Minority Ethnic Womens Experiences of Domestic Violence - Essay Example

Running head: Domestic Violence Domestic Violence s Domestic Violence Discuss the impact of race, and culture on responses to Black and minority ethnic women’s experiences of domestic violence? Introduction A household of a black family is very different from that of white, or all the other communities. The stereotyped version of a perfect family unit, where a father dominates, is nothing near the black household. Dominance remains with the women regarding the home matters. Regarding other minorities, they too have very different house atmospheres from those of majorities. Wherever a community is small in number compared to other communities, they are bound to be exploited. Generally, this results in minorities remaining poor and/or being harassed by individuals of other communities. Therefore, this essay will discuss how the differences in race, class and culture varies the response of minority ethnic or black women’s response to domestic violence. For example, many black women would rather live in an abusive relationship instead of living singly forever (Mama, 2000 in Hanmer & Itzin, 2000). On the other hand, a white woman may not stand being a victim and demand separation. This example portrays how differently people of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds respond to domestic violence. However, this paper will discuss this in detail, while supporting arguments with various books and journals. Further more, the facts will be critically analyzed and evaluated. Additionally, subheadings will be used to categorize the important aspects of the topic. Definition of terms Blacks: In America, Blacks are those people of any known African Black ancestry, according to the “one-drop” rule that determined even a single drop of “Black blood” would make a person Black (Davis, n.d., p.5). Concerning who Blacks are, Graham (2002) commented that “Blacks were persons having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa” (p. 145). Minorities: According to Capotorti; minorities is defined as “A group numerically inferior to the rest of the population of a State, in a non-dominant position, whose members being nationals of the State possess ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics differing from those of the rest of the population and show, if only implicitly, a sense of solidarity, directed towards preserving their culture, traditions, religion or language”. (Caportorti, 1991, as cited by Malanczuk & Akehurst, 1997, p. 106) Domestic violence: this term is many a times referred to as “intimate partner violence/spouse abuse” (Castle, Kulkami & Abel, 2006: 93). One definition of domestic violence can be a trend of forceful authority which makes up physical, sexual and/or psychological assault toward an intimate partner, either current or former. There is no actual UK definition of the term but the general consideration is that it is an action performed to intend to physically harm a person. This can include several types of behaviours, for instance threats, physical, sexual, emotional, verbal and financial abuse. Still, there is a great deal of variation in the definition. There is physical violence that can be anywhere between comparatively slight physical contact, like a push, and severe acts which may lead to critical injuries or even death. Physical violence may or may not result in any injuries, and those injuries might be a simple bruise or death. Moreover, violence can be accidental or intentional (Gelles, 2000). Abuse: Levy (1982: 23) defines abuse as “the use of physical, verbal, and emotional force and attack to control and maintain power by frightening and intimidating someone over a period of time”. Literature Review Domestic violence has existed ever since families have been formed. Many years ago, this aspect of life was largely ignored by authorities and considered to be a personal matter of the households. However, in the last 30 years, world has seen changes regarding the assistance provided to the victims by the authorities and other people on individual levels. The response to domestic violence has greatly altered, and this is supported by the fact that cases reported by the victims are greatly increasing. It has reached a level when a call is received every minute regarding domestic violence (Harwin, 2006). Harwin further discusses the study of Council of Europe in 2002, which suggested that a woman in every four is most likely to suffer from violence at domestic level at least once in her life, while a woman in every eight woman will suffer from it annually regardless of whether they belong to a specific class, race, origin and age. Though these statistics can give us an idea regarding the figures, they cannot be solely depended upon due to under reporting and fear of their partners finding out. Domestic abuse has been seen as a major issue across cultures, religions, ages, economic status and capabilities. A British crime survey study was conducted by Walby and Allen in 2004, and from the survey it was concluded that there is not much variation in violence between the Black, White and Asian participants. Nevertheless, there is usually a lack of interpreter services and inquiring about such matters from family members does not help since they tend not to disclose any family matters (Taket, 2004). There are various issues that can be emphasized upon relating to the troubles which the black and ethnic-minority women have to face during the disclosure of the characteristics of domestic violence they have undergone. Such are usually in relation to the characteristics of culture, religion, and ethnicity (Gangoli et al., 2006). Such characteristics are mainly aspects of shame, honour, family respect and marriage arrangements. Another reason behind the lack of disclosure was that the participants are afraid of there being gossip within the society. In the study conducted by Wellock (2008) there were just a couple of Asian women who related examples of abuse or what was expected of them by their mother-in-law. These women felt they were being enslaved by their in-laws. They were expected to be working all the time, to have the house clean, prepare meals on time, and do the washing. However, the African women were found to be slightly better off as according to their recounts they were only ordered to stay within the home and care for the children and home. However, although they did not feel that they were being enslaved, they did feel lonely and isolated. Black women have been a part of the white community, even as outsiders. As quoted above, both these group suffer from domestic violence. However, black women are less likely to be educated, and therefore less financially stable. Thus, the effect and likely hood of black or other ethnic groups to suffer from domestic violence is far greater. As they are low class citizens and not financially stable and hence not protected, their male counter parts are more prone to abuse them as they are aware how dependent females are on them. Where a white woman will file a divorce or get separated from her husband if she is abused, whether it is physically or emotionally, a black woman may try to survive these hardships but prefer living with her husband. Additionally, in a low class community, it is very embarrassing and difficult for women to live alone as it continuously makes them the subject to harassment by men and rumors by others in the same community. Besides this, chances of single mother getting support and love from another male in the form of husband are very slim. Therefore, these women rather stay with their male counterparts as separation gives humiliations which can affect the wife and children emotionally, physically and psychologically. Very often, the question asked by those who see a woman suffer is that why a female wouldn’t leave her husband when suffering from domestic violence. It is important to note that the females who prioritize their relationship and not the pain are mostly those who are black or belong to other ethnic groups. There are many reasons which influence this behavior of women, ranging from cultural practices to norms of the community. Vickii Coffey, who is the executive of oldest and biggest shelter for battered women, Greenhouse, in Chicago, supports the statement above by stating that black women are less likely to flee from their homes due to lack of financial resources. This point back to the argument above that black women are less educated and less likely to support themselves (Ebony, 1990). Black community is made up of factors which are greatly different from those of white community. Even other ethnic groups such as Asians also have cultural practices which are very different. These groups generally raise girls as secondary citizens. That is, they are from infancy taught how to adapt to passive roles such as always listening to fathers, brothers and other men in the family, as Dr Jacquelyne Johnson Jackson said, a medical sociologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. (Ebony, 1990). Dr Johnson further explains how these practices condition the girls to stay with their abusive partners. Girls grow to consider themselves as inferior, and have never been aware of any rights they may hold as female citizens. From childhood, always men have been let to fulfill their wishes and demand whatever they wanted. Thus, even if men hit women, they felt that it was their right. Due to this upbringing, men believe that being dominating and by asserting complete control proves their manhood and gives them a satisfaction which they have felt all their lives. Dr Nathan Hare, a clinical psychologist, believes that black men are jealous and insecure. This means that black men are likely to take out their frustration and anger of the outside world on the women at home. Hence, if a black man experiences any humiliation due to racism, he will go and beat his woman to feel relieved. Alcoholism is mostly a result of feeling ethnically inferior, which is a case suffered by most minority ethnic groups. This leads to men being abusive towards women who are seen as the weak people and easy targets. Furthermore, because of the fact that their cultural upbringing discourages a wife to complain or talk about her personal matter so openly, men a more likely to hurt females. Dr Carl Bell, in his work done at Chicago Community’s Mental Health Council, found that in most cases, black men are killed by females when defending themselves from domestic violence. The ratio of black men remains the highest when compared to white men, white women and black women. This study may suggest that black women are the strongest and most likely to take bold steps to save themselves. However, the argument before and discussion regarding black cultural upbringing along with the result obtained by Dr Bell suggest that black men torture their women the most and to the level that women have no choice but to kill them, despite the fact that their cultural upbringing discourages them to do so. Many of the studies quoted above are old, and therefore their credibility and validity maybe questioned. However, these studies were regarding the culture, and cultural practices are very less likely to change. What has changed is the awareness among people and their likely hood to report and seek help. Even recent findings support these old studies, suggesting that culture has not changed much. One such finding is by the Violence Policy Center research found that during an argument, 305 victims were shot during an argument. Further more, in an analysis of 2006 homicide data; it was found that 551 African women were killed and shot by their husbands that year (Chaney, 2008). These recent findings suggest how culture still plays a dominating role. It is the culture of raising male members of the family as superior citizens which have an impact on their married lives. This is exemplified by the finding above that men murder woman during an argument. Thus, culture does have a great affect on domestic violence. This study also found the number of women who were killed. Of the figure 1818 women killed, it found that a definite majority of 1208 were white females. However, the African-American women killed were much frequently killed. That is, at least three times more frequently then white women. Thus, this suggests how black women’s lives are not considered to be important and leads to murdering after experiencing domestic violence. The factor which leads to murder is after all the black culture. Chaney (2008) refers to a case of Justine Gray who said how her boyfriend hit her due to jealousy and treated her like his personal punching bag. At one stage, she even started to blame herself, and could not leave him as she felt she could not look after her son alone. This case clearly explains that jealousy is a dominant feature of black men. Furthermore, he also treated her like his personal property, and she could not leave due to feelings of insecurity of living alone, as black women are always taught to be dependent on men. Hence this case also suggests how culture shapes their relationships in a way which leads to domestic violence. Children too suffer In most cases, where women are subject to domestic violence, children also suffer. Reasons are mostly the same, ranging from children being weaker citizens to financially dependent on the men of the house. The child witnesses of woman abuse have a direct upon them owing to them being exposed to violent role models. Such children who observe or experience violence at their homes as kids may ultimately end up abusing their partners during their adulthood (Johnston, 1988). The indirect effect is because of the stress that they undergo seeing their mothers suffering. However, in most cases, it is the female child who suffers. This can be related to the fact that in black and many other ethnic cultures, male children are taken as superior members of the family. Therefore, it is the females who suffer from domestic violence along with their mothers. In many cases, girls are hit because they try to protect their mothers. Even if they do not get hurt, domestic violence does have an impact on their upbringing as their psychological well being is greatly affected. However, even though they suffer in the worst possible ways due to domestic violence, girls still cannot take a stand against their father or brother. This is because of the culture and norms of black and other ethnic societies such as Asians. If it was not for these cultural values which tie them, they may have had left their homes or taken an action. Many times, girls also suffer from sexual abuse. It is the father who sexually abuses them. Such cases are not always reported and this statement may lack evidence. However, such examples are many times seen, especially in low class and ethnic communities. Conclusion Based on the argument above, it can be said in conclusion that the race, class and ethnicity does have a great impact on the domestic violence experiences of the women belonging to black and ethnic communities. The cultural upbringing, for instance, shapes female personality in such a way that they give rather live together with male counterparts rather than live alone. These women, after all, are extremely dependent on men. Social class, on the other hand, also greatly influences domestic violence experience. Mostly, ethnic and black women belong to low class. Hence, they are neither highly educated not enlightened enough to know their personal rights. Thus, they are bound to suffer repeated violence from men. Even those black and ethnic women who are from higher class suffer from these hardships. The sole reason of this is that their culture engraves in women the tendency to view themselves as inferior, secondary and dependant creatures. Regarding statistics of Domestic Violence, it is very difficult to determine the exact figures. This is mostly because many cases go unreported, the information is not gathered on international level and there is no agreed definition to different types of domestic violence. Thus, it is very often not included in various surveys and reports. Further more, various studies suggest different ratios. I have, however, taken statistics which were supported by cultural evidence. It is the responsibility of the public health, community and health service workers to work together and form regulations and practices which have proper evidence and are in relation with the requirements of the black and ethnic-minority women population. Every woman should be having easy access to maternity services and the cultural background should not matter here. The requirements of the local population should be considered and the services provided should be such that the women are able to feel comfortable through using them. The women belonging to black and ethnic-minority groups can be asked to participate when maternity services are being planned and monitored. This would allow for them becoming responsive toward requirements of an altering community. References Aris. R, Hague. G, and Mullender, A (2003) ‘Defined by men’s abuse: the spoiled identity’ of domestic violence in Stanko, E (ed). (2003) The Meanings of Violence. London: Routledge Castle, D., Kulkami, J., & Abel, K. (2006). Mood and anxiety disorders in women. Cambridge University Press. Chaney, K. 2008. Domestic Violence hit Black Women Harder. Retrieved January 19, 2010, from http://www.chicagodefender.com/article-2110-domestic-violence-hits-black-women-harder.html Collins, P.H. (1986). Learning From the Outsider Within: The Sociological Significance of Black Feminist Thought. Social Problems, 33 (6): S14-S32. Collins, P.H. (2000). Black Feminist Thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York: Routledge. 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Wellock, V.K. 2008. Domestic abuse: Black and minority-ethnic womens perspectives. Midwifery. Read More