Introduction
Domestic Violence is a serious issue affecting women all over the world today. Domestic Violence transpires when a current intimate partner decides to exercise dominance in a relationship through means of psychological, physical and sexual abuse towards the victim. This type of abuse often leads to emotional and or physical trauma. Domestic Violence is not only physical or sexual other forms of domestic violence exist such as stalking and dating violence. It is a problem without limits. Not only is Domestic violence widely dispersed but its occurrence is also widespread and often a typical accepted behavior. It is only recently that the issue has been brought into light as a field of concern and study Family Violence
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Domestic violence is a real problem, which often leads to permanent injuries or death. Battering has been a widespread societal problem with damaging and traumatizing effects far beyond individual families. However, the majority of reported domestic violence assaults are committed by men against women (Catalano 2013). Domestic violence against women is not only a domestic issue that potentially threatens the lives of many victims. "It is a terrible and recognizable fact that for many people, home is the least safe place" (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005).
Causes of the Problem The majority of cases that fall under domestic violence incidents go through what is referred to as the cycle of violence. This cycle is not the same for all victims but evidence does exist that the abusive violence does escalate as the cycles are increased. The National Violence against Women Survey states that 1 in every 4 women will experience some sort of domestic violence throughput her lifetime (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Moreover, researchers have had trouble coming up with explanations for the manifestation of domestic violence. However, it is understood that offenders often utilize abusive behaviors to gain power and control over their victims. Research on Intimate Partner Violence indicates there is a cycle of violence that consist of three stages:
Tension Building Phase
The first stage, the tension-building stage, is a stage that can be
Domestic violence is an epidemic and the number one health concern in our country. There are more abusers and their victims compared to past years. As a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship, domestic violence is used by one person to gain or maintain power and control over another one. It can be physical, sexual, emotional, and economic abuse and not look the same in every relationship because every relationship is different. This kind of abuse affects people of all ages and sexes, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, education and employment levels. Abuse towards children and the elderly can be violent or aggressive behavior. Thus, there are many types of abuse that one can suffer; awareness of the signs of domestic violence is especially important before getting into any kind of intimate relationship.
The article constructs domestic violence as an issue of gender, race and socioeconomic status. Women are identified as the “majority” of victims (Taylor 2014). Consequently, the article conceptually represents domestic violence as events of intimate terrorism where one partner violently terrorizes the other partner to gain complete control over the relationship, which is entirely perpetrated by men (Johnson 2012). With that said, Johnson (2012) points out that majority of domestic violence is situational couple violence, where both the man and the
According to statistics found by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Every nine seconds a woman is abused by her husband or intimate partner. At least 1 in every 4 women and 1 in every 9 men have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetime. Most often the abuser is one of their own family. Domestic violence is a problem that somehow affects every one of us in this room at some time and is actually the leading cause of injury to women -- more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined.
In today’s society, it is very common to find domestic abuse in households, but not much is being done to stop it. After researching the various causes of domestic violence, one can conclude that there are many reasons that may have triggered the abuser’s sudden need to have the upper hand. Unemployment, drug or alcohol abuse, extreme jealously, or feeling inferior to their partner’s education level or occupational status are just a few factors which may lead to one’s violent outrage. Also, in most cases an intergenerational cycle of domestic violence can be the main cause of the abuser’s
“Domestic violence is a type of abuse by one or both partners in marriage, friends, family, dating or cohabitation” (Aziz & Mahmoud, 2010). There are many forms of abuse from verbal and emotional to physical that often escalates over time in intensity for the victim. Data from the criminal justice system, hospital patient medical records and mental health records, police reports, surveys and social services reports of thousands of women revealed that many are injured and killed as a result of violence from someone close to them. “The US Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) defines domestic violence as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender” (Robertson & Murachver, 2009). Researchers and the criminal justice system have not been able to agree on a clear definition to domestic violence which can range from physical injury, stalking, verbal abuse and humiliation, denial of shelter and access to money, and intimidation through aggressive behaviors. The definition of domestic violence may vary but the results from physical injury, mental and emotional trauma, and sometimes even death can last a life time.
Domestic violence, alternatively referred to as Intimate Partner Violence, is defined by the Department of Justice as “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner.” While domestic violence is commonly thought of as only physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence can also be emotional, economic, or psychological. Domestic violence has remained constant in society throughout history, even though over time society’s response to the issue has changed. While domestic violence affects everyone regardless of race, gender, age, etc. it is estimated that approximately 90% of all victims are women. For the purpose of this paper, I will be focusing on
What is Domestic Violence? Domestic violence is the leading cause of an injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44, more than car accidents, muggings and rape combined. A woman is most likely to be assaulted, injured, raped or killed by a male partner than by any type of assault. Domestic violence occurs in every state, let alone many countries, in all economic, ethnic and social backgrounds. Many victims of domestic violence have changed their lives and escaped the abuse while the other victims haven’t. Domestic violence happens very often in a lot of foreign families which causes kids to rebel while growing up.
“Every year in the United States there are over 3 million incidents of domestic violence. That means that every nine seconds a women is beaten by her domestic partner” (Findeley). There are many women that stay silent when being abuse by their partners. The consequences of staying quiet when obtaining abuse can be dangerous and can also lead to death. Many women do not recognize the importance of the fact that there is in speaking out if they are being abuse by their partner. No woman should take domestic abuse by their partners. Every woman deserves a healthy relationship; A healthy relationship involves trust, respect, and consideration for the other person. Domestic abuse has gotten worse during the past years and is still rising up. One can see that domestic abuse can occur everywhere. Domestic abuse is considered a crime and woman should not keep silent when being abuse.
Domestic Violence (DV) is a critical social issue that negatively impacts not only our own culture in America but as well as all other cultures around the world. Domestic Violence is a global issue reaching across national boundaries as well as socio-economic, cultural, racial and class distinctions (Kaur & Garg 2008). Domestic Violence is a serious problem that can be seen around every society from families of both developed and underdeveloped countries and of different backgrounds. Although there are various cases of domestic violence against men, children and the elderly; women account for the majority percentage of victims of Domestic Violence. This violence can take the form of physical assault, psychological abuse, financial abuse or sexual assault (Kaur & Garg 2008). Domestic Violence is a trend that is on the rise and will continue to plague our society if nothing is done on time to address this social issue.
Domestic violence against women is prevalent in almost all the societies in the world. It is an issue which was not even recognised as a crime 40 years ago and is still not recognized as a crime by many societies. Women suffer from violence, including physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological violence by strangers and their partners all over the world (Kaya, 2010). Even though it is a worldwide occurrence, there are some women who face more intense and frequent violence depending on their culture, country, religion,
Domestic violence(DV) is a serious and grave concern, not only in the United States but also around the world. It occurs when an intimate partner expends control and sovereignty through physical, mental, sexual and emotional abuse thereby resulting in physical and psychological trauma of the victim. There has been an alarming increase in the occurrence of DV in social media and literary work being produced today and this has resulted in it getting a lot of attention. According to population surveys carried out by Morier-Genoud C, Bodenmann P and Favrat B, they found that 10 to 69% of women had reported being physically assaulted by an intimate male partner at some point in their lives (2). Also, data from the United States Bureau of
This began to change in the 1980s, as women’s groups were organized locally and internationally to demand attention to the physical, psychological, and economic abuse of women (p.369-370). Domestic violence is a serious social issue that happens to many women in our world today. This type of abuse is not declining but continually rising on a daily basis. There have been issues in the past with the way these cases were being handled. Today, there has been some improvement concerning the laws that have been enforced in order to protect women from this type of abuse. There has been extensive research done on this issue in the past concerning domestic violence. Over the last ten years there have been a number of surveys on domestic violence that have been published from around the world.
Domestic violence can be describe as one of the most gruesome and misunderstood crime in our society. It can be as simple as verbal abuse and as complicated as a homicide where we walk a thin line between intentional harm and self-defence. There are two distinctive differences or stages of domestic violence. The first being some sort of “controlling behaviour explained as a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.” (Oonagh Gay, 2015). This controlling behaviour can either stay as such or excel as what is called a “coercive behaviour: an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.” (Oonagh, 2015).
Domestic violence is a prevalent issue that has enormous consequences for both the victimized individuals and their families. There are many injuries, deaths, rapes, and separation of families, and other fatalities which can all be interconnected to domestic violence. Which raises the question who are the perpetrators? why are they violent? Were they also abused? The answers to these questions may shed some insight on what goes on inside the mind of an abusive and violent individual.
Domestic violence refers to abusive behavior in any relationship that is inflicted on a partner to gain or maintain power and control over another partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological. Domestic violence includes behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone. Domestic violence can happen to anyone, regardless of their race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender; and it also occurs in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships; domestic violence also affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels (Justice, The United States Department of, 2017). This topic has attracted a lot of discussion and research because of its dominance and complexity. This essay, therefore seeks to look at the causes and effects of domestic violence.