Social Justice Or Injustice : Domestic Violence

Approximately 1.3 million women each year are victims of physical assault by a partner in the United States, with larger numbers of such incidents not being reported (Herman, Rotunda, Williamson, & Vodanovich, 2014, p. 2). Intimate partner violence (IPV) is defined as sexual, physical, or psychological harm by a current or former partner or spouse, which can include sexual violence, psychological and emotional violence, or physical violence (Herman et al., 2014, p. 2). IPV is also known as dating violence, domestic violence, family violence, or spouse abuse.

“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

Domestic violence is a devastating social problem that impacts every sector of our population. Domestic violence is 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(USDOJ,2012). Domestic violence can be physical, economic, emotional, sexual, or psychological. Physical domestic violence is an attempt to impose physical injury such as grabbing, slapping, hitting, biting, etc. Physical violence can also be withholding necessary resources to sustain health such as medication, food, sleep, or forcing alcohol or other drug use. Economic abuse is an attempt to make the victim financially dependent. Such as sustaining control over financial resources

Domestic violence exists everywhere and affects all people regardless of socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, sex, ethnicity, or religion. Most times physical violence is accompanied by emotional abuse and controlling behaviors. The result of domestic violence includes physical injury, psychological issues, and death. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) occurs in 1 of 4 women in the United States and can be correlated with a loss of emotional, social, physical and mental health. Intimate Partner Violence is an issue that does not receive a lot of recognition and is overlooked majority of the time. There is a lot of information on women in intimate partner violence relationships that explains how it affects women physically, mentally, and socially.

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 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) defines intimate partner violence (IPV) as a “serious, preventable public health problem that affects millions of Americans” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d., p. 1). Through the group discussions we have had in class I have learned that IPV is not a “one fit all” approach, the violence occurs in different levels of severity and frequency. There are four

Intimate partner violence (IPV) or domestic violence, is violence that occurs between people that are involved in a close relationship (Benokraitis, 2012a, p. 384). The people involved don’t necessarily have to be married, just in a close personal, intimate relationship. Abusive relationships are unhealthy, damaging

Stuart F. Delery, Former Acting Associate Attorney General, (2015) states "The month of October is observed as Domestic Violence Awareness Month around the country by advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors, survivors and many others to raise public awareness about domestic violence." According to the United States Department of Justice (2016) domestic violence is defined 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." Domestic violence is one criminal justice issue frequently faced by law enforcement, attorneys, and especially victims of the crime. The United States Department of Justice (2016) asserts domestic violence can be any type of action or threat of action, such as physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological that influences another person; this includes behaviors in a way that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone. Regardless of age, sexual orientation, race, religion, socioeconomic background, education level, or gender, domestic violence can happen to any individual despite being in a opposite-sex or same-sex relationship and whether the intimate partners are married, cohabiting, or simply dating. Since domestic violence can occur at any time and place to anyone, initiatives taken

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) or Domestic Violence (DV) is “the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another. (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), n.d.).” Many victims fail to report IPV because they only consider physical assault as a form abuse, however verbal abuse falls under IPV, as well as emotional and psychological abuse. In the state of California, 32.9% women and 27.3% have experienced some form of IPV, intimate partner sexual violence, or stalking (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), n.d.). In order to reduce the rates of IPV, batter intervention programs were created. The goal of these programs was to psychoeducate the batter on IPV and its effects in an effort to prevent recidivism. However, research has shown that these programs have not been very effective and that some improvements must be made.

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.

The political issue of domestic violence and children has been a struggle for a long time. As mentioned in the history section, domestic violence was always considered a private family problem. It wasn’t until 1883 that Maryland became the very first state to make a law against wife beating. In the mid 20th century, domestic violence finally became a subject of public debate which helped the issue begin to get some type of recognition. Then in 1970, women who began to fight for women’s right began to challenge the political system as well as the social system (Gerdes, 16). In 1977, Oregon passed the first mandatory arrest law in which one party of a domestic abuse report must be arrested. Then by 1980, all by six states had some type of domestic violence laws (Gerdes, 17). This is when the government recognized domestic violence as a social problem. But just because there were laws to make domestic violence a crime, it didn’t mean that people looked at it that way after so many years. In fact, according to the book Domestic Violence, “In many communities, the criminal justice system remained reluctant to approach cases of domestic violence the same way as they did other crimes.” A big macro issue with the laws is that no matter what the strict laws are, many still do no abide by the. Many politicians who could potentially help make the laws who been exposed and fired for domestic violence as well. President Ronald Regan fired one of his top security employees

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.

Women from developing countries see immigration to Canada as an opportunity. However, immigration policies have created conditions of dependency that facilitate violence and patriarchy. In 1967, the government introduced the Points System. Potential immigrants were required to acquire points for admission and status (Anwar, 2014). The social restrictions that women faced in their native country regarding wages, employment, and education restricted them from accessing immigration options such as economic and skilled worker classes (Eggerman, 2012). At their wedding ceremony, South Asian brides vow to abide and respect their husband and in-laws. Many women must obtain permission from them to work. If the husband or in-laws did not approve of

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.