Researchers   often ask the women about their experience of domestic violence throughout their adult lives, including detailed questions about their experience of physical, sexual, and emotional violence within their current relationships. The percentages of women who said an intimate partner had ever abused them ranged from 48 percent in Zambia and 44 percent in Colombia to 18 percent in Cambodia and 19 percent in India. (A 1998 Commonwealth Fund study put levels of similar violence in the United States at 31 percent.)
More than one in six married women in each country that was studied reported being pushed, shaken, slapped, or targeted with a thrown object by their male partners. At least one in 10 has been threatened or publicly humiliated by their husbands.
The World Health Organization (WHO), in its research on VAW, categorized it as occurring through five stages of the life cycle: "1) pre-birth, 2) infancy, 3) girlhood, 4) adolescence and adulthood and elderly.
Domestic violence
Women are more likely to be victimized by someone that they are intimate with, commonly called "intimate partner violence" or (IPV). Instances of IPV tend not to be reported to police and thus many experts believe that the true magnitude of the problem is hard to estimate. Women are much more likely than men to be murdered by an intimate partner. In the United States, in 2005, 1181 women, in comparison with 329 men, were killed by their intimate partners. In England and Wales about 100 women are killed by partners or former partners each year while 21 men were killed in 2010. According to WHO, globally, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner. Though this form of violence is often portrayed as an issue within the context of heterosexual relationships, it also occurs in lesbian relationships, daughter-mother relationships, roommate relationships and other.
Honor killings
Honor killings are a common form of violence against women in certain parts of the world. In honor killings, women and girls are killed by family members (usually husbands, fathers, uncles or brothers) because the women are believed to have brought shame or dishonor upon the family. These killings are a traditional practice, believed to have originated from tribal customs where an allegation against a woman can be enough to defile a family's reputation.Women are killed for reasons such as refusing to enter an arranged marriage, being in a relationship that is disapproved by their relatives, attempting to leave a marriage, having sex outside marriage, becoming the victim of rape, dressing in ways which are deemed inappropriate
Honor killings are common in countries such as Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen.In India, honor killings occur in the northern regions of the country, especially in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
Dowry violence
The custom of dowry, which is common in South Asia, especially in India, is the trigger of many forms of violence against women. Bride burning is a form of violence against women in which a bride is killed at home by her husband or husband's family due to his dissatisfaction over the dowry provided by her family. Dowry violence is common in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. In India, in 2011 alone, the National Crime Records Bureau reported 8,618 dowry deaths, while unofficial figures suggest the numbers to be at least three times higher.
Acid Throwing, also called acid attack, or vitriolage, is defined as the act of throwing acid onto the body of a person with the intention of injuring or disfiguring [them] out of jealousy or revenge. These attacks throw acid at their victims, usually at their faces, burning them, and damaging skin tissue, often exposing and sometimes dissolving the bone and tissue. The long term consequences of these attacks include blindness and permanent scarring of the face and bodyof Women and girls are the victims in 75-80% of cases. Acid attacks are often connected to domestic disputes, including dowry disputes, and refusal of a proposition for marriage, or of sexual advances. Such attacks are common in South Asia, in countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and in Southeast Asia, especially in Cambodia
Sexual harassment
The council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence defines sexual harassment as: "any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular when creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment."
Human trafficking and forced prostitution
Human trafficking refers to the acquisition of persons by improper means such as force, fraud or deception for sexual exploitation or forcedlabor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs". The WHO states that: "Current evidence strongly suggests that those who are trafficked into the sex industry and as domestic servants are more likely to be women and children.
Sport-related violence by male college athletes
 Studies suggest that athletes are at higher risk for committing sexual assault against women than the average student. It is reported that one in three college assaults are committed by athletes.Surveys suggest that male student athletes, who represent 3.3% of the college population, commit 19% of reported sexual assaults and 35% of domestic violence, the theories that surround these statistics range from misrepresentation of the student-athlete to an unhealthy mentality towards women within the team itself.
Challenges faced by women in accessing justice and limitations of measures
Lack of criminalization. In many places, acts of abuse, especially acts such as marital rape, forced marriage and child marriage, are not criminalized, or are illegal but widely tolerated, with the laws against them being rarely enforced. There are instances where crimes against women are also categorized as minor offenses.
Lack of awareness of the existing laws. In many places, although there are laws against violence on the books, many women do not know of their existence. This is especially the case with marital rape - its criminalization being very recent in most countries
Challenges in making a case in court. The burden of proof can be placed on the victim. In various countries a woman's past sexual experience continues to be very important in a case of rape
Existing laws are insufficient, conflicting, and have no effect in practice. Some laws on domestic violence, for instance, conflict with other provisions and ultimately contradict their goals. In Ukraine, a law on domestic violence also provides that the police can arrest the victim for provocation.
Access to justice for women victims of violence
International and regional instruments
Efforts to fight violence against women can take many forms and access to justice or lack thereof, for such violence varies greatly depending on the justice system. International and regional instruments are increasingly used as the basis for national legislation and policies to eradicate violence against women.