Gender-based violence and domestic violence

Domestic violence describes the relations of victim-survivors and perpetrators, whereas gender-based violence describes to which gender it is directed, why that violence happens, and the structural factors it is connected to. Domestic violence and GBV are not always the same, but often are.

People involved in domestic violence may be of any gender, but according to statistics, victim-survivors are usually women. For this reason, you may sometimes hear domestic violence and gender-based violence being used as synonyms. We use the term domestic violence to distinguish these phenomena from each other because it takes into account victim-survivors of all genders. As a broader term, GBV also includes other types of violence, not just violence in close relationships.