Although women can also be violent and abuse exists in some same-sex relationships, the vast majority of partner abuse is perpetrated by men against their female partners. Domestic abuse does not discriminate against race, age and socioeconomic background. No specific type of woman is more prone to being battered by her partner, nor is one type of woman completely safe from abuse.

While research into intimate partner abuse is in its early stages, there is growing agreement about its nature and the various factors that cause it. Often referred to as “wife- beating,” “battering,” or “domestic violence,” intimate partner abuse is generally part of a pattern of abusive behavior and control rather than an isolated act of physical aggression

In surveys of partner violence, women usually are asked whether or not they have experienced any of a list of specific actions, such as being slapped, pushed, punched, beaten, or threatened with a weapon. Asking behavioral questions—for example, “Has your partner ever physically forced you to have sex against your will?”—Yields more accurate responses than asking women whether they have been “abused” or “raped”. Surveys generally define physical acts more severe than slapping, pushing, shoving, or throwing objects as “severe violence.”

Physical violence in intimate relationships almost always is accompanied by psychological abuse and, in one-third to over one-half of cases, by sexual abuse. (Straus and Gelles, 1986) For example, among 613 abused women in Japan, 57% had suffered all three types of abuse—physical, psychological, and sexual. Only 8% had experienced physical abuse alone. In Monterrey, Mexico, 52% of physically abused women had also been sexually abused by their partners. In León, Nicaragua, among 188 women who were physically abused by their partners, only 5 were not also abused sexually, psychologically, or both.

Most abused women are not passive victims but use active strategies to maximize their safety and that of their children. Some women resist, others flee, and still others attempt to keep the peace by capitulating to their husbands' demands. (Straus and Gelles, 1986) What may seem to an observer to be lack of response to living with violence may in fact be strategic assessment of what it takes for the woman to survive in the marriage and to protect herself and her children.

. Partner abuse can take a variety of forms including physical assault such as hits, slaps, kicks, and beatings; emotional abuse, threats, economic abuse, using children, psychological abuse, such as constant belittling, intimidation, and humiliation; and coercive sex. (Straus and Gelles, 1986) It frequently includes controlling behaviors such as isolating a woman from family and friends, monitoring her movements, and restricting her access to resources.

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