Domestic violence is a significant social issue that has a major impact upon the health of women in society. Discuss this statement and identify the factors that may contribute to domestic violence.
Domestic violence is known by many names including spouse abuse, domestic abuse, domestic assault, battering, partner abuse, marital strife, marital dispute, wife beating, marital discord, woman abuse, dysfunctional relationship, intimate fighting, male beating and so on. McCue (1995) maintains that it is commonly accepted by legal professionals as "the emotional, physical, psychological, or sexual abuse perpetrated against a person by that person's spouse, former spouse, partner, former partner or by the other parent of a minor child" (although several other forms of domestic violence have become increasingly apparent in today's society). Whatever name is used to refer to it, however, domestic violence is a very grave and difficult problem faced by Australian society.
Although domestic violence can include the abuse of parents, children, siblings and other relatives, it predominantly involves violence against sexual partners with women being the most common victims and men being the 'aggressors' (Family Violence Professional Education Taskforce 1991). It is inadequate to view domestic violence as an aspect of the normal interpersonal conflict which takes place in most families. According to McCue (1995), many families experience conflict, but not all male members of families inevitably resort to violence. It is not the fact of family disputes or marital conflict that generate or characterize violence in the home. Violence occurs when one person assumes the right to dominate over the other and decides to use violence or abuse as a means of ensuring that domination (Family Violence Professional Education Taskforce 1991).
Although all forms of domestic violence are pressing issues of equal importance, this essay is more specifically directed at spouse abuse and aims to delve deeper into the issue of domestic violence by examining its causes with respect to the socioeconomic status of the particular family and its effects upon women in Australian society.
The FACS (Family and Community Services) booklet (1995), defines domestic violence as follows:
'when a woman suffers persistent physical, verbal, economic or social abuse from her partner with the result that she suffers a sustained emotional and, or psychological effect.'
Domestic violence is the most common form of assault in Australia today. However, it remains a hidden problem because it occurs within the privacy of the home and those involved are usually reluctant to speak out (Healey 1993).
Good morning Minister of the Families I am Juliet and I will be your consultant for today. I will be outlining the aspects of the law of Domestic and family violence that has a flaw in society. I will be analysing the current laws, evaluating the effectiveness of the law, comparing these laws, making recommendations for changes in the law and justifying how the proposed changes adequately address the needs of the Australian society. Domestic violence is a violent or aggressive behaviour within the home, typically involving the violent of a spouse or partner. Domestic violence in Australia occurs in the privacy of people’s homes and it is mostly upon women that are disadvantaged.
In this paper I will be telling you many different forms of domestic violence. I will include the physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, spiritual abuse, economic abuse, social abuse, and emotional abuse. I will also describe the "cycle of violence", teen dating violence, and why women stay with an abusive partner.
Intimate partner violence has been a significant issue for centuries in all countries. "Since 1974, nearly 2,600 spousal homicides have been recorded in Canada" (Bunge, 2002). Of these homicides, more than three-quarters have been against women. Although through feminism and the women's liberation movement, there has been a slight improvement in the incidences of violence against women, there has also been a drastic change in the perception of the issue by society. After reviewing the most recent literature on violence against women and victimization through intimate partners, it has become prevalent that there are now two crucial stances that are taken. The first position is that of the women being victimized as the main issue, including prevention, causes and incidences. The second position is that of women becoming more 'aggressive' and the issue of violence against both men and women. "Wife battering- the original problem constituted by the 1970s feminists- has morphed into 'domestic violence' and then into 'husband abuse'" (Minaker, 2006). This literature review will examine the background information on intimate partner violence including different arguments and perspectives, theories, and methodologies as well as discuss the major findings and future directions of research.
Violence has become prevalent within society; it is something the western world has learned to accept. With every minute that passes Canadians come face to face with certain acts of violence they may not have previously encountered (citation). Although, violence is not a subject that one can escape, women and children have unfortunately become the prime victims of violent acts. The media glorifies violence in other countries around the world it fails to address the presence of violence within Canada. Although violence is usually associated with gangs and guns, Canada experiences more violence related to bullying, sexual, verbal, cyber and domestic abuse (citation). Amidst the changing societal views towards treating women equally and eliminating objectification, of all these types of violence and abuse in our society, the most common still happens to be domestic abuse, which is mainly targeted at women and affects children. Domestic abuse is described as a form of abuse that takes place in the confines of the household (Citation). Though 51% of Canadians have said to have experienced or witnessed domestic abuse only 20% of those cases related to domestic violence are ever reported (citation). Domestic abuse has become more prevalent in modern society; however, it is an issue that is left un-noticed simply because its effects are invisible outside the walls of ones home. In reality the effects of domestic violence have severe negative effects on women, children and the social structure of today’s society. Without any notification of domestic violence the re precautions of this abuse can be dire. When an individual thinks of domestic abuse, their ideas quickly relate back to women, simply because women are the usual and most common victims of domestic violence. And therefore is an issue that must be resolved rather than ignored.
Domestic violence can affect anyone. Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control over another through emotional attack, fear, and intimidation. Domestic violence or battering, often, includes the threat or use of violence; this violence is a crime. Battering occurs when one person believes he/she is entitled to control another. Domestic violence affects people in all social, economic, racial, religious, and ethnic groups; whether the couple is married, divorced, living together, or still dating. Another reality is that abusers and their victims can be gay, strait, young, or old. Violence develops from verbal, physical, emotional, financial, and sexual abuse. Most domestic violence victims are women by men, but that doesn’t suggest that others cannot be battered or are perpetrators of abuse -- such as women on men, or same sex abuse. Battering or domestic violence, is now mutual and it is not a ‘couple’s quarrel’. Disagreements arise occasionally in all relationships, but battering involves every aspect of a relationship. While physical violence is the “enforcer” or the criminal act, other behaviors erode the partner or victim’s sense of self, self-determination, and free will; this is ultimately lethal for many women.
Domestic violence is an act of crime which occurs in domestic household units. It is also known as as spousal abuse or family violence. Domestic violence is not only related to physical abuse but also emotional, sexual, financial, mental and verbal threats. According to ( Human Right Watch, 1995) cited from Macionis, John J., 2008. Domestic violence is defined as bodily harm, usually accompanied by verbal threats and harassment, emotional abuse or the destruction of property as means of coercion, control, revenge, or punishment on a person with whom the abuser is in intimate relationship. Besides that, according to an article by Women’s Aid, the government defines violence as any incident of threatening behavior, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality. Domestic violence can happen and may happen to any individual despite their gender, social class or status, life style, age, family background, race, ethnicity or place of living. Any individual can be a victim of domestic violence. Based on an article titled Physical Violence against Women the World Health Organization reported that 40 to 70 percent of women were murdered in the United States, Canada, Australia and Israel by their husbands or male partners.
Domestic violence is a conscious behavior in which acts of violence and aggression are carried out by one person in a relationship to dominate the other. This violence consists of deliberate verbal, sexual, emotional, psychological, and physical abuse, along with social and economic deprivation. Statistics and studies show victims of domestic violence are mostly women and their children, but men are victims as well. Friends, spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, and even family members are capable of demonstrating domestic violence. This widespread practice negatively affects gay, lesbian, bisexual, and straight individuals of all ages, cultures, and social backgrounds.
There is a preconceived notion that all families are a “great big happy family”, unfortunately this is entirely false for a hand full of families; not all families are filled with love and joy, a few possess a very dark side (Sev’er, 2014, pp. 273). This dark side is the violence that occurs within the family, whether it be child abuse or domestic violence. Domestic violence is defined as violent or aggressive behaviour within the home, typically involving the violent abuse of a spouse or partner (Oxford Dictionary). Although there are instances where women are violent, Kimmel and Holler (2011) state “most family violence is perpetrated by males - husbands beating wives, fathers hitting children, sons hitting their parent, boys hitting their brothers or their sisters. The actual or implicit threat of physical coercion is one of many factors underlying male dominance in the family” (355). To refrain from the phrase ‘domestic’ violence, bell hooks used the phrase ‘patriarchal’ violence to describe abuse that occurred within the family. Patriarchal violence “is based on the belief that is acceptable for a more powerful individual to control others through various forms of coercive violence. This belief is associated with male domination” (as cited in Kimmel and Holler, 2011, pp. 355). Many would correlate the term ‘domestic violence’ with ‘wife-battering’ (Kimmel and Holler, 2011, pp. 355), meaning that people automatically think of a man physically or mentally abusing a women when they hear ‘domestic violence’. These examples make it evident that family violence is extremely gendered, and it continually reproduces and reinforces gender inequalities within the family.
Recent amendments to Queensland and Federal Legislation have not solved the problem of domestic violence in Queensland, let alone Australia. Domestic violence involves both physical and emotional behaviour with the patterns of this behaviour centred on power and control for the abuser. Legislation involved in protecting women and men in a domestic violence relationship has been amended to better protect victims. On the other hand, there is an escalating social and legal issues with domestic violence within Australia. Recommendations need to be done to amend Australia legislation, to add protection to victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence is growing rapidly within Queensland and Australia and needs further change to legalisation
However, domestic violence is not a new issue within our society. For centuries, women have been regarded as the property of men, offering them leeway in the enforcement of domestic abuse laws. Public opinion held that as heads of households, they had the right to discipline their wife and children as they saw fit. Eventually, women came to view this prevailing belief as truth. An inevitable outcome was their denial as victims at all. They simply saw it as the way it was and accepted it as such. Non-intervention has typically been the preferred method in regard to family matters. The long standing belief held that ‘what happened behind closed doors was no one’s business other than that family’s’ ruled the attitudes of society, the lega...
BIBLIOGRAPHY Barron et. al. 1992 WAFE Evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee Enquiry into Domestic Violence Bristol: WAFE Woman’s Aid Federation (England) Report 1992 Hague & Malos 1995 Against Domestic Violence: Inter Agency Initiatives Bristol SAUS Punching Judy BBC Television Programme 1989 Domestic Violence – Report of an Inter Agency Working Party 1992 Mooney J 1994 The Hidden Figures: Domestic Violence in North London London Islington Police & Crime Unit Inter-Agency Circular; Inter Agency Co-Ordination to Tackle Domestic Violence Home Office, 1995 Grace S 1995 Policing Domestic Violence in the 1990’s Home Office Research Study British Crime Survey 1996 The Home Office Dobash/Dobash/Cavanagh/Lewis 1996 Research Evaluation of Programmes for violent Men Scottish Office Central Research Unit Dobash/Dobash/Cavangh/Lewis 1996 Re-Education Programmes for Violent men – an Evaluation Home Office Research Findings No 46 Domestic Violence & Repeat Victimisation Home Office Police Research Briefing Note No 1/98 The Family Law Act Part IV 1996
Thesis: In my paper, I will be examining the different types, possible causes, and effects of Intimate Partner Violence, and what treatments or programs are available to combat this growing problem in America. Regardless of differing approaches to fight it, statistics show that women all across the world suffer from the effects of domestic violence at a similar rate independent of class, race, or religion.
Just under half a million Australian women reported that they had experienced physical or sexual violence or sexual assault. Women that are personally victimized by domestic violence become emotionally unstable and they are unable to cope with certain situations. Many think that it is their fault because they think they’ve done something wrong to cause their spouse attack them. However, women aren’t the only victims when it comes to domestic violence; men are victims too. The majority of violence against men is committed by other men. Of men who reported that they had experienced physical violence, 73.7% said that the perpetrator was a male, but that doesn’t mean women don’t abuse males just as much. Women are much more sympathised than men when it comes to domestic violence. People just assume that if a male is getting physically or emotionally abused, they’re a wimp and can’t fight for themselves. Whereas if a women was the victim, people automatically blame the abuser. At least one in three victims of some type of domestic violence is
NSW. (2002, September 24). Domestic Violence and it’s impact on Children’s Development. Retrieved from http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/docswr/_assets/main/documents/dv_paper.pdf
Continuing to portray spousal violence solely as a women’s issue is not only wrong – it’s also counterproductive. And encouraging such unnecessary fragmentation and divisiveness will ultimately do more harm than good. No one has, or should have, a control on pain and suffering. But until society as a whole confronts it’s deeply embedded stereotypes and recognizes all the victims of domestic violence, we will never be able to solve the problem. Domestic violence is an either a male or a female issue – it’s simply a human issue.