Individual and Social Dimensions of Domestic Violence - Essay Example

The strength of relationships is decreasing whereas the motives of selfishness are increasing day by day among family members. The destruction of larger families and the spreading of nuclear family concepts gave momentum to the wide spreading of domestic violence. Domestic violence has lot many dimensions such as individual, family and social. In other words the life of the individual, family members and the members of the society can be affected one way or other as a result of domestic violence.

This paper briefly analyses the statistics, individual and social dimensions of domestic violence. Statistics of domestic violence According to the statistics published by National coalition against domestic violence in 2009, “one in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year. 85% of domestic violence victims are women” (Domestic Violence Facts, 2009, p.1). Men are more muscular and stronger than women and therefore it is easy for them to dominate or attack females.

Moreover, in a male dominant society, it is difficult for the females to resist the threats from the males. A predominant belief about domestic violence is that females are the victims in most of the cases of domestic violence. The above belief seems to be correct; however the number of male victims in domestic violence cases is not at all small. According to Dennis Campbell (2010), “about two in five of all victims of domestic violence are men, contradicting the widespread impression that it is almost always women who are left battered and bruised”(Campbell, 2010).

In other words, more than 40% of the victims in domestic violence cases are males. Men usually are ashamed of disclosing or reporting the details of domestic violence if the attacker happens to be a female. Therefore majority of the cases with respect to domestic violence in which female attackers take part, are going unreported. In short, both males and females are victims and culprits of domestic violence in an almost equal measure. Individual dimensions of domestic violence “A growing body of research links domestic violence to reproductive health outcomes, including unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and painful intercourse” (Ryan & Bylander, n. d, p.1).

In many cases, one of the major reasons of domestic violence is the unhappy sexual life of the couples. If the husband and wife are not ready to respect each other, the chances of domestic violence increase. In short, forced sex always cause domestic violence. You have been beaten. The bruises will fade and time will pass but that does not mean that this terrible thing that has happened to you will disappear. Domestic violence damages both internally and externally. You need to aim for a healing process that incorporates your whole person.

This may be a lonely time no matter how many friends and family and supportive measures there are around you. Go inside of yourself and find out what you need to do to heal your heart. What hurts the most? How can you start to rebuild your wounded soul? Where can you get help and what