Contemporary Understanding of Domestic Violence in Australia and the Responses - Essay Example

CONTEMPORARY UNDERSTANDING OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN AUSTRALIA AND THE RESPONSES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN AUSTRALIA Instructor name: Insert name: Course code: May 6, 2011 Introduction Domestic violence is also referred to as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, family violence or intimate partner violence (IPV). Domestic violence can be taken to refer to a pattern of abusive behaviors conducted by one or both partners in an intimate relationship like marriage, dating, relatives, acquaintances or cohabitation. Domestic violence refers to the regular abuse of authority in a close correlation where one associate is controlling and the other colleague is frightened and lives in apprehension. It takes place when a family member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically control or hurt the other. According to international surveys, it has been found that about one-third of all adult women will, at one point or the other in their lifetime, experience abuse perpetrated by an intimate male partner. Domestic violence is taken to be among the main hazard factors affecting women’s health in Australia and there is need for the society to act in response to ways that minimize the probability of additional violence taking place. One method of doing this is to deliver plans that aspire to minimize the hazard of known perpetrators committing more offences. Domestic violence takes several forms together with physical aggression, sexual mistreatment, emotional ill-treatment, bullying, financial denial or coercions of brutality. Domestic violence takes place in all geographic regions of Australia as well as in all socio-economic and cultural groups, even though domestic violence is a more major predicament for certain groups, such as regional and rural Australia as well as aboriginal societies. According to Access Economics (2004), in Australia alone, it is anticipated that about five per cent of the populace will be mistreated in any one year, while Coulter and VandeWeerd (2009) notes that one-third of all women internationally will experience mistreatment committed by a cherished male at any one time in their lives. This seminar paper will critically analyze the literature on historical and contemporary understandings and responses to domestic violence in Australia (Day et al. 2010). Critical analysis of the literature Most of occurrences of domestic violence frequently go unreported and hence it is difficult to measure the true extent of the predicament. A research that was done in 1998 by Carlos Carcach from the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), Reporting crime to the Police, the majority of battering against women where the injured party is familiar with the wrongdoer goes unreported. We understand that in the past, domestic violence was considered as a personal, private or family issue that was not supposed to be made public. Consequently, victims continued to suffer under the hands of offenders. This mentality has been carried on especially by the aboriginal communities and in particular the poor families living in marginal lands. That is why there are still several cases of domestic violence that are not reported. Victims fear exposing their offenders to the public in fear of more battering or even serious problems. Although the condition has improved, since the domestic violence incidents have decreased by a small margin as it is shown by the figures below, there is still need for creating more awareness of this predicament (Davies & Mouzos, 2007). The results below shows how the aggression has changed as a result of Government increasing its attention in creating public awareness concerning the problem of domestic aggression, and enhancing the prosecution and conviction rate of offenders as well as extending the legal protection accessible to victims. The studies were conducted by ABS publication, Women’s Safety Survey in 1996 and the more recent ABS, Personal Safety Survey in 2005 and came up with these results: 5.8 percent of the women had suffered hostility within the twelve month period that preceded the study in 2005 as compared to 7.1 % in 1996. This indicates that domestic violence has reduced as women have understood and merged up to form groups against domestic violence. As the issue is becoming more of a state affair and women are given power to fight for their rights, the domestic violence is reducing. 4.7 % of these women had suffered bodily aggression – both physical battering and threat of bodily battering – in 2005 as compared with 5.9 % in 1996, while 1.6 % had experienced sexual aggression (sexual assault and threat to sexual assault) as compared to 1.5 % in 1996. 42% of women who had been in an earlier affiliation reported aggression by a previous associate (ABS 1996, p. 51). 12% of women who reported violent behavior by their present spouse at some juncture throughout the affiliation, said they were presently living in apprehension (ABS 1996, p. 51). Younger women were more at danger than older women, with 7.3% of women aged 18-24 years having suffered one or more episodes of brutality from a current spouse in the last 12 months duration as compared to 1.2% of women aged 55 and over (ABS 2005, p. 50). How the understanding of this social problem changed over time in response to economic, social and political influences Historical understanding of domestic violence against women in Australia In the past, domestic violence was taken to be personal, private or family issues that were not meant to be made public. Women could be beaten by their souses and would not speak out to their fellow women due to either avoiding to suffer shame or fear of more beating from their spouses. It was against their cultural norms to go making public family matters and would even follow some of the ancient proverb to justify their silence. Thus domestic aggression was a private matter. Te problem was much profound in the aboriginal communities mainly the poor and illiterate. Another factor that made domestic violence to be so profound was that women did not have any voice. There was gender inequality and most women were not working. They were considered as house wives who had not voice or power in a family unit. Most men treated women as asset and would count their wives’ value by either the number of children they have born to them or the amount of dowry paid for them. Thus women were more of assets than human being that deserved respect. Consequently, men would mistreat women in any manner and would find pleasure in doing so. This problem resulted from the way these indigenous communities were entrenched in their cultures which had no place for women. Their cultures did not recognize women as human being with their own dignity (Digest, 2000). However, due to global transformation concerning the gender equality and girl-child education, Australian women have continuously been enlightened and have noted that their life and dignity is at stake. Recently, the Australian Government has constantly increased its attention in creating public awareness concerning the problem of domestic aggression, and enhancing the prosecution and conviction rate of offenders as well as extending the legal protection accessible to victims. Furthermore, when women realized that their life and dignity was at stake, they have since then emerged as the most important agents of change in the struggle against gender-based violence. Women’s organizations have also played key roles in fighting against domestic violence by providing leadership in boosting the visibility of violence against women, offering victim-survivors with a voice through tribunals and personal testimonies as well as offering innovative forms of support to victims of violence. Women’s advocacy has as well endorsed the formal sector (judicial and legal system, criminal justice system and health sector) to begin responding the requirements of women who suffer violence. Moreover, the collective strength and courage of individual women has been notable in fighting several types of violence. Poor and illiterate women have been able to gather together hundreds of other women, raised resources, designed plans and forced policy-makers to revise laws and policies. As a result, domestic violence has been well understood in the recent past and have greatly reduced as we can see from the figures and facts stated above (Digest, 2000). How the understanding of domestic violence has changed over time in response to: (a) Economic influence Australia was one of countries to try and calculate the economic costs of domestic violence. There are two types of costs that relate to violence: the direct costs (the economic costs of services provided for female victims of domestic violence), and indirect costs (costs of productivity forgone by the victims). According to Rollings (2008), it has been anticipated that battering cost Australia a total of $1,700 per occurrence (or $1.41 b per financial year), even when the costs linked to crime avoidance are not included. At around 1990s, several studies showed that women were the one who bore the greatest share of the economic costs of domestic violence. This discouraged women from reporting the incidents since they would be forced to cater for court and legal services. However, the understanding of domestic violence has changed considerably from the time the government started taking the initiative of providing financial support to the women, (especially the provision of court and legal services, child welfare and family support programs); women have increasingly reported the violence incident and claimed for financial support from government. This has made the violence incidents to go down significantly as women have understood their rights and are fighting for them. The understanding of the problem has also changed due to the input that international monetary firms like World Bank and International Monetary Funds have had in the gender violence kitty (Laing and Bobic, 2002). (b) Social influence The understanding of the domestic violence has changed over time due to the way women’s organizations have offered leadership in boosting the visibility of violence against women; giving victim-survivors a voice through tribunals and personal testimonies; offering innovative forms of support to victims of violence; and forcing governments together with international community to recognize their own failure to protect women. From local collective action, women have managed to transform their struggle against violence into a global campaign. NGOs have also played a primary role of bringing pressure on governments to ratify, or withdraw their reservations to the international human rights instruments like UDHR, CEDAW and CRC. NGO have also played a significant role in monitoring implementation of non-treaty instruments such as the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. The media has played a vital role in both influencing and transforming social norms and behavior and thus enhancing the understanding of domestic violence. Collaboration with media has focused on creating new messages and new responses and thus reducing domestic violence. Media has also carried out campaigns that have assisted in reversing social attitudes that tolerate violence against women by questioning patterns of violent behavior accepted by families and societies (Mulroney, 2003). (c) Political influence b New levels of coordination and integration between a variety of government sectors including criminal justice system, health, education and employment have enhanced the understanding of domestic violence. Domestic violence has been understood much better since the government took initiative of upholding the right of women to equal protection under the law through the enactment of domestic violence legislation that particularly prohibits violence against women (Stewart, 2001). Domestic aggression also reduced when the government denounced and reformed all laws, practices and policies that permit harmful cultural practices like female genital mutilation, crimes committed in the name of honor and discrimination based on son preference. Police and judicial reforms have also heightened the understanding of domestic violence and have assisted in suppressing the vice (Binder, & Meeker, 1992). The contemporary understanding of domestic violence In modern times, there has been a better understanding of the predicament of domestic violence, its sources and consequences, and a global accord has developed on the need to handle the issue. “The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women adopted by the United Nations General Assembly some 20 years ago, the decade-old Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth International Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, all reflect this consensus” (Digest, 2000). But development has been sluggish because approaches are deep-rooted and, to some degree, because efficient strategies to deal with domestic aggression are still being defined. Consequently, women globally keep on suffering, with estimates varying from 20 to 50 per cent from country to country (Digest, 2000). Currently, great emphasis has been directed on women as the victims of domestic violence. Several studies that have been done recently show that women suffer greater rates of injury due to domestic violence, while other studies demonstrate that women suffer higher rates of assault. On the contrary, a number of studies have indicated that the majority of domestic violence overall is reciprocal. However, the studies conducted by International Social Science Survey / Australia (IsssA) in 1996/97 show that men were just as likely to report being physically assaulted by their partners as women. Furthermore women and men are about equally likely to admit being violent themselves. People who had violent parents are significantly more likely than other to be violent to their own partners and to be victims of violence themselves (Headey, Scott & Vaus, 2000). As this Digest displays, domestic aggression is a health, lawful, economic, educational, and developmental but, above all, a human rights issue. A lot has been done to create attentiveness and show that change is not only essential, it is also achievable. Now that strategies for dealing with it are becoming clearer, there is no excuse for inaction (Digest, 2000). How the contemporary understanding of domestic violence influenced social policy responses Since there is a lot of awareness concerning domestic violence, positive steps have been undertaken in some countries such as Australia, together with restructuring and altering laws that handle this issue. Some regions have developed their own principles on violence against women, examples of which are the ‘Inter- American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women, and the African Convention on Human and People’s Rights, including its Additional Protocol on Women’s Rights’. The 1990s, in particular, experienced intense efforts on the part of the globe to legitimize and mainstream the issue. The World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna (1993) accepted that the rights of women and girls are ‘an inalienable, integral as well as indivisible part of universal human rights’ (Digest, 2000). References: Access Economics Pty Ltd (2004). The cost of domestic violence to the Australian economy. Sydney: Office of the Status of Women Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] (1996). Women’s Safety Australia, Catalogue No. 4128.0, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. Retrieved May 6, 2011 from www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40.nsf/5e3ac7411e37881aca2568b0007afd16/b62deb3ac52a2574ca2568a900139340!OpenDocument Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] (2005). Personal Safety Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. Binder, A. & Meeker, J. (1992). The development of social attitudes towards spousal abuse. In E. S. Buzawa & C. G. Buzawa (Eds.), Domestic violence: The changing criminal justice response (pp. 3-19). Westport, CT: Auburn House. Davies M & Mouzos J (2007). Homicide in Australia: 2005–06 national homicide monitoring program annual report. Research and public policy series no. 77. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. Retrieved May 6, 2011 from http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/rpp/61-80/rpp77.aspx   Day A. et al. (2010). Integrated responses to domestic violence: Legally mandated intervention programs for male perpetrators. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 404. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. Retrieved May 6, 2011 from http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tandi/401-420/tandi404.aspx Department of Families, Youth and Community Care. (1998). Domestic Violence Information. Retrieved May 6, 2011 from http://www.families.qld.gov.au/departmen/dv.html Digest I. (2000). Domestic Violence against Women and Girls. United Nations Children’s Fund. Florence, Italy. Retrieved May 12, 2011 from http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/digest6e.pdf Headey B., Scott D. & Vaus D. (2000). Domestic Violence in Australia: Are Women and Men Equally Violent? Canberra and Melbourne: Australian National University and University of Melbourne. Retrieved May 12, 2011 from http://www.fact.on.ca/Info/dom/heady99.pdf Laing L. and Bobic N. (2002). Economic costs of domestic violence. Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse, University of New South Wales. Retrieved May 12, 2011 from http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/PDF%20files/Economic_costs_of_DV.pdf Mulroney J. (2003). Australian Statistics on Domestic Violence: Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse. Retrieved May 6, 2011 from http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/PDF%20files/Statistics_final.pdf Stewart A. (2001). Policing Domestic Violence: An Overview of Emerging Issues. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, Volume 2, pages 447-460.Griffith University, Queensland. Retrieved May 6, 2011 from http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/10072/3851/1/16496_1.pdf Read More

There was gender inequality and most women were not working. They were considered as house wives who had not voice or power in a family unit. Most men treated women as asset and would count their wives’ value by either the number of children they have born to them or the amount of dowry paid for them. Thus women were more of assets than human being that deserved respect. Consequently, men would mistreat women in any manner and would find pleasure in doing so. This problem resulted from the way these indigenous communities were entrenched in their cultures which had no place for women.

Their cultures did not recognize women as human being with their own dignity (Digest, 2000). However, due to global transformation concerning the gender equality and girl-child education, Australian women have continuously been enlightened and have noted that their life and dignity is at stake. Recently, the Australian Government has constantly increased its attention in creating public awareness concerning the problem of domestic aggression, and enhancing the prosecution and conviction rate of offenders as well as extending the legal protection accessible to victims.

Furthermore, when women realized that their life and dignity was at stake, they have since then emerged as the most important agents of change in the struggle against gender-based violence. Women’s organizations have also played key roles in fighting against domestic violence by providing leadership in boosting the visibility of violence against women, offering victim-survivors with a voice through tribunals and personal testimonies as well as offering innovative forms of support to victims of violence.

Women’s advocacy has as well endorsed the formal sector (judicial and legal system, criminal justice system and health sector) to begin responding the requirements of women who suffer violence. Moreover, the collective strength and courage of individual women has been notable in fighting several types of violence. Poor and illiterate women have been able to gather together hundreds of other women, raised resources, designed plans and forced policy-makers to revise laws and policies. As a result, domestic violence has been well understood in the recent past and have greatly reduced as we can see from the figures and facts stated above (Digest, 2000).

How the understanding of domestic violence has changed over time in response to: (a) Economic influence Australia was one of countries to try and calculate the economic costs of domestic violence. There are two types of costs that relate to violence: the direct costs (the economic costs of services provided for female victims of domestic violence), and indirect costs (costs of productivity forgone by the victims). According to Rollings (2008), it has been anticipated that battering cost Australia a total of $1,700 per occurrence (or $1.

41 b per financial year), even when the costs linked to crime avoidance are not included. At around 1990s, several studies showed that women were the one who bore the greatest share of the economic costs of domestic violence. This discouraged women from reporting the incidents since they would be forced to cater for court and legal services. However, the understanding of domestic violence has changed considerably from the time the government started taking the initiative of providing financial support to the women, (especially the provision of court and legal services, child welfare and family support programs); women have increasingly reported the violence incident and claimed for financial support from government.

This has made the violence incidents to go down significantly as women have understood their rights and are fighting for them. The understanding of the problem has also changed due to the input that international monetary firms like World Bank and International Monetary Funds have had in the gender violence kitty (Laing and Bobic, 2002). (b) Social influence The understanding of the domestic violence has changed over time due to the way women’s organizations have offered leadership in boosting the visibility of violence against women; giving victim-survivors a voice through tribunals and personal testimonies; offering innovative forms of support to victims of violence; and forcing governments together with international community to recognize their own failure to protect women.

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