Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pattern of behavior by a current or former romantic partner that causes physical, sexual, psychological, or economic harm. It is the most widespread form of violence against women globally — and one of the most consequential public health problems of our time, with effects that extend across the physical and mental health of individuals, children, families, and communities.

The World Health Organization’s November 2025 report — the most comprehensive global prevalence estimate to date — found that 840 million women have experienced intimate partner or sexual violence in their lifetime. Of those, 682 million women who have ever been married or partnered have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence at least once since the age of 15. Globally, as many as 38% of all murders of women are committed by intimate partners.

IPV takes multiple forms that do not always co-occur and are not equally visible. Physical violence is the form most readily recognized by legal systems and healthcare providers. Sexual violence within relationships is dramatically underreported and undercharged in most jurisdictions. Psychological violence — including gaslighting, degradation, threats, and the systematic undermining of the target’s sense of reality — is the most prevalent form across all economic contexts, and the most consistently associated with long-term mental health consequences including Complex PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Economic violence, including financial abuse and the deliberate destruction of employment opportunities, is the form that most directly controls a target’s ability to leave.

Coercive control is the framework through which the most severe and most damaging forms of IPV are now understood — not as isolated incidents but as a sustained pattern of subjugation that operates across physical, psychological, financial, and sexual domains simultaneously. Research consistently identifies coercive control as the single most predictive factor for intimate partner homicide.

Narcissistic abuse is a specific form of intimate partner violence in which psychological manipulation, reality distortion, and identity dismantling are the primary mechanisms of harm. It produces the same neurological, perceptual, relational, and identity-level injuries as other forms of coercive IPV — and requires the same depth of specialist recovery work to address. The full intersection of IPV, coercive control, and narcissistic abuse is documented across this platform’s research, educational resources, and recovery frameworks.