VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: SUICIDE - Essay Example

Violence Against Women: Suicide Violence Against Women: Suicide What factors affect this type of violence? Domestic violence is a particularly complex behavior to analyze and correct because most of its victims tend to hide their wounds and are reluctant for their friends, leave alone law enforcement authorities to know about it. This is particularly damaging to policies that are aimed at tackling this problem. In the United States alone, it is estimated that women are nine times more likely to be attacked in their homes than in the streets (Dutton, 2006).

This means that women are more likely to be attacked by the men in their lives than by strangers. There are different factors that contribute to the occurrence of domestic violence in different societies. In many cultures in developing nations, there are retrogressive cultural practices such as bride price being expected from the groom, frustration due to increased poverty, brides being married off at young ages, and illiteracy that contribute to women in relationships being victimized by their male spouses.

In the developed nations such as the United States, the causes of domestic violence are somewhat different (Fernandes, 2011). Batterers, for instance, are usually men who have been brought up in abusive families where it was the norm for the husband to hit his wife and children. In addition, batteres also tend to be alcoholics or drug abusers. What are the characteristics of the victims? Most of the time, victims of domestic abuse are people who are in some way disenfranchised and in a disadvantaged position in comparison to the abuser.

For instance, unemployed women who are financially and socially dependent on their male spouses are more likely to be abused that employed women. There are also 75% more female domestic violence victims than male victims. Most domestic violence victims are also usually between the ages of 16 and 44 years (Du Plat-Jones, 2006). African American women experience higher rates (up to 35%) of domestic violence than all other ethnic groups in the United States. In addition, women from lower income homes experience more instances of domestic violence than women from wealthier families.

Women with mental or physical disabilities also experience more incidences of violence than women who do not have such problems. What are the characteristics of those who commit this type of violence?Male perpetrators of domestic violence will lash out on impulse while female batterers tend to plan the attack for a ime when their spouse may be in a defenseless position like when he is sleeping (Dutton, 2007). Moreover, this is not necessarily always the norm. Women who are bigger in size than their also easily lash out once their anger is stirred.

There are numerous personalities among perpetrators of domestic violence. There are men and women who have psychopathic personalities and readily vent on the people that are closest to them. There are also dysphoric perpetrators who have a lot of angst and experience any number of mental disorders (Kurst-Swanger and Petcosky, 2003). However, the greatest number of perpetrators are people who have ordinary relationships with people outside the home but abuse their partners at home. Sometimes such perpetrators abuse alcohol or drugs before becoming violent; but do not have to do so in order to lash out at those closest to them.

These type of people, even though they have no real mental disorders, become experts in presenting a different front in public while maintaining an entirely different persona in private. ReferencesDu Plat-Jones, J. (2006). Domestic violence: the role of health professionals. Nursing Standard, 21, 44-48.Dutton, D. (2006). Rethinking domestic violence. New York: UBC Press.Dutton, D. (2007). The Abusive Personality, Second Edition: Violence and control in intimate relationships. New York: The Guilford Press.

Fernandes, T. (2011). Domestic Violence. Nursing Standard, 25 (26), 58Kurst-Swanger, K., & Petcosky, J. (2003). Violence in the home: Multidisciplinary perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press.