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Observations on domestic violence
Observations on domestic violence
Observations on domestic violence
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Domestic violence is not just fighting, hitting or an occasional argument. It’s a chronic abuse of power. The abuser of domestic violence, controls and tortures the victim of threats, intimidation, and physical violence. Domestic violence is one of the leading causes of violence in America. The abusers are not only men, women can be abusers as well. Women make up the vast majority of domestic violence. According to the American Bar Association (ABA), 90-95% of domestic violence victims are females and 70% of intimidating homicides are females. Domestic violence is a serious crime and everyone needs to be aware of its effects. This essay presents and explains the evidence supporting the major risk factors for intimate partner homicides. According …show more content…
Different couples may experience domestic violence, it can occur between married or unmarried couples, couples who are rich, couples who are poor, those who may live together or separately, between heterosexual or same sex couples. Furthermore, being sexually active in a relationship is not required for domestic violence by intimate partners to occur. Race and ethnicity play a significant role in intimate partner homicide. Overall, African Americans were victimized by intimate partners at considerably higher rates than any other race. According to Callie and Sarah, African American females experience intimate violence at a rate 35% higher than white females, and 2 ½ times the rate of women of other races. African American males experienced intimate partner violence at a rate 62% higher than white males. (2000). Often Hispanic, and African American women live in areas where there is a high level of violence. Various factors are associated with the increase risk of intimate partner homicide, which include: poverty, low educational level, partner unemployment, and young
This is the tenth time that Lisa has been admitted to the hospital within the past two years. At least this time there aren’t any broken bones or concussions to worry about. Lisa only has two black eyes, a patch of her beautiful long hair forcibly yanked from her head, a nasty black and blue bruise on her neck and a few nails ripped directly from the newly manicured nail beds. Lisa swore to God and her best friend Brandy that this was the final straw. Actually, she made that exact same pledge under oath just three months ago, yet she is coincidently in the same position she vowed never to return to. This time was different though. She was making plans to move her things out of the small apartment that she shared with her boyfriend the minute she was discharged from Sinai Grace Hospital, and what seem to be her home away from home. Lisa has made plans for her mom to babysit her 2 year old daughter while she searches for work, and Brandy has already told Lisa she can stay with her as long as she needed to. Yet, the very next day, Lisa calls to inform Brandy that she decided to stay with Jason despite of the awful things that he has done to her. Lisa believes that Jason has changed overnight and that he deserves a second chance, besides a child needs to be raised with both parents in the home. Unfortunately Brandy was not at all surprised by the phone call, in fact, she was expecting it. As the wave of guilt and the “should’ve, could’ve, would’ve” attempts to overcome Brandy again, she quickly snapped back into reality, wiped the tears off her face and placed the white roses on Lisa’s tombstone. A story like Lisa’s usually raises the million dollar question; why do women stay in abusive relationships? Across the nation...
Domestic Violence is a widely recognized issue here in the United States. Though many people are familiar with domestic violence, there are still many facts that people do not understand. Abuse is not just physical, it is mental, emotional, verbal, sexual and financial. Many victims of physical abuse are also fall victim to these abuse tactics as well. An abusive partner often uses verbal, mental, emotional, and financial abuse to break their partner so to speak. It is through this type of abuse the victim often feels as though they are not adequately meeting their partner’s needs.
Historically, legal and social traditions in the United States have permitted and supported the abuse of women and children by the male head of household. This historical phenomenon helps explain why women are the primary victims of domestic violence. In this country, civil rights and legal responsibilities were first granted to free, property-owning men. Wives, children, and slaves were considered "chattel" or personal property of male citizens who were held responsible for their public behavior.
“Domestic violence is an emotional, physical, psychological, or sexual abuse perpetrated against a person by a person's spouse, former spouse, partner, former partner or by the other parent of a minor child” (McCue 2). While it is these things, the violence is also considered a pattern of demeanor used to establish power and control over another person with whom an intimate relationship is or has been shared through fear and intimidation (“Domestic Violence Sourcebook” 9). It has 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, mate beating, and so on (2). Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Accommodations, believes that domestic violence is “terrorism in the home” (2). This type of abuse involves threats, harm, injury, harassment, control, terrorism, or damage to living beings/property (2). It isn't only in relationships with spouses, it also occurs within family, elderly, and children (9).
The immense prevalence of domestic violence occurs nationally; even more the existent of disparities amongst racial and ethnic groups. The Office of the Attorney General Annual Report (2015), states that in 2013 African-American domestic violence homicide rates were three times higher than rate amongst Caucasians in Virginia. Only about half of domestic violence victims report incidents to law enforcement. Several identified barriers exist amongst African-American women that deter them from leaving the abusive relationship such as financial disparities, education, health, and economic resources (Campbel et al., 2008). African-American women experience domestic violence than Caucasian women in the age group of 20-24. However, Black and White's women experience the same level of victimization in all other age categories (Campbel et al., 2008). The study found that nonwhite LGBTQ are least likely to access formal legal resources because they interpret the law to be less inclusive of their relationships. Found higher negative perceptions of domestic violence law as it applies to same-gender relationships. Furthermore, these findings imply that non-white LGB may be largely (and likely, unintentionally) excluded from the community-based outreach and education of advocacy and service organizations, explaining the existence of any potential knowledge gaps with regards to legal resources, changing policies, and protections. While these organizations seek to inform the LGBTQ community of such issues, there may be a substantial gap in who receives educational outreach and how they receive this outreach (Guadalupe-Diz,
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is historically referred to as domestic violence. It describes a pattern of coercive and assaultive behavior that may include psychological abuse, progressive isolation, sexual assault, physical injury, stalking, intimidation, deprivation, and reproductive coercion among partners (The Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), 1999). IPV leads to lifelong consequences such as lasting physical impairment, emotional trauma, chronic health problems, and even death. It is an issue effecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Eighty-five percent of domestic violence victims are women (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003). More than one in three women in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2012). Thirty to sixty percent of perpetrators tend to also abuse children in the household (Edelson, 1999). Witnessing violence between parents or caretakers is considered the strongest risk factor of transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next (Break the Cycle, 2006).
The United States Department of Justice reports that women are more likely to be victims of nonfatal intimate partner violence. (Catalano, 2006) It is estimated that two million women a year are victims of physical abuse each year, and that number does not include any other form of intimate partner violence. (Connelly, et al. 2006) Intimate partner violence results in fatalities in thirty percent of all female homicides. (Catalano, 2006) For males, the percentage goes down to five percent. Men and woman ages twenty to thirty-four are at the highest risk for intimate partner violence. Again, both men and women who are married but separated are at higher risk for intimate partner violence. Black and white females are more likely to be victims of nonfatal intimate partner violence. However, white females are more likely to be victims of fatal intimate partner violence. Individuals with a lower income and socioeconomic status are at a greater risk, but females are at a greater risk regardless of income.
Domestic violence tears thousands of familys apart every year. Today there are about 3-4 times as many offenses as there was 75 years ago. You may not think there are as many cases of domestic violence. Domestic violence isn’t always a husband or boy friend beating their kid or girlfriend/wife. There are several different types of domestic violence, a man beating a women, a man beating his child, a woman beating her significant other, a woman beating her child, or a child abusing his/her parents verbally or physically. There are also cases not only on physical and verbal assault; there are sexual assaults, social abuse, and economic abuse. Most of all acts of domestic violence are involved with alcohol and drugs. Although these things happen every day, they should happen at all, but some people are afraid or embarrassed about being assaulted. This gets to the point where they victim is so frightened about their assaulter that they won’t even report it to the police, so they go on living in abuse which is not right at all.
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.
Intimate partner violence, or domestic violence, is a prevalent worldwide health problem, affecting women more commonly than men. Intimate partner violence is unreported and unrecognized by health care professionals, but even when Intimate partner violence is recognized, it remains an unaddressed issue. Domestic violence is any violence that is inflicted upon one family member by another family member, “for tens of millions of women
The researcher Michael T Johnson in 1995 investigated data from the National Family Violence Survey. Johnson reported that “…young married Hispanic women were more likely to experience domestic violence” (). The racial and ethnic groups revealed differences in rates and the forms of abuse. Researchers reported than African American and Hispanic women with low household income and educational status experienced greatest rates of family and domestic violence. According to Women of Color Network (2006) “African American women reported 29.1% intimated partner violence (sexually, physically, and mentally); on the other hand, Hispanic females reported 21.2%” (p. 1-4). The domestic violence rates among African American and Hispanic women have beben related to the sociocultural beliefs of the acceptance of marital abuse; especially, if women have low educational levels and are financially
women have been assaulted by a partner at some in her life and 1 in 8
Psychological, emotional, mental, physical, economic, and sexual abuse are only but a few of the effects of intimate partner violence. When a perpetrator decides to inflict violence onto their partner, they are acting out of power and control. They will take every piece of confidence their partner has taken years to build up in order to intimidate them. Intimate partner violence is an epidemic. It is a social problems that affects individuals in all parts of the world regardless of their creed, color, background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic status, or religion. According to “1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.” CITE Statistically, men have been the
“One woman is beaten by her husband or partner every 15 seconds in the United States” (Stewart & Croudep, 1998-2012). Domestic violence can interfere with the husband-wife relationship because one spouse is always in constant fear of the other. This violence could vary from physical abuse to ps...
Domestic violence is skyrocketing in our society. In the U.S., as many as 1.5 million women and 850,000 men were physically assaulted by their intimate partner last year, and numerous children abused by their parents. These sad criminal acts will continue to grow in our society, unless our community takes action to stop these crimes.