"Fifty Shades of Grey" may have been one of the fasting selling novels of all time but it has certainly had its share of criticism. The most recent one accuses the book of promoting abuse and violence against women.

E.L James' "Fifty Shades of Grey" was the talk of the town after it was named the fastest selling book of all time. The book sold more than 70 million copies worldwide and was responsible for driving up sales of sex toys all over the globe, especially in France after the French-translated version of the book was released.

However, there are always two sides to a story. Along with fame came a lot of criticism. Recently, the London Fire brigade blamed the novel for a sudden rise in handcuff incidents reported in the city.

Now, in a new study, Amy Bonomi, an assistant professor at Ohio State University accused the erotic novel of promoting abuse and violence against women.

"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 in a press statement. "The erotic content could have been accomplished without the theme of abuse."

According to Bonomi, the book includes instances of stalking, threats, humiliation, intimidation and isolation - all of which are characteristics of intimate partner abuse as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We do not want to ban the book. What we do want is for people to understand abuse patterns," Detroit Free Press quoted the professor as saying. "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."

Though James has not commented on the recent accusations, this is not the first time the book has been accused of promoting sexual or domestic violence against women.

Earlier, James addressed the criticism saying "People who think that are sort of demonizing women who actually enjoy these kinds of relationships. What people get up to behind closed doors, providing it is safe, sane, consensual and legal, is completely up to them and it's not for you, I or anybody to judge."

Cris Sullivan, director of the Research Consortium on Gender-Based Violence at MSU echoed Bonimi's opinion saying she was "dismayed" after reading the book. She said that the book symbolises tolerance and lack of awareness of violence against women.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a report that showed one in every three women is subject to either physical or sexual violence, globally. The study also found that 42% of women, physically or sexually abused by partners, had injuries because of the violence they were exposed to. Also, women who experienced non-partner violent attacks were 2.6 times more likely to go into depression and experience anxiety when compared to women who were not subjected to any form of violence.