makes them feel upset, scared, offended or humiliated. This can include: sexual comments, catcalling/wolf-whistling, sexual gestures, leering, staring, unwanted sexual advances/flirting, sending messages with sexual content, standing close to someone, unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature, indecent exposure (known as ‘flashing’), and taking a photo/video under another person’s clothing (known as ‘up-skirting’).

Just because a certain sexual behaviour was consented to in the past, doesn’t mean that consent has been given for future sexual activity. Consent can be given or withdrawn at any point – once consent is withdrawn, any activity must stop immediately. Consent cannot be coerced or compelled by force, threat or deception, and cannot be given by someone who is incapacitated.

Sexual abuse can happen to anyone, and can be a one-off incident or repeated. Perpetrators and abusers range from strangers to relatives and partners, and it can happen at home, the workplace, or in public places.

For more information and support, Rape Crisis runs a 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Helpline: Rape Crisis England & Wales

Sexual exploitation is where one person (or a group of people) abuses or attempts to abuse a position of vulnerability, power or trust for sexual purposes. This may include profiting financially, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of others.

This includes exploitative situations where someone receives something (e.g. food, drugs, alcohol, affection) as a result of them performing (and/or others performing on them) sexual activities.

So-called ‘honour’-based abuse is abuse that is committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and/or community, to punish and prevent behaviours perceived as being shameful.

Behaviours seen as being ‘shameful’ may include:

• Wearing certain clothes, or taking part in activities not deemed as ‘traditional’
• Becoming involved with a partner from a different culture or religion
• Doubt over someone’s virginity
• Resisting an arranged or forced marriage, or seeking a divorce
• Being, or being suspected of being, LGBTQ+
• Being a victim of sexual abuse, or reporting domestic abuse

This abuse is often thought of as a ‘cultural’, ‘religious’ or ‘traditional’ problem. Culture and religion should never be used as a justification for abuse.

For more information and support, Karma Nirvana runs the national ‘Honour’ Based Abuse Helpline: Karma Nirvana

Stalking and harassment is a pattern of repeated, unwanted behaviour that can cause someone to feel distressed, scared or threatened. This can happen with or without fear of violence.

Stalking can consist of the following behaviours:

• Following someone
• Threatening phone calls, texts, messages or letters
• Watching or spying on someone
• Regularly sending flowers or gifts
• Physical or sexual assault
• Damaging property
• Repeatedly going to someone’s home or work uninvited

The behaviour must happen more than once, and it can either be the same type of behaviour or different types of behaviour on each occasion.

For more information and support, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust runs the National Stalking Helpline: Suzy Lamplugh Trust