Final answer:
Women are more likely to suffer from physical and sexual abuse compared to men, often due to IPV, which can include various abuses aimed at maintaining power and control. Other factors such as socioeconomic status, age, and relationship dynamics contribute to the risk of abuse.
Step-by-step explanation:
Compared to men, women are more likely to experience physical and sexual abuse over their lifespan from intimate partners, acquaintances, or others in a position of trust or care. Studies reveal that approximately one-third of all women have experienced some form of domestic violence, with one in five women facing assault during her college years. Certain factors increase vulnerability, such as being in lower-income areas where rates of interpersonal violence (IPV) can be higher, being within the age group of twenty to twenty-four years, or experiencing stresses such as young parenthood. Psychological violence is the most common type of IPV encountered by college students, although many also experience physical and/or sexual violence. The discrepancy in the patterns of IPV against women and men is significant, with a greater proportion of IPV incidents against women involving sexual violence compared to those against men.
Moreover, IPV perpetration is often about power and control, leading to various forms of abuse that aim to establish and reinforce dependency, making the victim feel worthless. Child abuse, elder abuse, and IPV are not limited to any one socioeconomic group or cultural background, but stresses and factors like age of parents can influence the likelihood of abuse occurring. Child abuse is more likely when parents are young and less resilient to the stresses of parenting, and elder abuse often comes from caregivers or those intimately involved in the elder's life.