Define intimate partner violence and list its common forms.

• A. IPV is defined as violence by a current or former intimate partner but not necessarily coercive control.
• B. IPV includes physical, sexual, emotional/psychological abuse, stalking, and economic control.
• C. IPV refers only to physical harm.
• D. IPV occurs only in dating relationships.

Answer: (B)

Intimate partner violence involves patterns of power and control by a current or former intimate partner that go beyond a single act of violence. The strongest understanding includes multiple forms: physical harm, sexual harm, emotional or psychological abuse, stalking, and economic or financial control. Each form matters because together they create a pervasive dynamic aimed at dominance and isolation—physically harming someone, coercing sexual activity, attacking self-worth through humiliation or manipulation, monitoring or threatening behavior that frightens the person, and controlling access to money or resources to limit autonomy.

This broader view recognizes that abuse isn’t only about hitting someone; it encompasses the persistent behaviors that undermine safety, autonomy, and dignity. A definition that limits IPV to physical harm misses these other avenues of control, and saying it occurs only in dating relationships ignores that it can happen in marriages and other intimate partnerships, with a current or former partner.