Abuse and violence at home have been issues of concern for a long time. Domestic abuse has numerous negative impacts on affected individuals. Some negative impacts include physical pain, stress, and an overall reduction in the quality of life. Fortunately, the Federal and State governments have formulated rules that could help reduce domestic violence. An example of the federal government law is the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and state law is Indiana Domestic Battery law, on Indiana Code, Title 35, Article 42, Chapter 2, Section 35-42-2-1.3. The laws have been effective in reducing the rate of violence, especially against women and children.
Federal Law
The federal law, VAWA, was developed in 1994 by the United States government to curb the sexual and domestic violence issues. It was developed to help improve the live s of the victims and help in arresting and prosecuting the offenders. The law fostered a community collaboration response to sexual assaults and domestic violence. It involves the NGOs, the criminal justice system, and other social services. The lawmakers created a hotline for domestic violence and allocated money for some programs, such as shelter, training, education, and other services, to help reach even those in rural areas. In Indiana, the law provides financial support to victims against sexual assaults, stalking, and domestic violence and helps to improve response to violent crimes (State of Indiana, 2019) . For example, VAWA provides YWCA with finances to help shelters in the countries of Elkhart and St. Joseph. It also helped on improving the prosecutions in the courts and improving law enforcement.
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Additionally, the law authorized financial support to the victims and witness counselors who handle national prosecutions cases. The passage of the law led to positive impacts in society for both males and females. It helped reduce violence against women in terms of their victimization (Anderson, 2020) . The law has led to an increased rate of reporting of victimization by minimizing the barriers for the victims. It has also led to an improvement of law enforcement officers’ attitudes towards the abused people. Additionally, the law has improved the victims' advocacy and improved the process of acquiring protection orders. The regulation has also fostered good relations between the community and law enforcement officers (Jennings et al., 2020). Lastly, the law has helped improve officers' training to handle the abuse cases by developing specific units to address domestic violence and perform investigative practices regarding the violence issue.
Recently, there have been some cases documented involving domestic violence. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, CCN news recorded a case of a woman who had been abused (Kottasova, 2020) . The woman wal ked into a pharmacy but not to buy medicine but to notify the pharmacist that her spouse has victimized her. Police later arrested the lady's spouse. Another case report showed that a woman was sexually molested by a man they used to have sex with (Fantz & Vashi, 2018) . The man held a knife at the woman and raped her. She stated that she tried to scream and also managed to push the guy off. The two cases involve domestic and sexual abuse of people with intimate relationships, thus qualifying under VAWA law.
State Law
One of the state laws is Domestic Battery law, on Indiana Code, Title 35, Article 42, Chapter 2, Section 35-42-2-1.3, which was developed in Indiana to curb domestic violence. The law is against a person who intentionally touches their spouse, partner, or any individual that they have an intimate relationship. A family member can be a spouse, children, parents, people related by blood, and even people residing together. The abuse can be physical abuse or assaults, imposition of fear of impending bodily harm, and injuries or assaults. Domestic violence takes a mental and physical toll on an individual. Research has shown that psychological characteristics lead to an individual cause of violence (Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, 2020) . The law is exercised whenever there is evidence of acute injuries, deaths, or permanent disfigurements. Additionally, making a woman lose their fetus due to violence can make a person incur the charges of aggravated battery. The law contains some penalties for the people charged guilty for the offense. An individual can be subjected to community service, being jailed, and being terminated from parental rights. Also, a person can be charged with fines or be deported depending on their immigration status. The Indiana law is applicable in families if a person is attempting to cause, threaten to cause, or leading to physical harm to a family member. Forcing a family member to engage in sexual activities by force through threats or duress. Also, beating, mutilating, killing, or torturing an animal with the intention to coerce, harass or threaten family members.
The lawmakers at Indiana formulated rules for domestic violence victims to get protection, initiate certain criminal offenses, and provide training for those working in the criminal justice system (Johnson, 2019) . The laws also ensure shelter, domestic abuse services and programs, and all other needs of domestic abuse. The laws have been effective in Indiana as parents have been able to acquire collaborative childbearing and find methods to solve their disputes. It has also ensured protection to children with hostile parents and ensured their safety. Besides, it has ensured the mental and physical well-being of people and improved parents' ability to love their children, educate them, and provide for their basic needs.
The act can be used in cases, such as the case of Peterson's story, whereby a player was accused of punishing his young boy, four years old, for hitting him with a branch. Another case reported by MPR News involved a mother to twin daughters who was jailed on account of her abusing her daughter. The daughters outlined many years of beatings, rape, and torture. The father of the two had been detained for sexual assaults, stalking, and rape (Williams & Graves, 2018) . The two cases can fall under the Indiana domestic battery law as it emphasizes the protection of family members against abuse. The cases show that children have been abused physically, which provides enough evidence to subject the offenders under Section 35-42-2-1.3 of the law.
Credibility of Sources
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Conclusion
Domestic violence poses a significant challenge to individuals in society, especially the victims. The state and Federal governments have formulated laws to help minimize domestic abuse. VAWA and the Indiana Domestic Battery law have helped in resolving family issues. The laws have helped in ensured women and children's protection. They have also enhanced community collaboration with the victims and law enforcement. The justice system, police officers, and community should coordinate to ensure they tackle the arising domestic issues.
References
Anderson, C. (2020). The Violence Against Women's Act: Fs Act: From the Criminalization of om the Criminalization of. Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects, 88 . https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/university_honors_program/88
Fantz, A., & Vashi, S. (2018, November 29). How rape cases went wrong . CNN . https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2018/11/investigates/police-destroyed-rapekits/case-files.html
Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. (2020). Domestic Violence in Indiana. pp. 1-24.
Jennings, W. G., Powers, R. A., & Perez, N. M. (2020). A Review of the Effects of the Violence Against Women Act on Law Enforcement. Violence Against Women , 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1077801220949694
Johnson, B. (2019). Domestic Abuse Laws in Minnesota. Minnesota House Research , pp. 1-31.
Kottasova, I. (2020, April 6). Women are using code words at pharmacies to escape domestic violence during lockdow n. CNN . https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/02/europe/domestic-violence-coronavirus-lockdown-intl/index.html
State of Indiana. (2019). 2019-2020 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) STOP Grant Program Solicitation. Indiana Criminal Justice Institute , 1-29.
Williams, B., & Graves, C. (2018). Family in 'horrific' Mpls. abuse case had many contacts with authorities. MPR News . https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/02/26/family-in-horrific-minneapolis-torture-abuse-case-had-many-contact-with-authorities
