A violent and demeaning form of abuse in a romantic relationship is called

intimate terrorism

Explanation:

An intimate terrorism can be referred to as the presence of physical assault by a relationship partner; the partners could be a current partner or an ex partner.

The physical assault is in such a way that varieties of tactics are used to maintain control over the other person in the relationship

As mentioned earlier, intimate terrorism involved physical assaults and it can assume any of the following forms; it could be physical, verbal, emotional, economic and sexual abuse.