One of the most common forms of abusive behavior in any society at any point in history is sexual harassment, most often against women. To some extent, even the perception of such a thing as "sexual harassment" implies a degree of rights for women, which not all societies afford.
In societies where women are legally and culturally empowered to use rational communication to engage with friends, authorities and even their harassers, it is in women's great interest to develop an effective means of communication for use in future crises of harassment and to learn to discern such crises from life-threatening emergencies of rape or other aggravated assault. The topic is also salient for men and women generally, so that they may also better communicate with those who confide in them about being victims of sexual harassment.
Friendships, in contrast, are relatively fluid. When things don't go well between friends and easy resolution is elusive, it is usually acceptable for the friends to put some distance between each other. In contrast, family members are often bound to one another by years of tradition.
This is especially true in the case of children who are still under the legal charge of others. Good communication in families can make the difference between a functional family and a dysfunctional one, especially in families where interpersonal conflict is frequent. Whenever serious family arguments erupt, a crisis begins which usually can only be resolved by good communication between family members. In lieu of that, tensions, bitterness and resentment will often fester, damaging the family's cohesion and the mental well being of family members.
Workplaces are prone to crises of one sort or another. A newsroom at a newspaper might be taxed by its coverage of a local flood. The customer service department of a phone company might be challenged by a massive utility outage. A factory production line could be stressed by a series of difficult deadlines.
Practically any work environment is susceptible to personnel incidents, equipment breakdowns and budget strains. Any crisis in the workplace puts a premium on the interpersonal communication skills of employees and tests the suppleness of organizational hierarchies. Informative, succinct, comprehensive communication can avert many a worse problem and help resolve existing issues with the greatest efficiency.
Human behavioral patterns tend to encourage conformity, but most people find themselves on the fringe of the mainstream in one way or another. Children and adolescents who look "weird," or are "different" in some way from their peers must often endure ruthless torment and bullying. Minorities of all stripes must confront the realities of a society that is in some respects indifferent or even hostile toward their very existence.
This includes sexual minorities, religious minorities, ethnic minorities and people who have a strong commitment to almost anything unpopular. Anyone who is pushed to the margins of society is vulnerable to psychological distress in times of crisis and may even be subject to physical threats. Good interpersonal communication skills provide a lifeline in two ways, such skills can help marginalized people to reason with their antagonists and they can help people to work through the pressures of marginalization with friends and other sympathetic individuals to achieve a more wholesome state of mind.