Intimate partner violence (IPV) is one of the occurrences that most of the traditional and contemporary societies have to grapple with. It is a global phenomenon that culminates into death or lifelong suffering of the victims with most incidences being perpetrated by men against women. Although men are sometimes the victims with women being the perpetrators, it emerges that there are more men than women who perpetrate IPV and, therefore, there are more women than men who are victims of IPV. Some incidences of IPV are justified by the fact that those involved are individuals who are in relationships or have been in a relationship at a particular point in their lives. The idea of victimizing ex-partners is one that raises controversy, particularly where the perpetrator and the victim have independent lives with other partners. This is an issue that intrigues the reader of the article being analyzed in this assignment where the rules guiding patriarchal societies are clearly evidenced as perpetuating IPV.
Summary
Embury-Dennis (2017) presents a news story in which a perpetrator of IPV got a lenient verdict at a time when the world is engaging in endeavors meant to alleviate IPV occurrences. This man hit his ex-wife with a club that was cupped with nail spikes. The man did not hit this woman once but repeatedly. Of concern is the fact that the man was released after paying an unspecified amount of money as fine and the sentencing was suspended for 15 months. The people from Portugal, where the incidence occurred, leading to the verdict in a Portuguese law court, depicted their outrage and even planned for demonstrations over the same. The Court of Appeal failed to offer a “fairer” verdict even after being challenged by the plaintiff. Amnesty International also made a comment that this is one way through which societies reinforce misogyny and other profanities against women.
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The judges justified their verdict by stating that the defendant is allowed by both the Bible and the Portuguese laws to punish a woman who turns out as adulterous. Worth noting is the fact that this woman was not a partner, but an ex-wife, at the time of the incidence. The article does not present the date and time when the incidence occurred but the resultant ruling was published on October 27, 2017 in the Independent . The issues that are prominent in this article include the patriarchal nature of the Portuguese culture where the man was judged leniently with the woman being blamed for the woes that begot her.
Misogyny and the Functionalist Perspective
One of the terms used by Embury-Dennis (2017) is “misogyny” (para.11). This term is mostly used to present the view that women are despised in a specific context or culture. For the purposes of the news article under consideration, one cannot say that the author is biased as he presents both sides of the story. He states the reason for the perpetrator’s engagement in the act and also states that there are more harsh penalties for the perpetrators of such incidences than the one imposed herein. Eventually, one of attributes that qualify the incidence as news is that the verdict involved was more lenient than others experienced in similar incidences in the past.
Victim-blaming emerges as a prominent issue. In this essence, the woman is presented as deserving the kind of hardships she undergoes in the patriarchal society which supports the man’s aggression in having his needs addressed. This article cannot be said to be extra-ordinary as far as IPV and domestic violence issues are concerned. Most news articles will present the idea of victim-blaming in justifying violence and its adverse outcomes. In this article, the woman was adulterous and, therefore, a disgrace to her ex-husband. For this reason, the latter was justified in using a club that had nail spikes, on her body in collaboration with her former partner. This cruel act is further reinforced by the laws of the land which prohibit acts that would depict dishonor and an attack on the dignity of man (Embury-Dennis, 2017). The question that emerges in the mind of the reader is: Where is dishonor for the man who is an ex- to the victim and not a current partner? It, therefore, emerges that Portugal can be categorized under patriarchal societies whose focus is on escalating the woes of women with emphasis on promoting respect and honor for men, even the undeserving.
Davey (2016), writing for The Guardian, illustrates the need for training court officials as judges and lawyers have now been fixated to the idea of using the victim-blaming concepts to alleviate the perpetrator’s accountability and, therefore, reinforce some acts that continue to degrade the woman’s position in the society. While the media acts as a society’s watchdog, one gets the view that Embury-Dennis (2017) has tried to maintain a balance in the way he articulates various issues of concern in alignment with IPV. He makes the reader understand who the perpetrator and victim are but does not go into details of telling the reader about the guilt of either of them. He also presents the idea of hitting the woman as just a mere occurrence, leaving the reader to make the decision as to whether it was right or wrong. He presents the details of both the man and woman, in this case the perpetrator and victim respectively, in a simplistic way, leaving the reader to make the final judgment. He also presents the laws utilized by the judges to arrive to the verdict that the man deserved a lenient punishment and also gives the views of some third parties, such as Amnesty International. The article is quite short but insightful, leaving the reader with several unanswered questions that stimulate exploration into the topic.
In alignment with structural functionalism, the judges in this case were guided by the laws of land in reaching their verdict. They also used the Bible in justifying their judgment. It, therefore, emerges that the Portuguese support the notion of a patriarchal society as depicted by the laws utilized in this case which depict the view that the woman deserved the pain of being hit repeatedly with a club that had nail spikes, in compensation for the dishonor caused to the ex-husband who was the perpetrator. Durkheim, a functionalist author, argued that the laws of land, which he calls “legal rules” (Cited in Livesey & Lawson, 2010, p.5) are guided by the “collective conscience of the society” (Livesey & Lawson, 2010, p.5) from which they emerge. It is, therefore, evident that the Portuguese culture supports any endeavor toward protecting the man’s honor, including violence. This yields the notion of treating the woman as a lesser being than the man as is the case with the news article analyzed herein.
Conclusion
In conclusion, IPV emerges as a global phenomenon whose coverage in news media is similar. The idea of victim-blaming is quite prominent with the perpetrator emerging as a victor though some kind of punishment is evident. The lenient punishment serves to perpetuate the acts, particularly when coupled with the idea of justifying a verdict through the legal rules that emerge from the society’s beliefs and norms. Patriarchal societies have adopted rules and norms that tend to reinforce violence against females, with the agenda being the promotion of honor and respect for men, even those who least deserve it. Women have been left to heal the pain of being assaulted for a lifetime. The issue can, however, be solved by imposing harsh penalties on the offenders and considering the fact that assault is an act against the law. In this essence, it is the assault that should matter more than what caused it. This is one way through which to alleviate the notion of victim-blaming and having the perpetrator take accountability for his or her actions.
References
Davey, M. (2016). August 15). Lawyers use victim-blaming language in domestic violence cases, says report. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/aug/15/lawyers-use-victim-blaming-language-in-domestic-violence-cases-says-report
Embury-Dennis, T. (2017, October 27). Man avoids Portuguese jail for beating ex-wife with nail-spiked club because her infidelity brought him “dishonor.” Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/portugal-man-beat-ex-wife-club-nail-spiked-infidelity-dishonour-court-avoid-jail-porto-judge-joaquim-a8022671.html
Livesey, C. & Lawson, T. (2010). Crime and deviance: Functionalist theories. Retrieved from http://www.sociology.org.uk/notes/A2_Deviance_functionalism.pdf
