Four Major Areas of Domestic Violence in America Society

Domestic violence involves not only physical but also verbal, psychological, emotional, or mental abuse. Physically abusive conduct involves assault ranging from stabbing, choking, hitting, pinching, shooting, slapping, pushing, or even murder. On the other hand, psychological abuse entails using words to demean and criticize or decrease someone’s confidence. Sometimes domestic violence involves people using sex to demean or control others, including intimidation, to compel the victim into sexual practices without consent or unsafe sexual contact. In other cases, some individuals use financial or economic abuse, such as restricting one’s financial security or freedom. This paper explores various forms of domestic violence in the United States while comparing them to experiences witnessed in other cultures.

Intimate Partner Violence 

Intimate partner violence in the United States occurs in various forms. Such form of violence occurs through cyber-staking, emotional, psychological, or physical abuse. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) (2021) states that, dating violence might involve financial or sexual abuse. Intimate partner violence is common across all genders. However, while it affects all genders, dating violence occurs more among women relative to men. As NCADV (2021) posits, while 1 in 4 (25%) men face domestic violence, 1 in 3 women (33%) are violently abused by their intimate partners in the United States. Expounds that this violent behaviour ranges from shoving, slapping, stabbing, or pushing, among others. Besides, almost twenty people are physically abused by their intimate partners every year, translating to over 10 million Americans annually (NCADV, 2021). On the other hand, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlights that 5 million and 11 million American men and women respectively experienced physical violence, sexual violence, or stalking from an intimate partner (CDC, 2020). 

Seventeen years ago, intimate partner violence in the U.K was lower than in the United States. 23.8% of women and 11.5% of men in the U.K reported intimate partner violence; physical intimate partner violence was the highest compared to other forms at 16.8% and 7.0% among women and men, respectively (Khalifeh et al., 2013). In the year ending March 2020, the U.K recorded 4.0% and 8.1% intimate partner violence between men and women, respectively (U.K. Office for National Statistics, 2020). However, just like in the U.S., intimate partner violence in India is high. Intimate partner violence among women is as high as 31% nationally (Murugan et al., 2020). Surprisingly, in India, more men experience abuse by their intimate partners than women. While studies indicate that 31% of intimate violence against women, it rises to 51.5% among Indian men (Deshpande, 2019). On the same note, Deshpande reports that 19.3% of men in Canada undergo intimate partner violence annually. The prevalence of intimate partner violence in Canada is almost similar among men and women. As Deshpande (2019) research reveal that 19.3% of men experience intimate partner violence, Lysova et al. (2019) claim that 19% of women in Canada undergo similar experiences. Similar to the U.S., more women experience intimate partner violence in Australia. 23% and 16% of women and men are assaulted by their intimate partners annually (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018). 

Child Abuse 

The United States is among the countries with the highest child abuse incidents in the world. Huecker et al. (2021) report that more than 3 million children are referred to protective authorities due to domestic violence. As the scholar expounds further, approximately two death fatalities are reported per 100,000 children in the U.S. However, Huecker et al. (2021) state that most child abuse cases in the U.S involve a male perpetrator. In Australia, available data from territories and states indicate that, for every 100, 000 children, at least 9.5 of them experience child abuse in their lifetime, annually (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2020). A story ran through  ABC News    shows that 1 in 4 Australian children are abused, which translates to 25% (Puddy, 2018). 

Comparing U.S. and U.K and Canada presents a nearly scenario. U.K information indicates that almost 20.7% of the country’s population aged between 18 and 74 years experienced child abuse while young (U.K. Office for National Statistics, 2019). As the report further indicates, this statistic translates to 8.4 million people in the U.K annually. Similar to the U.S., child abuse is mostly perpetrated by a male relative (U.K. Office for National Statistics, 2019). According to the authors, child abuse cases involving children in Canada range from 26 to 34 % of the total child abuse cases reported in the country. Nonetheless, Choudhry et al. (2018) call child abuse in India a pressing issue. While 37% of India population comprise children, they further state that child abuse ranges between 3% to 17% and 8% to 31% annually among males and females. 

Abuse to the Elderly 

Emotional and physical abuse of the elderly is one of the problematic issues affecting vulnerable persons worldwide. The elderly are vulnerable and are often victims of different forms of abuse. Although it is challenging to find the exact number of older people domestically abused or neglected, 3% to 10% of the United States elderly population faces domestic violence (Huecker et al., 2021). As Huecker et al. explain, it is for the elderly to report domestic violence due to ignorance, guilt, fear of repercussions, or shame. The authors further state that clinicians underreport domestic violence among elders because of poor recognition of the challenge, physician-patient confidentiality concerns, and ignorance of reporting requirements and methods. 

Considered a major social problem in India, abuse to the elderly is higher in India than in the United States. Chaurasia and Srivastava (2020) submits that the overall prevalence of abuse to the elderly in India is estimated at 11%; the lowest is neglect (45.21%), followed by disrespect (52.5%), and highest being verbal abuse (90%). The scholars emphasize that while 11% is nation-wide statistics, almost 80% of elderly Indians living in rural areas faces varying types of molestation. In Canada, the rate of abuse to the seniors is almost similar to the U.S. 4.5% of the elderly in Canada report some type of molestation after the age of 65 (Canada Department of Justice, 2015). In the Australian context, Dean (2020) reports that 2%-10% of Australian seniors are either neglected or abused financially, sexually, psychologically, or physically. However, abuse of the elderly is higher in the U.K. compared to the U.S. A review of various published literature studies put the prevalence of seniors’ abuse in the U.K at 15.7% of the elderly population (Storey, 2018).

Sibling Violence 

Sibling violence is also common among Americans. It includes physical harm or psychological abuse that could lead to serious injuries or death (Dutton et al., 2017). Surprisingly, sibling violence is prevalent than any other form of family violence. Reif and Jaffe (2019) state that sibling violence is more common than child abuse and all domestic abuse combined. He further emphasizes that sibling violence occurs between 42% and 80 per cent of the United States families. Other statistics indicate that 2.3% of children experience sexual victimization occasioned by a sister or brother (Dutton et al., 2017). 

In an article published in the “ Advances in Social Work”  journal, sibling violence in the U.K. is almost similar to the experiences recorded in the U.S. According to the article, while 42% of the U.K population faced some form of sibling abuse, most of it occurred while these victims were children (Perkins & Grossman, 2019). Considered a communal society, Indians experience less sibling violence compared to the U.S. According to Chan et al. (2019), family victimization is common among Indians: approximately 8% to 14% of Indians experience sibling violence in their lifetime. Similarly, in Canada sibling violence is less than in the U.S. Burczycka and Conroy (2018) state that the prevalence of sibling violence in Canada is about 25% to 26%. In Australia, Darkene Lancer (2020), an expert in family dynamics, published an article that states that almost 80% of Australians face sibling abuse or bullying in their lifetime. The Australian statistics match the U.S. prevalence of sibling violence, standing at 42% to 80% (Dutton et al., 2017). 

Conclusion 

In retrospect, domestic violence is common across many countries across the globe. It occurs as intimate partner violence, child abuse, abuse to the elderly, or sibling violence. Comparing these forms of violence in the U.S. against the United Kingdom, India, Canada, and Australia shows some similarities and disparities. For instance, similar to other nations, intimate partner violence affects millions of U.S. citizens. But, except India, it affects more women than men in U.K, Canada, U.S., and Australia. Compared with other countries, child abuse in the U.S. is moderate. The U.K has the highest form of child abuse among the five countries examined. Like India, Canada, the U.K., and Australia, abuse to the elderly through neglect, physical, psychological, and financial abuse occurs among U.S. seniors. In Canada, more seniors are abused; it is almost the same in the U.S., Canada, India, and Australia. Sibling violence is high in the U.S. and Canada but less in Australia and India. Governments worldwide should formulate policies to counter family-based violence, as it has shown it affects millions of people annually.

References 

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