Violence against women in the context of "Sex-selective abortions"

Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one's spouse without the spouse's consent, usually done to a wife or women by her husband. The lack of consent is the essential element and does not always involve physical violence. Marital rape is considered a form of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Although, historically, sexual intercourse within marriage was regarded as a right of spouses, engaging in the act without the spouse's consent is now widely classified as rape by many societies around the world, and increasingly criminalized. However, it remains unacknowledged by some more conservative cultures.

The issues of sexual and domestic violence within marriage and the family unit, and more specifically, the issue of violence against women, have come to growing international attention from the second half of the 20th century. Still, in many countries, marital rape either remains outside the criminal law, or is illegal but widely tolerated. Laws are rarely enforced, due to factors ranging from reluctance of authorities to pursue the crime, to lack of public knowledge that sexual intercourse in marriage without consent is illegal.

The term "honor killing", also called a shame killing, refers to murder that is committed, typically by members of the victim's family, with the motivation of preserving or recovering the "honor" that the victim is perceived as having violated or lost as a result of their actions, which may be a source of shame in their society. Most cases of honor killings involve femicide, and they are likewise a frequent manifestation of violence against women in regions of the world where there are traditional or legal norms that greatly restrict women's rights and freedoms.

Although these murders are condemned by international conventions, including by legally binding documents like the Istanbul Convention, and by human rights organizations globally, they remain widespread and several religious and cultural communities continue to justify and encourage them in areas where they exercise influence. Historically, families who refuse or fail to commit honor killings are usually accused of cowardice or a "moral defect" and stigmatized by the religious or cultural community to which they belong (stigma-by-association), thereby inheriting the social rejection and social exclusion that had previously only applied to the victim at the onset of the controversy. While the behaviours and actions that lead to situations of honor killings can vary by the established societal norms of a region, they are most often choices of an intimate nature, such as being in a romantic relationship outside of marriage; refusing to enter into an arranged or forced marriage; seeking a divorce or marital separation; or engaging in premarital, extramarital, or postmarital sex. However, several non-intimate personal choices may result in honor killings as well, such as converting to another religion; being friends with someone who does not belong to the same race, ethnicity, religion, or culture; not taking care to avoid associating with the opposite sex; or dressing in a way that is regarded as diverging from sexual norm (e.g., a man wearing women's clothing) in the community. Furthermore, it is also common for people to be targeted for honor killings if they become victims of rape or sexual assault; or simply because of their inherent state of being, such as having a disability or not identifying as heterosexual.

Mediated stylistics or media stylistics is a new and still emerging approach to the analysis of media texts (e.g. news programs, newspaper articles). It aims to take seriously two ideas: first, that media texts involve 'the construction of stories by other means'; and second, that in an age marked by digital connectivity, media texts are inherently interactive phenomena. To meet this twofold aim, mediated stylistics has brought together the analytic toolkits of discursive psychology—which is finely attuned to the contextual specificities of interaction—and stylistics—which is finely attuned to the grammatical/rhetorical/narratorial specificities of texts as texts. Recent research in which mediated stylistics has been put to work, for instance, has shown how mediated representation of issues like sexism, sexualisation, alleged rape and violence against women can differ, and differ in rhetorically consequential ways, from the original un-mediated source material.

Gendercide or Gender-related killing is the systematic murder of members of a specific gender. The term is related to the general concepts of assault and murder against victims due to their gender, with violence against men and women being problems which are dealt with by human rights organizations. The term 'gendercide' is similar to the term 'genocide' because gendercide is a form of mass murder; however, the perpetrators of gendercide solely target members of one gender. Politico-military frameworks have historically inflicted militant-governed divisions between femicide and androcide; gender-selective policies increase violence on gendered populations due to their socioeconomic significance. Certain cultural and religious sentiments have also contributed to multiple instances of gendercide across the globe.

The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law (Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, H.R. 3355) signed by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994. The act provided $1.6 billion toward investigation and the prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposed automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress when prosecutors chose not to prosecute cases. The act also established the Office on Violence Against Women within the U.S. Department of Justice.

The bill was introduced by Representative Jack Brooks (D-TX) in 1994 and gained support from a broad coalition of advocacy groups. The act passed through both houses of the U.S. Congress with bipartisan support in 1994; however, House Republicans attempted to cut the act's funding the following year. In the 2000 U.S. Supreme Court case United States v. Morrison, a sharply divided court struck down the VAWA provision allowing women the right to sue the accused in federal court. By a 5–4 majority, the Court overturned the provision as exceeding the federal government's powers under the Commerce Clause.

The social novel, also known as the social problem (or social protest) novel, is a "work of fiction in which a prevailing social problem, such as gender, race, or class prejudice, is dramatized through its effect on the characters of a novel". More specific examples of social problems that are addressed in such works include poverty, conditions in factories and mines, the plight of child labor, violence against women, rising criminality, and epidemics because of over-crowding and poor sanitation in cities.

Terms like thesis novel, propaganda novel, industrial novel, working-class novel and problem novel are also used to describe this type of novel; a recent development in this genre is the young adult problem novel. It is also referred to as the sociological novel. The social protest novel is a form of social novel which places an emphasis on the idea of social change, while the proletarian novel is a political form of the social protest novel which may emphasize revolution. While early examples are found in 18th century Britain, social novels have been written throughout Europe and the United States.

Misogyny (/mɪˈsɒdʒɪni/) is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practised for thousands of years. It is reflected in art, literature, human societal structure, historical events, mythology, philosophy, and religion worldwide.

An example of misogyny is violence against women, which includes domestic violence and, in its most extreme forms, misogynist terrorism and femicide. Misogyny also often operates through sexual harassment, coercion, and psychological techniques aimed at controlling women, and by legally or socially excluding women from full citizenship. In some cases, misogyny rewards women for accepting an inferior status.

The United Nations Programme for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations agency charged with working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women is charged with advocating for the rights of women and girls, and focusing on a number of issues, including violence against women and violence against LGBT people.

UN Women was established by a merger of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, established in 1976) and other agencies and became operational in 2011. The organization operates under a governance structure and has an executive board representing different regions. Former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet was its inaugural executive director and Jordanian Sima Sami Bahous is its current executive director. UN Women is a member of the UN Development Group.