The best selling novel, “Fifty Shades of Grey,” is touted as a tale of an erotic romance, but a new study has found that it actually perpetuates violence against women.

Amy Bonomi and co-authors reported to the Journal of Women’s Health that both emotional and sexual abuse is pervasive in the novel, with Anastasia, the main character, being harmed as a result.

“This book is perpetuating dangerous abuse standards and yet it’s being cast as this romantic, erotic book for women,” said Bonomi, lead author of the study. “The erotic content could have been accomplished without the theme of abuse.”

Bonomi is currently an associate professor at Ohio State University and will become professor and chairperson of Michigan State University’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies on August 16. She co-authored this study with Lauren Altenburger and Nicole Walton, both from Ohio State.

The researchers conducted a systematic analysis of the novel to clarify patterns consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definitions of intimate partner violence and associated reactions known to occur in abused women. The abuse prevalent in the book includes stalking, intimidation, threats, isolation and humiliation.

Anastasia, the character in the book, suffers from reactions that are consistent with those of abused women. She feels an ever constant sense of threat and a loss of identity, changes her own behavior to keep peace in her relationship such as withholding  information in regards to her whereabouts to avoid angering Christian, and becomes disempowered and entrapped in the relationship as her behaviors become mechanized in response to Christian’s abusive patterns.

“We do not want to ban the book. What we do want is for people to understand abuse patterns,” Bonomi said. “Just knowing the patterns exist and calling it out is important. I can’t tell you the number of students I’ve had in my classrooms who’ve told me they had no idea what they were experiencing was abuse. Simply being aware is the first step in potentially improving things in your situation.”

“Fifty Shades of Grey”  was written by E.L. James and published in 2011. It has sold more than 70 million copies and set the record as the fastest-selling paperback of all time. A movie based on the novel is currently in the works.

About 25 percent of women in the United States and 71 percent of women worldwide suffer abuse by the hands of their intimate partners.