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What counts as gender-based violence?
Gender-based violence, or GBV, is any form of violence, abuse or harmful behaviour connected to someone’s gender or gender inequality.
It is not always physical. It can include pressure, control, threats, harassment, sexual behaviour without consent, financial control and abuse carried out online. Women and girls are disproportionately affected, but anyone can experience abuse. It can happen in relationships, families, friendships, education, workplaces, public spaces or online.
Examples of gender-based violence
Gender-based violence can take many different forms. Someone does not need to experience physical violence for their behaviour or situation to be abusive.
Domestic abuse
Abuse from a partner, ex-partner or family member. It may be physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, financial or digital.
- Hitting, pushing or physically hurting someone
- Threats, intimidation or deliberately frightening them
- Humiliating, insulting or constantly criticising them
- Preventing them from seeing friends or family
Controlling or coercive behaviour
A pattern of behaviour used to control, isolate, frighten or make someone dependent.
- Controlling what someone wears or who they speak to
- Checking their phone, messages or location
- Setting rules and punishing them for breaking them
- Making threats if they try to leave
Sexual violence and abuse
Any sexual activity or contact that happens without someone’s free and informed consent.
- Rape or sexual assault
- Pressuring, threatening or manipulating someone into sex
- Removing or refusing to use agreed contraception
- Sexual contact with someone who is asleep, unconscious or unable to consent
Sexual harassment
Unwanted sexual behaviour that violates someone’s dignity or makes them feel intimidated, degraded, humiliated or unsafe.
- Sexual comments, jokes or gestures
- Unwanted touching
- Repeatedly asking for dates or sex after being told no
- Showing someone sexual images without their agreement
Stalking
Repeated, unwanted behaviour that causes someone fear, alarm or distress.
- Repeated unwanted calls or messages
- Following or watching someone
- Turning up at their home, college or workplace
- Using other people or fake accounts to contact them
Online and technology-facilitated abuse
Using phones, social media, apps or other technology to control, threaten, harass or harm someone.
- Demanding passwords or access to accounts
- Tracking someone’s location without permission
- Sending threatening or abusive messages
- Creating fake accounts or impersonating someone
Intimate image abuse
Taking, sharing or threatening to share an intimate image or video without the person’s consent.
- Sharing private images with friends or online
- Threatening to share images to control someone
- Secretly recording intimate activity
- Creating sexually explicit deepfake images
Economic abuse
Controlling someone’s money or access to essential things so that they become dependent.
- Taking wages, benefits or student funding
- Stopping someone from working or studying
- Running up debts in their name
- Restricting access to food, transport or housing
Forced marriage
A marriage where one or both people do not, or cannot, freely agree to it. Pressure may be physical, emotional, psychological or financial.
Forced marriage is different from an arranged marriage, where everyone freely agrees to the marriage.
So-called “honour”-based abuse
Abuse carried out by an individual, family or community to control someone’s behaviour or protect a perceived idea of family or community “honour”.
- Threats, surveillance or restrictions
- Being punished for a relationship or sexuality
- Forced marriage
- Physical or emotional abuse
It does not have to leave a visible injury
Behaviour can be abusive when it makes someone feel frightened, controlled, pressured, humiliated, isolated or unsafe. A single incident may be serious, while other forms of abuse develop as a repeated pattern over time. Trust your instincts if something does not feel right.
You do not need to be certain before asking for help
If someone’s behaviour is making you feel afraid, pressured, controlled or unsafe, you can speak to someone.
You will be listened to and taken seriously.