Human beings deal with many types of violence. These include domestic violence, child abuse, sexual harassment and teen violence. One vital social problem that faces individuals, families, and communities is domestic violence. Domestic violence is aggravated by factors such as male chauvinism and gender discrimination. Creation of awareness of domestic violence is necessary. Both men and women are victims of domestic violence. In many countries, various legislations have been put in place to reduce instances of domestic violence. This paper explains the history, impacts, and solutions of domestic violence, and the laws formulated regarding this vice.
Any form of mistreatment that takes place between partners, spouses, intimate members of the family is referred to as domestic violence. Many of the people affected by domestic violence are women and teen girls. There are various types of domestic violence. These include physical violence, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, spiritual abuse and emotional abuse, economic abuse. In addition, stalking and cyber-stalking of partners is considered a form of cyber violence (Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, 2018). Domestic abuse affects partners from all religions, races, sexual orientations, and economic status. This paper will address the impacts of this violence, the historical perspective, the legislations that have been enacted and the recommendations for solving this problem.
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Physical abuse entails the use of aggressive behaviour, withholding the physical needs and threat of abusing a partner physically exhibited by someone in a sexual relationship (Dutton, 2011). In sexual abuse, a partner forces sex on the other person. Sexual abuse may either be verbal or physical. Emotional abuse entails exploitation of the character, vulnerability and insecurity of a partner. Regarding verbal abuse, there is the use of application of language that is abusive aimed at threatening, embarrassing and demeaning an individual (Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, 2018). Domestic abuse can also involve usage of the available economic resources to control the victim. Spiritual abusers coerce the partners to take part in other religious practices instead of their own practices. Stalking involves engaging in behaviours aimed at harassing or threatening an individual, including making calls that are harassing, impromptu visit to the victim's home or workplace and destroying property that belongs to the victim.
Impacts of Domestic Violence
There are various effects of domestic abuse. First, victims have been displaced and become homeless because of this violence. It has led to health problems of the victims. Victims have developed anxiety, depression and even resorted to substance abuse. These health problems lead to an increase in the cost of healthcare. The recipients of the abuse can also experience psychological and emotional trauma (Dutton, 2011). When pregnant women are exposed to domestic violence, they are likely to deliver babies with low birth weight before their due dates. In the family, the occurrence of frequent abuse can result in the children being put under children protection services. The children are also affected by violence between their parents.
Children who experience family domestic violence have a high probability of developing a low intelligence quotient. They develop low self-esteem, concentration difficulties, sleeping and eating disturbances, concentration difficulties and phobias (Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, 2018). Children are also at risk of developing emotional trauma and thus likely to engage in practices such as drug abuse. In some cases, children resort to suicide because of this vice. Children who witness this violence develop a tendency of not trusting people later in their life.
In the community, domestic violence can affect the productivity of the companies. This is because the employees who experience this abuse do not work effectively and efficiently hence leading to a reduction in their output. The economy of the community is faced with a large financial burden due to the abuse (Dutton, 2011). Moreover, the instances of drug abuse and alcohol consumption in the society rises. In the society family bonds are broken due to domestic abuse.
Historical Perspective on Domestic Violence
The occurrence of partner violence has varied greatly in the society over time. This domestic violence, based on history, as deemed to be caused by policies of the government.
Rape and other types of sexual abuse have been viewed in history as ways of demeaning certain groups of people such as in the concentration camps that were in German, and slave ships that were bound to go to North America. Moreover, Women were also viewed as comforters in the brothels in Japan during the Second World War. The society also viewed domestic violence against women as acts that involved the circumcision of women. Generally, all the societies in the world have perceived women as being less valuable than the men (Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, 2018).
Many women in the past have been assaulted for attending school, some have been killed since they were victims of rape and since women were involved in premarital sex. In the United States, the women were exempted from the jury till 1701 and also prevented from exercising their voting rights till 1920 (Weitz & Weitz, 2015). The perspective that has been since past times that women are inferior to men has encouraged the mistreatment of women and therefore promoted domestic violence against the women. Even though domestic violence is experienced by both male and female, in the past the women were the main culprits of the violence.
Laws Formulated
Federal Laws
Many laws have been passed to protect the victims of domestic violence from their abusers. One of these laws is the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was passed by the federal government in 1994. This law enhanced the response of the community to sexual assaults and domestic violence. In 2000, VAWA was renewed and its scope by was expanded to involve stalking and crimes related to dating violence by the Congress. This law created a forum for assisting victims of domestic abuse. This legislation ensured that the immigrants who were victims remained in the United States (Straus, Gelles & Steinmetz, 2017). In 2005, VAWA was reauthorized to give the immigrants who were victims further protection. In 2013, the federal anti-cyber-stalking and anti-stalking law was passed. These two laws ensure that the abusers are jailed or forced to pay large fines to ensure that such behaviours are not tolerated. Currently, there is a Federal Gun Control Act that ensures that the owners of firearms do not supply the abusers with weapons.
State laws
In Minnesota, there is a Domestic Abuse Act that is operational. The Act explains the penalties that an abuser should face if he/she is found guilty of engaging in domestic violence. The Domestic Violence Prevention Act in the state of New York ensures that those guilty of domestic abuse are arrested. This act also provides for the provision of the shelter, counseling services and referrals for the victims of the abuse. Arizona's law against stalking has also been enacted (Straus, Gelles & Steinmetz, 2017). This law defines what stalking means and the penalties that the offenders of domestic abuse should face.
Solutions to Domestic Violence
One of the solutions is by offering support programs in the society. These services that are provided by churches and schools to ensure that people talk about issues affecting them in the society at large and how to handle them. These support systems decrease the chances of a person taking part in domestic violence. Communities should come up with programs whereby survivors of domestic violence share their experience and offer advice to couples regarding domestic violence (Dutton, 2011). This will help sensitize people about domestic abuse thus reducing the occurrence of cases of abuse. Thus, the Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which is October, should be filled with many programs and talks about this abuse. In addition, the penalties for involvement in domestic violence should be firm and consistent. Though various states have laws against domestic violence, the success rates are still low in various states (Hanmer, 2012). This has been linked to the leniency of some of the judges. By ensuring that serious punitive action is taken, the likelihood of cases of abuse occurring will decrease.
Moreover, the approach that many family courts deal with the issue of domestic violence should be changed (Dutton, 2011). In history, many courts have treated the divorce cases and domestic violence cases separately. This often leads to an inconclusive investigation into the cases of domestic violence. Therefore, an integration of both cases will ensure that the cases regarding domestic violence are given more attention and the offenders punished with regard to the law.
Since women are the major victims of domestic violence, women should be helped to become independent economically (Dutton, 2011). One of the major forms of abuse that women experience is economic abuse that extends even during divorce sessions. The divorce financial distributors should when dividing the finances that the women are allocated. Old family members can also nurture the younger family members by providing supervision that is structured and consistent. Domestic violence centers should be established in many states to enhance financial support of the victims and also create awareness (Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, 2018). Another way of curbing this violence is through the victims speaking out. Most victims are afraid of speaking out due to the fear of being stigmatized and being abused further by their partners. However, the only way that abusers can be identified is through such reports being made to the police. Police should introduce phone numbers that people should call to report on cases of abuse by their partners.
Conclusion
The notion that women are the only victims of domestic violence is wrong. The causes of domestic violence include abuse of drugs, poverty, unemployment and certain diseases such as bipolar disorders. Domestic abuse has various impacts on the individual, partner, children, community, and services. People had a certain view about domestic violence in the past and this acted as the onset and basis of the way people view domestic abuse currently. In a bid to curb this violence, various laws have been passed by the federal and state governments explaining the punitive measures that should be taken against those found guilty of being abusers. There are various steps that can be taken to reduce the occurrence of domestic violence. Domestic violence continues to be one of the major problems facing families throughout the world. As it stands, it is the responsibility of the society to address this matter and come up with ways in which this menace can be curbed. The authorities also need to come up with policies that discourage violence and punish the culprits as a means of discouraging others. By realizing that every person ought to be respected and treated fairly, this would ensure that happiness is achieved and all parties feel part of the family. Stereotypic thinking that males are the dominant species hence are the ones mostly advancing domestic violence ought to be shunned. In its place, people need to be responsible for their actions. For those affected, they need to be helped to get over this traumatizing experience so that they can be better persons in the society.
References
Dutton, D. G. (2011). Rethinking domestic violence . Ubc Press.
Hanmer, J. (2012). Mainstreaming solutions to major problems: reducing repeat domestic violence. In Crime Reduction and Problem-oriented Policing (pp. 270-302). Willan.
Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, M. (2018). Domestic Violence Facts, Types & Effects . [online] MedicineNet. Available at: https://www.medicinenet.com/domestic_violence/article.htm#domestic_violence_facts
Straus, M. A., Gelles, R. J., & Steinmetz, S. K. (2017). Behind closed doors: Violence in the American family . Routledge.
Weitz, R., & Weitz, R. (2015). A history of women’s bodies.
