<unk>  is any<unk>  act or attempt to obtain a<unk>  act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's<unk> ity, regardless of the relationship to the victim. It occurs in times of peace and armed conflict situations, is widespread, and is considered to be one of the most traumatic, pervasive, and most common human rights violations.<unk>  is a serious public health problem and has a profound short or long-term impact on physical and mental health, such as an increased risk of<unk>  and reproductive health problems, an increased risk of suicide or HIV infection. Murder occurring either during a<unk>  assault or as a result of an honor killing in response to a<unk>  assault is also a factor of<unk> . Though women and girls suffer disproportionately from these aspects,<unk>  can occur to anybody at any age; it is an act of violence that can be perpetrated by parents, caregivers, acquaintances and strangers, as well as intimate partners. It is rarely a crime of passion, and is rather an aggressive act that frequently aims to express power and dominance over the victim.<unk>  remains highly stigmatized in all settings, thus levels of disclosure of the assault vary between regions. In general, it is a widely underreported phenomenon, thus available data tend to underestimate the true scale of the problem. In addition,<unk>  is also a neglected area of research, thus deeper understanding of the issue is imperative in order to promote a coordinated movement against it. Domestic<unk>  is distinguished from conflict-related<unk> . Often, people who coerce their spouses into<unk>  acts believe their actions are legitimate because they are married. In times of conflict,<unk>  tends to be an inevitable repercussion of warfare trapped in an ongoing cycle of impunity. Rape of women and of men is often used as a method of warfare (war rape), as a form of attack on the enemy, typifying the conquest and degradation of its women or men or captured male or female fighters. Even if strongly prohibited by international human rights law, customary law and international humanitarian law, enforcement mechanisms are still fragile or even non-existent in many corners of the world. From a historical perspective,<unk>  was considered as only happening to women and as being commonplace and "normal" during both war and peace times from the Ancient Greeks to the 20th century. This led to the negligence of any indications of what the methods, aims and magnitude of such violence was. It took until the end of the 20th century for<unk>  to no longer be considered a minor issue and to gradually become criminalized.
Sexual violence
Physical abuse
Domestic violence
Psychological abuse
Child abuse
Sexual assault
Childhood trauma
Intimate partner violence