What is Abuse?
Woman abuse can be described by several different terms.  It is known as wife battering, spousal assault, and violence against women in relationships. But battering is not restricted to heterosexual marriages.  It also occurs in lesbian/gay relationships, common-law and dating relationships, acts of prostitution and caregiving situations of older women.
Abuse is not simply physical violence, and it is not just a conflict between two people.  It is a systematic pattern of behaviour used to establish power and control over another person through fear and intimidation, often including the threat or use of violence.  Many women who are abused are not abused in just one way - they are physically, emotionally, sexually and economically abused over and over, in many different forms.  The abuse may be constant, and many battered women are subjected to all forms simultaneously.  
Physical and sexual assaults, or threats to commit them, are the most apparent form of domestic abuse and are usually the actions that make others aware of the problems.

Physical Abuse
Physical abuse is any aggressive behaviour directed at another's body. Even if the physical assaults occur only occasionally, they instill fear of future violent attacks and allow the abuser to control the woman's life and circumstances. Depending upon the degree of harm inflicted, physical abuse can range from simple assault to attempted murder, manslaughter, or murder. All are criminal acts as defined in the Criminal Code of Canada
Many women are subjected to varying degrees of physical abuse without suffering physical injury that is visible to the eye, but these episodes often escalate to life-threatening behaviours such as choking, breaking bones, or the use of weapons.
    pushed or shoved you
    slapped or bit you
    kicked or choked you
    threw objects at you
    locked you out of the house
    abandoned you in dangerous places
    forced you off the road or kept you from driving
    threatened or hurt you with a weapon
    threw acid or boiling water at you
    refused you help when you were sick or injured

Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse is forced participation in any type of sexual activity.  No one, not even a husband, has the right to force a woman to participate in sexual activity if she doesn't want to. The behaviour is often accompanied by verbal and emotional abuse with intent to degrade and erode the woman's self-esteem.
    treats women as sex objects
    minimized the importance of your feelings about sex
    criticizes you sexually
    insists on unwanted and uncomfortable touching
    calls you sexual names like "whore" and "frigid"
    forces you to strip when you didn't want to
    publicly shows sexual interest in other women
    forces sex with him or others or forced you to watch  others
    forces particular unwanted and degrading sexual acts
    forces sex after beating
    forces sex when you were sick or it was a danger to your  health
    forces sex for the purpose of hurting you with objects or
weapons committed sadistic sexual acts
    been jealously angry, assuming you would have sex with
any available man
    insisted you dress in a more sexual way than you wanted

Psychological/ Emotional & Verbal Abuse
Psychological/emotional and verbal abuse involves the infliction of emotional pain and suffering by doing things to control or degrade. Persistent  verbal attacks are equally damaging to a woman's sense of self- worth.  A great deal of this form of abuse is not apparent to the outside world and it is also difficult to define as a crime.
    ignored your feelings
    ridiculed or insulted women as a group
    ridiculed or insulted your most valued beliefs, your religion,
race, heritage or class
    withheld approval, appreciation or affection as punishment
    continually criticized you, called you names, shouted at you
    insulted or drove away your family or friends
    humiliated you in private or public
    refused to socialize with you
    kept you from working, controlled your money, made
      all decisions
    refused to work or share money
    took car keys or money away
    regularly threatened to leave or told you to leave
    threatened to hurt you or your family
    punished or deprived the children when he was angry at you
    threatened to kidnap the children if you left him
    abused pets to hurt you
    told you about his affairs
    harassed you about affairs he imagined you were having
    manipulated you with lies and contradictions
    threatened suicide
    do things to intentionally frighten you e.g. speeding through
traffic, playing with weapons.

Destruction of property and pets, unlike physical or sexual violence, is done without actually attacking or ever touching the victim's body.  This form of abuse is sometimes seen as less threatening: However, the target is carefully chosen and the message is clear; "Next time it may be you."
All forms of battering have certain things in common.  All are done without concern for the physical or mental well-being of the victim. The man who batters, acts without concern for the consequences of his violence to the victim.  Even when he recognizes the physical damage, many times he fails to see the emotional damage to his partner and their relationship as being effects of the battering.  All forms of battering are done to show control and domination.  
Regardless of which forms occur in the relationship, the incidents usually reoccur  (the Cycle of Violence) and can escalate in severity and frequency unless he makes the necessary changes.  

There is NOT a "typical woman who will be battered".
The risk factor is being born female.