Intimate partner violence, commonly abbreviated IPV, occurs in various forms depending on how it is conducted (Thompson et al. 2006). There are three forms of intimate partner abuse namely physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Physical abuse as a form of intimate partner violence entails actual infliction of physical pain caused by one's spouse. Physical abuse among spouses may range from the use of fists all the way to the use of items such as iron boxes, which result in bodily harm on the spouse being subjected go the abuse (Wallace & Roberson, 2014). In the past, among the misconceptions about physical abuse in intimate relationships was that it was a way of showing affection or love. Some people still hold on to such misconceptions thus the existence of physical abuse.
Emotional abuse entails the employment of either verbal or non-verbal action that is meant to intimidate and create a sense of helplessness within the victim of this form of intimate partner violence (Wallace & Roberson, 2014). A misconception that I believe is related to emotional abuse is that women are more emotional thus many things get to them. Therefore, reporting emotional abuse is taken as a normal thing due to the 'emotional nature' of women. Sexual abuse occurs if one of the spouses in an intimate relationship sexually violates the other spouse by either forcing themselves on their spouse or violence during sexual interaction (Zolotor, Denham, & Weil, 2009). A misconception related to sexual abuse is that it cannot occur among married couples. As a result, most married spouses who have been sexually abused do not report such incidences.
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In my opinion, emotional abuse is the most severe form of intimate partner violence since it leaves the victim helpless, which means they cannot even defend or motivate themselves. A helpless and defenceless person can be exposed to the other forms of abuse without even being consciously aware of it.
References
Thompson, R. S., Bonomi, A. E., Anderson, M., Reid, R. J., Dimer, J. A., Carrell, D., & Rivara, F. P. (2006). Intimate partner violence: Prevalence, types, and chronicity in adult women. American journal of preventive medicine , 30 (6), 447-457.
Wallace, H., & Roberson, C. (2014). Family violence: legal, medical, and social perspective (7th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.
Zolotor, A. J., Denham, A. C., & Weil, A. (2009). Intimate partner violence. Primary care: Clinics in office practice , 36 (1), 167-179.
