Women Victims of Domestic Violence - Essay Example

WOMEN VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE By Women Victimsof Domestic Violence Introduction Domestic violence is a growing phenomenon in the modern world society. Domestic violence refers to the violent confrontation between members of a family or a household involving a wide variety of physical harm, such as battering, sexual assault, as well as, fear of physical harm. Household and family members include spouses or former spouses, those in a dating relationship, either formerly or informally, adults who have either blood relations or marriage relations, as well as, those who have legal parent-child or biological relationships. In the event of a domestic violence confrontation, the batterer uses various acts of violence, as well as, a series of behaviors such as threats, intimidation, psychological abuse and isolation in order coerce and are in a position to control or force the other person to bent or conform to his or her whims (Hoffman & Summers 2002, P.9). Cases of domestic violence do not happen as frequently as such within these households or family units; rather most of them remain hidden aspects, which constantly terrorize the entire family. It is also imperative to note that domestic violence takes various forms, and may not necessarily be physical abuse or sexual harassment, but it may also be psychological or emotional torture. As for psychological violence, the victim suffers intense and repeated degradation from the assaulter, which ends up creating a situation of isolation, as well as, taking charge or controlling the actions and behaviors of the spouse through manipulation or intimidation to the detriment of the individual. A large majority of cases of domestic violence affects women and children in families and households, while the male figure in most cases becomes the assaulter. Most unstable homes, such as those in poor income societies where the man is the breadwinner, he may abuse his position as the head of the family to create violence and terrorize his wife and children in an acute case of domestic violence. These women opt to tolerate the violence from their spouses because they have few options to select because of their tiring conditions of poverty. As such, it becomes a continuous case of violent confrontations within this households or families until it becomes another statistic of domestic violence. The man can abuse his wife and children by beating them up, or denying them food, or abusing them, or coming home while drunk and making a fool of himself before their friends and neighbors. This forms part of psychological torture whereby the children and the spouses feel ashamed to associate themselves to a man who cannot control his actions while under the influence of alcohol. Domestic violence is a big cause of family break ups and destruction of homes, especially when it does not stop and the victim can no longer sit back and anticipate the assaulters change. However, it is important to note that no one deserves any kind of domestic abuse. The responsibility for the violence belongs to the abuser and never the fault of the victim, because the victim does not ask for any violence even if they led to the conflict. Understanding Domestic Violence Civil societies and other groups of human rights watch should take charge to reduce the prevalence of domestic violence in most societies. In fact, they should always try to intervene in most of these cases and assist in its reduction, if possible, and in the worst cases, take the abuser into custody charged with the crimes of domestic violence. Most governments and concerned stakeholders provide help to victims of domestic violence through Victim Assistance Program, or through a Domestic Violence Unit within there are of jurisdiction or residence. This helps to monitor the extreme cases of domestic violence and protect the victims of domestic violence from continued oppression and abuse. It is imperative to note that a large number of women and children die as victims of domestic violence, either through constant battering that they become sick and do not get the necessary medication within the right time, or a murder physical assault from the abuser (Cook 2011, P.117). Symptoms of Abuse In any given relationship, when one party to the relationship misuses their power or control, they commit an act of violence. As such, any act within the relationship that one of the spouses commits in order to gain power or certain level of control over the other person is an act of domestic violence. Women in most cases suffer physical abuse, as well as, isolation and psychological abuse. Most of their male partners grab a tendency of controlling their female spouses’ lives largely, which may also lead to a verbal degradation and abuse. This paper looks at some of the common cases of domestic violence in the modern society. Physical abuse and sexual abuse tops the list of the leading forms of domestic violence in the modern society. However, in some traditional cases, they take this as an act of love whereby the man expresses his love to his wife by physically assaulting her, or taking her by force sexually. Nevertheless, these traditional beliefs and cultural; practices of a minute collection of traditional communities, especially African societies, should not be an excuse for a man to physically or sexually harass his wife. A woman suffering physical and sexual abuse may undergo the following, inter alia, hair pulling, shaking, biting, pinching, pushing, kicking, slapping, confinement, punching, hitting, and using weapons, as well as, deprivation of food or sleep. On the sexual harassment front, the woman suffers forced penetration, unwanted sexual touching, especially in the public places, or in private areas, and forced oral sex. These actions degrade the esteem of a woman, as such, amount to domestic violence, and should stop. A woman can also suffer severe cases of domestic violence through emotional abuse from her spouse or partner. This incorporates various actions such as insulting her openly either in public or in private, putting down her family and friends, making her feel bad about herself, calling her names such as bitch, whore, prostitute, or making her think she is crazy. On the other hand, the woman can also suffer acts of violence and degradation when her spouse makes her undertake humiliating things, or plays mind games on her, or treat her as a servant instead of an equal partner in the relationship, making all the big decisions in the relationship and not allowing her to contribute her opinions. Furthermore, the male counterpart emotionally abuses the female counterpart by using the male privilege to act like the “Master of the castle” thereby denying the woman any ownership within the house, or being the one to define the roles of a man, and those of a woman in a family or relationship setting (McCue 2008, P.79). The man can also abuse the woman economically by preventing her from getting a job or keeping a job, making her ask for money, giving her an allowance, taking her money, demanding exclusive control over all of the household’s finances, as well as, denying her an opportunity to voice her views in important financial decisions. Furthermore, the man also abuses the woman by denying her an opportunity to know about or have any form of access to the income of the family. As such, the woman continually remains the underdog of the man in terms of finances and has to ask or beg the man for every financial need she has. The man can also use coercion and threats as a form of domestic violence and abuse against the woman. This includes making her do illegal things, making her drop charges, or threatening to report her to welfare, or threatening to leave her, or threaten to commit suicide, as well as, making or carrying out threats to do something that would hurt her. As such, a woman under these circumstances does not live her life to the fullest in the fear of the man’s action. Other forms of domestic violence that a man can perform against a woman include intimidation, use of children, use of isolation, and use of jealousy and blame to justify ones’ actions. A man uses intimidation to make a woman suffer domestic violence by displaying weapons, dangerous driving, abusing pets, throwing or smashing things or destroying properties, and making the woman feel afraid by using looks, gestures or actions. The man uses children by threatening to take the children away, or using visitations to harass her, or using the children to relay messages instead of doing it in person, or making her feel guilty about the children. A man uses isolation as a tool for domestic violence by not allowing the woman to use freely a car or a telephone for the family, limiting her outside involvement, refusing to let her learn how to drive, get a job, or go to school, or controlling what she does, who she sees, where she goes, what she reads. Jealousy tantrums and blames from the man are also part of domestic violence that a woman can suffer, mainly used to justify actions. These include actions such as minimizing, blaming, or denying, saying she caused it, saying the abuse did not happen, shifting responsibility for abusive behavior, accusing her of infidelity, checking up on where she goes or whom she talks to, or making light of the abuse and not taking her concerns about it seriously. Getting Help for Domestic Violence All the forms of domestic violence discuss above pose a real danger to the victims suffering from the domestic violence. As such, it is imperative for these persons to seek help at the fasted time possible before they develop some serious complications, either physical or emotional. As such, if anyone is controlling, or has a controlling partner, they should not ignore these actions, and as such, seek help because the dangers under these circumstances are real. These dangers are not because of alcohol, drugs, anger or stress, but due to the lack of good behavior of the assaulter. An individual learns these behaviors and uses them to intimidate, dominate or manipulate another person, aspects that are destructive and dangerous in the family or relationship. Consequently, if the acts of abuse continue without any help from outsiders, then the abusing partner risks arrest and going to jail on charges of domestic violence, or losing the relationship altogether (McQuigg 2011, P.45). Domestic violence hurts all the members of the family and puts them in a compromise situation. For one, they do not want to break up the family or relationship; while on the other hand, they cannot continue to tolerate the abusive acts as perpetrated by their spouses. When a person is abusive, he or she eventually loses the respect and trust of his or her partner, which in most cases blinds abused partners with fear such that they are very afraid to communicate their needs or feelings to their partners. Everyone has a right to feel safe and protected in a relationship, and as such, it is imperative to take steps to intervene in every abusive case in order to assist the persons who are abusive to learn to be non-violent, or to quit using substances that make them do violent acts, such as alcohol addiction, drugs and substance abuse. Warning Signs of Domestic Violence It is imperative for the victim of domestic violence to learn the warning signs in every aspect of domestic violence. Disagreements within a relationship develop from time to time in every relationship. Partners should not confuse these disagreements for cases of domestic violence. However, it is the whole partner of behaviors and actions used by one partner to establish and maintain power and control over the other partner that summonts to domestic violence. These behaviors become more frequent and intense with time and sometimes out of control. The abusive partner holds full responsibility for these acts of violence, and he or she is the only person with the ability of changing these behaviors or stopping the violence. it is not advisable for them to wait until they get injuries from the violence, or their loved ones suffer any form of injuries, especially for the suffering victims. They can consider seeking help from friends and relatives of the other spouse about the situation, and if possible remedy it before it gets out of hand. Prevalence of Domestic Violence As discussed above, women suffer the worst kind of violence from their men, and various national statistics bear proof of this. Women who suffer assault from their intimate partners differ in percentages from one country to another. For instance, the number of women suffering domestic violence in Barbados is 30%, 29% in Canada, 35% in New Zealand, 34% in Egypt, 21% in the United States and 70% in India. South Africa has the highest statistics of gender-based violence in the world, while in Turkey 42% of women over fifteen years suffered sexual and physical violence. These statistics trigger intervention from various bodies and groups such as the Human Rights. Human rights are the privileges and rights inherent to all human beings, whatever their sex, gender, color, nationality, place of residence, national or ethnic origin, or their language. As such, all individuals are equal and entitled to all human rights without any form of discrimination. All these rights are indivisible, interdependent, as well as, interrelated. The Human Rights Act of 1998 enforced in the United Kingdom in October 2000 contains a series of sections that have the effect of codifying the protections in the European Convention on Human Rights into UK Law. This act sets out fundamental rights and freedoms that individuals in the UK have access to such as right to life, freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading activity. The article on freedom from torture and inhuman or degradation activity protects spouses from any form of domestic violence be it physical, emotional or psychological. Human rights are universal and equal to all persons, not favoring the men while discriminating the women, and as such, their disciplined application ensures that individuals live decent lives with respect and recognition for one another (Manby & Nowrojee 1995, P.65). However, human rights sometimes conflicts with other spheres such as religion, politics or the criminal law. However, it is imperative to note that human rights take precedence over every culture, tradition, or religious practice that may lead to, or otherwise, denial of specific rights to an individual. Human rights application involves various concepts, which are evident in every case of domestic violence, such as Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, and Accountability (FREDA). Consequently, victims of domestic violence, especially women, can seek help from these established bodies claiming denial of their human rights and privileges, especially with regard to every form of domestic violence discussed above. The Human Rights Act of 1988, the European Convention of Human Rights, the Universal Declaration are some of the human rights legislations that provide women and other victims of domestic violence a platform to seek redress for their injuries, and or, damages. Other global legislations protecting people from domestic violence include The Equality Act of 2010, CEDAW – Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, and UNCRC – United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. End and conclusion Domestic violence is a common aspect in our societies. However, domestic violence is dangerous and should stop, hence, perpetrators of domestic violence, be it physical, emotional, psychological or otherwise should face the law. The Human rights act provides victims with a platform to argue air their suffering, and especially protects them from any form of torture from their spouses, inhuman treatment or degradation of any kind. This is one positive step towards curbing domestic violence in the world. References Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/ Cook, R., 2011, Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives, University Of Pennsylvania Press, Pennsylvania. FREDA principles of Human Rights. Retrieved from http://www.fredaconsultants.com/ Hoffman, A. & Summers, R., 2002, Domestic Violence: A Global View, Greenwood Publishing Group, New York. Manby, B. & Nowrojee, B., 1995, Violence against Women in South Africa: The State Response to Domestic Violence and Rape, Human Rights Watch, Washington, D.C. McCue, M., 2008, Domestic Violence: A Reference Handbook, ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara. McQuigg, R., 2011, International Human Rights Law and Domestic Violence: The Effectiveness of International Human Rights Law, Taylor & Francis, London. The Equality Act 2010. Retrieved from http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents The European Convention on Human Rights. Retrieved from http://www.hri.org/docs/ECHR50.html The Human Rights Act 1998. Retrieved from http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/what-are-human-rights/the-human-rights-act/ The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/creating-a-fairer-and-more-equal-society/supporting-pages/the-united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-uncrc The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 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