Women, Violence Against

Violence against women takes numerous patterns and expressions, but they all share common modes of female victimization, making this behavior a distinct phenomenon. It includes damaging physical violence directed toward women as well as psychological abuse and nonviolent forms of sexual coercion in which women are assailed by a combination of cultural factors. Attempts to measure the prevalence of various forms of violence against women face methodological difficulties as this behavior is a "hidden violence" which is not reflected in official crime statistics. During the years, changes were introduced to rape laws and legal procedures relating to domestic violence and sexual harassment at work as well as to changes in police practices.