Violence against women

The term violence against women (VAW) refers to violence and/or abusive behaviour that is predominately carried out by men and directed at women because of their gender. This behaviour includes physical, emotional, psychological, sexual and economic abuse and stems from systemic and deep rooted women’s inequality. It’s an abuse of power and privilege and can be used to control women.

VAW is usually not a one-off experience. It’s often repeated and continuous behaviour that can occur over many years.

Equally Safe at Work focuses on forms of VAW that are most likely to impact the workplace, this includes domestic abuse, stalking, sexual harassment, rape and sexual assault, and ‘honour-based’ violence.

It affects women from all backgrounds irrespective of age, sexual orientation, race, education level, culture and socioeconomic demographic.

Women’s multiple, intersecting identities affects their experiences of violence against women. For example:

• Disabled women are twice as likely to experience domestic abuse, particularly when the abuser is also their carer, and sexual violence than non-disabled women.
• Black and minority ethnic women face additional barriers to accessing race-sensitive support; and they may be unwilling to seek help from statutory agencies because of fear of racism.
• Older women are less likely to report their experiences of domestic abuse.
• Lesbian and bisexual women can be vulnerable to abusers who threaten to out them to colleagues or employers, and family members.
• Younger women are more likely to experience sexual harassment, and are less likely to feel able to report because of their propensity to be in insecure work and think that their job would be at risk if they did.
• Trans women are particularly vulnerable to transphobic emotional abuse, and can be reluctant to access support services or contact the police for fear they may be met with prejudice or that they may not be understood.
• Pregnancy can be a trigger for domestic abuse and existing abuse may get worse during pregnancy or after giving birth.

• VAW is perpetrated at epidemic levels, with three million women in the UK affected each year.
• One in four women in Scotland experiences domestic abuse in her lifetime.
• More than half (52%) of women have experienced sexual harassment, with this figure rising to two thirds of women aged 18-24. Experiences range from unwelcome sexual comments to serious sexual assaults.
• Research found that 70% of women in Scotland had witnessed or experienced sexual harassment.
• In the Equally Safe at Work survey of employees in the pilot councils, three quarters (75%) of respondents had either experienced or witnessed sexual harassment in the last 12 months.

VAW has a profound impact on women’s capacity to do their job and victim-survivors are often targeted in and around the workplace. Women report experiencing trauma, stress, anxiety, and depression as a result of VAW and can struggle to find appropriate support in the workplace. VAW can also affect victim-survivors’ capacity to work with men, particularly in situations where there is an existing gender or power imbalance.

• Most women don’t report VAW out fear of not being believed, fear of being judged, or believing nothing will change. As well, women may not come forward because they are unclear about the reporting procedure, are unsure who to report to, or worry it will not be kept confidential.
• Some victim-survivors are unable to recognise their experience as VAW because of the normalised nature of VAW.
• Research on experiences of sexual harassment at work is likely to be affected by under-reporting as most women will never report it because of a fear of being blamed and a lack of confidence in the complaints procedure.