What is Gender-Based Violence?

Rape is defined by the law as: when someone puts their penis into a person’s vagina, anus or mouth without their consent. This means that the person did not give permission for this to happen.

Rape does not have to involve physical restraint or force. 

Sexual assault includes a range of sexual acts that a person does not consent to. It can involve any kind of sexual touching with a part of the body or an object without consent, including over clothing.

It can also involve putting a part of the body or an object into a person’s vagina, anus or mouth without their consent.

It does not have to involve physical restraint or physical violence. 

Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse in which someone takes advantage of a power imbalance, to force or entice a child into sexual activity in return for something received by the child, and/or received by those perpetrating the abuse. This could include money, drugs, alcohol, a place to stay, protection from violence or a sense of belonging. As with other forms of child sexual abuse, the presence of perceived consent does not mean it isn’t sexual abuse.

For further information click here.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a non-medical procedure where the external female genitals are completely or partially removed, and it may also include other injury to the area.

There are many reasons stated for FGM to be performed, the most common of which are:

• for a girl to become a women
• to prevent what is considered unacceptable sexual behaviour
• a cultural tradition
• association with cleanliness and femininity

However, FGM is a violation of girl’s and women’s human rights. It is illegal in the UK and it is illegal for a UK citizen to be taken overseas to have FGM performed.

Sexual abuse of children can involve any form of sexual activity with a child under 16 years of age although older children (defined as between the ages of 13 and 15), are able to consent to limited types of sexual activity with each other.

Child sexual abuse is most often carried out by a person who is well known to the child, often within the family or in another position of trust. 

It is also against the law for an adult to engage in sexual activity with someone who is aged 16 or 17 if the older person is in a position of trust. A position of trust is someone who looks after a child for example, in a school, youth club or a care home.

For further information click here.

A forced marriage is where one or both people do not consent (or cannot consent) to a marriage, and pressure or abuse is used to force them into the marriage. Forced marriage is illegal in the UK. It is a form of domestic abuse and a serious abuse of human rights.

Forcing someone to marry isn’t always physical: it can also involve coercion, blackmail or being put under emotional pressure (e.g. being made to feel they are bringing shame on the family, being denied freedom or money, being pressured into marrying as it would make the elders in the family happy).

In some cases, people may be taken abroad without knowing that they are to be married.

Stalking is a course of conduct - this means an incident that takes place two or more times - that places someone in a state of fear or alarm.

Stalking can involve a range of behaviours and tactics to make a person afraid. This can include unwanted calls, texts, emails or messages and comments on social media. It can mean turning up unexpectedly, following, loitering and giving verbal abuse.

It can also include leaving unwanted gifts or cards, that other people may perceive as a kind gesture, but where the perpetrator knew, or ought to have known in all the circumstances, that it would be likely to cause the person to suffer fear or alarm. 

Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual behaviour which compromises a person’s dignity and makes them feel offended, humiliated, intimidated or threatened.

Examples include:

• ‘Cat-calling’
• ‘Wolf-whistling’
• ‘Upskirting’
• Using offensive and sexist language or jokes
• Comments that hypersexualise, fetishise or exoticise people of colour, LGBTQI+ people and/or other minoritised groups
• Comments or behaviours intended to shame or humiliate boys in relation to masculinity, such as comments about their genitalia, pulling down their shorts (referred to as ‘pantsing’, which may be more prevalent against gender non-conforming children and young people).

Coercive control can take place in any relationship, including within young people’s relationships. It is a pattern of controlling behaviours such as assault, threats, intimidation or humiliation that create an unequal power dynamic in a relationship. It is likely to cause fear and intimidation and make the person subjected to control afraid or unable to end the relationship. It is a criminal offence and a form of abuse. Signs of coercive control can be difficult to identify. They may include isolating someone from friends, controlling how they spend their time and attempts to humiliate them. 

You might also have heard the term ‘domestic abuse’. Domestic abuse is abuse in relationships. You don’t have to be an adult couple living together for it to be domestic abuse - it can happen in young people’s relationships too. Or young people might be affected by domestic abuse in their home or family. Coercive control is often part of domestic abuse.

The Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland (DSDAS) is a way to find information about whether a person has an abusive past. This information can help prevent someone from experiencing domestic abuse in the future.  Watch this short video for more information, or make a DSDAS application if you or someone you know is at risk of domestic abuse.

Honour based abuse is abuse or violence towards somebody who is seen to have broken the “honour code” of a family or community. A victim may be accused of having shamed the family or destroyed their reputation within their community, and be subjected to a range of violent acts and behaviours. The abuse could be physical, emotional or sexual.

There is no specific law on honour based abuse. All cases will be prosecuted under criminal law according to each specific offence that has been committed (for example assault, kidnap, rape or murder).

Strangulation happens when pressure is placed on a person’s neck, causing the blood vessels—and sometimes the airway (windpipe) - to be compressed. Strangulation is not the same as suffocation: Strangulation primarily restricts blood flow to the brain (and may also affect the airway) whereas suffocation involves blocking airflow into the lungs and interfering with normal breathing. Suffocation is sometimes referred to as asphyxiation or smothering.

Evidence suggests strangulation is becoming an increasingly common sexual practice among young people. In a recent report, 43% of 16–17-year-olds who had prior sexual experience reported having been strangled during sex.

Strangulation is extremely dangerous and can cause serious physical and mental health harm. There is a high prevalence among survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence and over the past decade in the UK, strangulation has been the second most common cause of homicide among women killed by men.

All forms of strangulation and suffocation are dangerous, and there is no safe way for it to occur. Every instance carries a serious risk to life.

For further information click here.

“Stealthing” occurs when people agree to have sex using a barrier method of contraception such as a condom, but one person either secretly removes it during sex, lies about using it or purposely damages it.

Stealthing is a serious form of sexual violence and can cause physical and emotional trauma. In Scots law, stealthing is prosecuted as rape under the Sexual Offenses (Scotland) Act 2009, rather than as a separate offence.  

Grooming is a process in which an individual develops a relationship with a child – and sometimes with the child’s family – to build trust and gain influence or control, with the intention of carrying out abuse such as sexual exploitation, criminal exploitation, or radicalisation. Perpetrators often use gifts - such as money, alcohol, drugs, jewellery, or tickets to an event – alongside emotional attention or validation, such as expressing love or offering compliments about appearance. It can take place in many settings including online spaces, community groups or public places (sometimes referred to as street grooming).

Children and young people may be targeted by someone they already know – such as a relative, family friend, peer, or professional – or by a stranger. The person carrying out the grooming does not need to be significantly older; in some cases, the age difference can be quite small.

Because grooming relies on manipulation and the misuse of trust, it is often difficult to recognise it is happening. Some indicators may include a young person suddenly having money or expensive gifts they can’t explain, sudden changes in behaviour, using sexual language you wouldn’t expect them to know, a decline in school attendance, or using drugs and alcohol.

Image based abuse occurs when someone creates, shares, or threatens to share intimate or sexually explicit images or videos of a person without consent, with the intention of causing fear, alarm and/or distress. This also includes manipulated or digitally created sexual images, such as deepfakes.

The legal definition of an intimate image includes images depicting a sexual act, or showing a person’s genitals, buttocks, or breasts where these are exposed or covered only by underwear. In Scotland, it is a criminal offence to share, or threaten to share, an intimate image without consent.

However, some forms of intimate image abuse are not currently covered by legislation, despite still causing significant fear and distress. Intimate content can also include images that reveal or imply sensitive personal information, such as identifying someone as LGBTQ+ when this is not publicly known, showing a person without their hijab, suggesting a romantic relationship outside of marriage, or depicting someone wearing private or domestic clothing. 

Intimate images can be distributed in many ways, both online and offline. This may involve posting images on websites or social media, sending them through messaging apps, texts, or email, or showing someone a physical or digital copy.

Image-based abuse is sometimes called ‘revenge porn’ but this term is misleading. It implies the person who was harmed deserved it, and it labels taking an intimate photo of yourself—or letting someone else take one—as “porn,” which is untrue. 

Voyeurism is when someone watches, photographs, or records another person in a private situation without their permission. It also includes taking images or videos for someone else’s gratification.

‘Upskirting’ is an informal term for a type of voyeuristic behaviour where someone uses a camera or phone to take a photo or video underneath another person’s clothing without their consent. This is a form of sexual harassment.

Upskirting is against the law whether it is done for sexual pleasure or to embarrass, degrade, or upset the person targeted.