Violence against women includes any act or threat of violence arising from gender inequality, and is perpetrated against women based on their subordinate position in society.

Violence against women involves any act that causes/may cause physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or pain. When we are threatened with harm, forced to do something, or prevented from doing something we want to do, or being locked up we are also exposed to violence. Such things may simply happen to us for being a woman, not because of something we do or not do. No matter where, such harmful acts are identified as “violence against women”.

Violence against women may happen in the domestic environment or outside. All types of psychological, physical, sexual or economic violence directed at us from our family members, ex or current spouses, partners, lovers – whether or not we live in the same house, are also defined as “domestic violence”.
It is not always easy to acknowledge what we are experiencing as violence; yet, the first step of fighting against violence requires us to do so.

a. Psychological Violence

Psychological violence – also called emotional violence – does not have visible marks, however, that never suggests it’s any less significant. This is because psychological violence may deeply effect mental health and emotions.
Often, psychological violence is followed by various types of violence. Therefore, one must search ways to get out of the situation before it becomes permanent if/when one or more of the following examples are experienced:
The most common forms of psychological violence are;

• Yelling, insulting, swearing, humiliating, belittling when alone and/or in others’ company
• Threatening; threatening to harm/kill us or our children/relatives. Threatening to hurt him/herself if not obeyed. Threatening to take custody of/kidnapping our children
• Blackmailing
• Thwarting on our clothing, social encounters and events; checking where we are; adopting an obtrusive attitude in such circumstances
• Comparing us with other women
• Keeping a tight rein on us, using jealousy as a reason
• Limiting our communication with friends/family/relatives (by isolating)
• Hindering our self-development
• Pointing us to be the cause of experienced violence.
• Denying and trying to suppress our cultural differences, or mistreating for these reasons
• Showing anger when we talk to other men, suspecting unfaithfulness
• Prohibiting leaving the house, keeping us locked
• Forcing us to live with his family; letting us no option when choosing the family residence
• Hindering to enjoy our equal right to have a say on issues such as our child’s development and education.

b. Physical Violence

Physical Violence includes any attitude or behaviour displayed with intimidating and threatening body language, loud tone of voice, and dominating gestures and facial expressions, by direct contact or using an object, tool, animal or physical superiority. In short, it encompasses any attack towards our body.

The most common forms of physical violence, which can also be defined as the use of brute force as a means of threatening, intimidation and punishment, are;

• Hustling, slapping, kicking, punching, beating, hair pulling, arm twisting, choking, tying, throwing hard objects, etc.
• Harming our body, relatives and belongings with sharp/striking tools or caustic substances (boiling water, vitriol, cigarettes, etc.)
• Harming our body by preventing us from getting health care
• Forcing us to live in unhealthy conditions
• Forcing us to commit suicide
• Killing intentionally
• Causing a miscarriage
• Trapping us, locking us in, leaving alone in a dangerous places, leaving alone with things we are afraid of

c. Sexual Violence

Sexual Violence is when anyone known or not known to us commits or attempts a sexual act against us in any environment – including home or workplace – without our consent, and displaying sexual assertiveness towards us by using undesirable sexual expressions or imposition. Sexual violence is sometimes perpetrated by someone we do not know, and often by people we know – from the household, work or social environment. We may find it difficult to acknowledge sexual violence forced on by someone we know.
The following examples can be used to better define sexual violence:

• Forcing us to have sexual intercourse in undesired places/times/ways (any sexual act we don’t consent to)
• Verbal (being exposed to sexual jokes, offers, sexually explicit content) or physical harassment (flashing, being forced to watch pornographic content)
• Raping
• Forced sexual intercourse by using alcohol, legal or illegal drugs
• Harming our genitals
• Insulting speech against the female body and sexuality
• Comparing our sexual characteristics to that of other women
• Forced pregnancy or abortion
• Forced prostitution
• Verbally or physical molesting; sending sexually explicit photos, videos, messages in digital environment
• Unwanted sexual contact such as kissing, touching or caressing
• Early and forced marriage

d. Economic Violence

Economic violence is being deprived of the economic opportunities required to survive, and economic resources and money being used as a tool to enforce on, threaten and control us. Common examples of this violence include:

• Banning from work
• Being forced to work in undesired jobs /confiscating our earnings
• Not providing money, providing a limited amount, expecting a lot in return of a small amount
• Not being informed of economic issues that concern the family, and being involved in decision taking on these issues.
• Divesting of our money and personal belongings
• Imposing restrictions, which will have negative effects our professional life (limiting us to attend business trips, meetings, training courses)
• Preventing our participation to activities for skill development to find employment easily.
• Creating incidents in the workplace that will lead to our dismissal
• Forcing us borrowing money, taking loans, vouching for
• Damaging jointly acquired property
• Taking decisions on the family household without our knowledge or consent (to sell, to terminate the lease, etc.)
• Putting pressure to renounce our inheritance rights or to pass it on to a male relative.

e. Insistent Unilateral Stalking

İnsistent unilateral stalking is any attitude and behaviour, verbal or in writing, or by any means of communication, that will cause feeling physically or psychologically frightened and helpless, as well as feeling insecure. The person posing insistent unilateral stalking on us could be a family member or a friend, as well as someone not known to us, at all. The most common examples of unilateral stalking are:

• Stalking, spying on
• Making unwanted and insistent phone calls; sending messages, letters or e-mails
• Having fixed eyes on our workplace or residence; coming on our way for reason at all; sending gifts without our consent
• Publishing our contact information on web or social media
• Spreading false rumours
• Emotional abuse through domination (threatening to commit suicide unless we meet, etc.)

An ex- or current lover or spouse persistently stalking or following us is another example of insistent stalking. The aim behind stalking behaviour is to scare, intimidate and control us and to make us feel insecure. The ex-lover or spouse visiting our residence or school without prior notice or invitation; popping up everywhere; persistently buying or sending gifts or flowers; communicating with our social circle and trying to draw information; and damaging our belongings are other examples of insistent stalking behaviour.

f. Women Trafficking

Women trafficking is a crime and one of the most severe forms of violence against women. Forced labour, forced service, forced prostitution, taking into captivity, or forced organ donation through exploiting of our helplessness with threats, pressure, forcing, and being taken & kept abroad or in another place in the country by deception are also forms of women trafficking.

Some other forms of women trafficking include exploitation through unpaid or underpaid labour compared to the service provided, or being subjected to indecent working and accommodation conditions incompatible with human dignity. In addition to forced prostitution, traffickers may also force us to become an escort, masseuse as well as working in other jobs. Sometimes we may be threatened with using physical violence, as well as with damaging us or our family, and/or belongings; and publishing our private photos or images, or disclosing our private information. Human traffickers can also be introduced in our life with employment assurance or marriage proposal, or with the promise of becoming a model, artist, etc. They also exploit difficult times such as unemployment, poverty or being in debt, or disability. We can be victims of such violence sometimes for people close to us, such as our fathers, bosses, line managers, boyfriends who try to control us time to time.
International conventions suggest that forcing children under the legal age of marriage – which is eighteen – to live together in guise of marriage is also a form of women trafficking. Those who liaise and force children into such associations are committing human trafficking crimes according to Penal Code, Article 80. Besides, international conventions do suggest that forced and paid marriage among women at the legal age of marriage – older than eighteen – is also another form of women trafficking.

g. Dating Violence

Dating violence is defined as the act of physical, sexual, psychological and digital violence forced by our lover/partner on us. Our lover/partner would aim to dominate us through such ways and to make us dependent on him and on the relationship, as well as controlling us. Dating Violence is the type of violence encountered in relationships between the ages of 13-23- when people start dating. When exposed to dating violence for a long time, we may feel weak and not have the strength to find a way out. As in all kinds of violent behaviour directed at us by our acquaintances, it may be difficult to label the violence experienced in such situations. The following examples may help:

• Implied speeches to scare the lover/partner and damaging her self-confidence and respect
• Humiliation, mocking with names, belittling, slandering, insulting, swearing, interfering with clothing and attitudes in others’ company
• Interfering in guise of “protection” or “chastity”
• Restricting relationships with others in guise of jealousy; using psychological violence, such as revealing secrets to others
• Intentional physical attacks such as slapping, punching, pushing, pulling your hair
• Forced sexual intercourse or intimacy; forced kissing; insistently proposing sexual intimacy or intercourse though it is explicitly undesired; sexual intercourse when unconscious under the influence of alcohol or similar substances or for any other reason; displaying undesirable behaviour before, during, or after sexual intercourse

h. Digital Violence

Digital violence includes insistent stalking with digital media tools such as on the web, cell phones, etc., as well as any attack aiming for psychological, sexual or economic harm on us.

Most common forms of digital violence are;

• Continuously sending messages or calling via the Internet or mobile phones; expecting a response, to report our location, to send photos via internet/telephone operators; and stalking on and controlling us by doing so.
• Forcing us to send photos or videos; forcibly or secretly taking our photos or videos
• Publishing our photos or images taken either with our consent or forcibly, without our permission, or threatening to do so
• Having our e-mail and social media username & passwords in possession; checking our e-mail box and social media accounts, and controlling us with the information acquired from those.
• Posting humiliating and insulting comments and hate speeches for us on the social media.
• Digging our phone or computer
• Collecting information about us for the purpose of causing harm; posting/sharing our private documents and images
• Hack our website, internet accounts; opening fake accounts on our behalf
• Sending sexually explicit messages
• Sharing our private correspondence and conversations with others
• Interfering with our online friends, what to and what not to share on social media; forcing us to close our social media accounts

i. Mobbing

In working environment, all types of ill-treatment, threats, violence, humiliation, etc., systematically applied by one or more persons to another person or persons by their superiors, peers or subordinates are called mobbing. For instance being under constant criticism of our employer unlike any other employees, getting most difficult tasks on a regular basis, being forced to overtime at all times, and being humiliated in other employees’ company when we don’t do so or when deadlines are not met are also forms of mobbing. Sometimes mobbing is forced to intimidate us out of feelings of revenge, upon our rejection of any request of that person, including but not limited to sexual intercourse. Meanwhile, we can also be exposed to such behaviours out of no reason – just for being a female.

The violence we are exposed to in intimate relationships mostly includes a three-stage vicious cycle which will continue to intensify unless we break it at some point.

First Stage (Tension-Building Phase): The man builds tension for any reason, exhibits jealousy, initiates arguments; even the smallest issues turn into fights. He tries to keep the woman under control; he starts threatening if/when not obeyed. The woman assumes the situation to be under her control, tries to reduce the tension; yet the tension ever-increases.

Second Stage (Use of Violence Phase): Physical or sexual violence is experienced at this phase. After committing physical or sexual violence, the man finds excuses, blames others – even the woman – for the violence he inflicted. At this stage, the range of forms of violence may vary from slapping or beating, to injury and murder. The woman tries to protect herself when exposed to violence and to calm the man; but she cannot. Accordingly, she tries to stave off the violence with the least possible harm to herself and her children, if any.

Third Stage (Honeymoon/Reconciliation Phase): The man apologizes, tries to make up for his previous behaviours, and buys gifts. The tension is released, the man promises to never do again. However, this phase will not last long; after a while, he will start building tension again, and restart the cycle from the first phase. In relationships with long history of violence, sometimes the third phase is no longer experienced.

The great majority of women who are subjected to violence shy away from telling anyone about their experiences and have to struggle against violence alone. Among the reasons behind this are: Feeling ashamed, thinking that they will be blamed, not recognizing their experience as violence, believing that they deserve violence, thinking that no one would believe them, or that even if someone believes them no one will not care about it, fearing that the violence might increase in case it is understood that they have disclosed it, hoping that the violence will not be repeated.

Women’s responses to the violence they are subjected to may vary depending upon the conditions they are in and the level of violence. Feelings of guilt and believing that we deserve violence -which build up on the ground of the judgments we are taught throughout our lives by the society we live in – can prevent us. Besides, not every relationship that involves violence consists merely of acts of violence. The succession of good and bad periods in the relationship may cause us to feel the emotions of love and hate with similar intensity, which in turn can make it harder to move away from the relationship of violence. Moreover, responses such as lack of reaction, resentment, silent treatment, and avoiding sexual contact can also be considered as reactions of passive resistance.