Domestic Violence - Literature review Example

Name: xxxxxxxxxxxx Tutor: xxxxxxxxxxxx Title: Domestic Violence Institution: xxxxxxxxxxxx Date: xxxxxxxxxxxx Domestic Violence Introduction Domestic violence, also referred to as domestic abuse refers to any abusive behavior in an intimate relationship between two individuals. When individuals think of domestic abuse, they usually picture battered women who have been bodily assaulted. But not every abusive relationship involves violence. Just because a person is not battered and bruised does not imply that he or she is not being abused. Many women and men suffer from emotional violence, which is no less destructive. Unluckily, emotional abuse is usually overlooked or minimized, even by the individual who is being abused. Generally, people think of physical violence such as slapping, beating and hitting, but domestic violence covers mental, verbal, financial, sexual and spiritual behaviors carried out by one individual on another in an intimate relationship. Usually where one type of abuse subsists, it is in the context of other types of abuse. Therefore, perpetrators of physical violence will also subject their victims to verbal and emotional abuse. Abuse rarely remains the same, but it always increases both in frequency and severity over a period of time. In immense cases, domestic abuse can result to the abuse of victim being murdered by the abuser. However, in other cases, the constant verbal and emotional abuse can gradually erode the self esteem and self confidence of the victim. While physical violence can, and usually, does, lead to serious physical harm, usually requiring medical intervention, emotional abuse hurts the victim deep inside and might leave permanent emotional and psychological scars. Forms of domestic violence Verbal abuse In verbal abuse, language is used as the weapon of aggression. It is utilized to hurt the partner via spoken words or in written form entailing abusive text messages. Verbal violence aims at damaging the victim’s self worth, self-esteem and emotional well being to the extent of eventually taking a tool on the mental and physical well being of the victim. Verbal abuse includes bullying, scolding, trivializing, defining, interrogating, name calling, raging and yelling. It is the most common type of abuse and females are usually as guilty as males in this vice. It damages the dignity and also diminishes victim’s self confidence hence making her or him easier to manipulate. Verbal abuse generates a negative atmosphere of doubt, which in turn makes the abused person to develop an inferiority complex and often increases in magnitude and might lead to physical violence if not checked. Verbal abuse is usually neglected since there is no evidence of it and because it is not as observable as physical aggression (Cefrey, 2008). A national survey on community attitudes to violence against women undertaken by the Australian institute of criminology (2009) established that the overall attitudes in general community to non physical types of abuse were least likely to be considered domestic violence. For instance, forcing the spouse to have sex was usually regarded as a form of domestic abuse by 83% of men and 86% of women in the universal community. Nevertheless, only 42% of males and 58% of females within the general community were decisive o identifying that constantly criticizing a partner so as to make them feel useless or bad as always a form of domestic abuse. Psychological or emotional abuse Like other forms of abuses, emotional abuse is motivated by urges for control and power. The objective of this type of abuse is to systematically weaken the victim to the extent of making him or her lose self confidence and yield her or his self to partner’s control. A partner might engage in psychologically abusing the partner subconsciously or deliberately and it might go on for a long duration or may be periodic. In psychological violence, the abuser may also choose to treat the victim as a servant, and make all decisions with no any recourse to her or him (Cefrey, H, 2008). According to Blakey (2008), emotional domestic abuse is a pervasive type of domestic violence, yet it may be the hardest to identify. Victims who experience emotional abuse do not have outward signs of violence like people who experience physical violence. Emotional violence is composed of criticisms or constant put-downs, belittling talk, deceit and lying, social isolation, name calling, controlling behavior, threats of self harm or harm to others and blame for actions. In several cases, an abusive relationship escalates from emotional violence to physical abuse. However, this does not imply that emotional domestic violence isn’t serious in its own right because it can result to long lasting trauma. The most latest national Australian emotional abuse statistics, generated by the Australian institute of health and welfare, illustrate that in 1996- 1997, emotional violence cases accounted for 31 percent of substantiated child maltreatment cases (Broadbent & Bentley, 1997). Spiritual abuse Spiritual abuse occurs when a partner prohibits the victim from attending places of worship or forces her to take part in religious or spiritual practices against her wish. The partner might also scripture verses to control the partner to do her or his bidding. Men particularly utilize scripture verses that states that women are supposed to be submissive to their husbands in order to demand absolute obedience from the woman with no authority to disagree (Cefrey, 2008). Sexual abuse Sexual domestic violence is any form of violence of sexual nature that takes place within family or intimate partner relationship. Cefrey (2008) notes that sexual violence includes forcing a person to take part in sexual actions against his or her will, refusal to have safer sex, infecting a person with sexually transmitted diseases or exposing an individual to materials of sexual nature such as pornography without one’s consent. In sexual domestic abuse, the man reduces the partner to a sex object and makes her undertake degrading sexual acts that are against her beliefs. To some extent, partners physically attack sexual parts of their victims. The 2002 ABS crime and safety survey established that 28% of female victims of sexual violence had been injured in most recent event. A National Survey on Community Attitudes to Violence against Women 2009 established that 93 percent of people acknowledged that forced sex within an intimate relationship is a crime and a form of domestic violence. The personal safety survey (2500) performed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), established that 1.3 percent (101,600) of Australian women were sexually abused whereas 0.6 % of Australian men were sexually abused. Additionally, 17 percent of males had been sexually abused at least once since they were 15 years, while 16.8 percent of females had been assaulted at least once. Overall, 84 percent of all sexual abuse victims were females. Financial violence According to Blakey, (2008), financial abuse commonly takes place in tandem with the other types of abuse. It’s another way for the abuser to control and isolate the victim. Financial domestic include prohibiting someone to work, stealing money, utilizing a person’s credit card without permission, prohibiting someone to use their own money, and imposing a person to work in a dangerous or threatening job, such as doing sex work or selling drugs. Based on the surveys findings of A National Survey on Community Attitudes to Violence against Women 2009, boys and men are greatly likely than girls and women to hold attitudes that support violence and are less likely to deem that controlling a spouse through denying then money is a type of domestic abuse. Origin and theory of the myth of battered women The myth that domestic violence usually involves a battered woman originated from the belief that men usually physical attack to gain over women. A cross cultural analysis of wife battering by Campbell (1985) found that its derivation and meaning varies in societies. In fact there exists a complex dynamic interrelation between the numerous structures and beliefs of a culture that is conducive to violence against women in Australia. He describes the way wife battering in the US is affirmed in the culture, in numerous of the formal values, and is an associate of other hostilities in this society and its sexiest gender roles. This is also true for Australia. Violence against females in Australia seems to be an expression of male aspiration for control which can’t be viewed as isolated from the male dominated character and structures of the community in which it occurs. It is thus the view of National committee on Violence against Women (NCVAM 1991), that hostility against woman is as a result of social construction of the male masculinity. Therefore, some people have theorized that numerous Australian males hold anachronistic and conservative attitudes on violence towards females that their colleagues in other industrialized nations. Acceptance and recognition of domestic abuse and the opinion of its private nature have been established amid a considerable percentage of Australian population, entailing numerous forms of professionals, as well as the general public. (Mugford, Easteal & Nugford, 1989). A 1988 study instigated by Office of the Status of Women established that approximately one in five Australians have the belief that it is acceptable and right to utilize physical violence against his spouse under some situations. The social, health and economic costs of domestic violence against women Domestic abuse against women directly affects the victims, their friends and families, their children, employers and the entire community in general. The effects of domestic abuse o individuals are quite traumatic. Physical, emotional and sexual abuse leaves the victim with permanent scars of the violent experience. Even in the cases that engage physical abuse, the wounds might even though the emotional harm cannot be repaired. As a consequence of being a victim of domestic abuse, numerous people spend the rest of their lives fearing the opposite sex and apart from simple fear; there are numerous psychological scars that perpetrators inflict on victims such as a permananent low self confidence and low self esteem (Moe, & Bell, 2004). The health costs of violence measured in the terms of burden of the dieses caused by domestic violence released VIC health in 2004, established that domestic abuse was the single largest contributor to death, disability and illness among young females. Domestic violence is accountable for greater ill health and premature death amongst Victorian women who are below 45 years of age than any other well recognized risk factors, entailing smoking, obesity and blood pressure. Moe and Bell (2004) notes that there are far reaching social, psychological, health and financial consequences of violence and the impact of abuse have indirect costs, entailing the costs to the community of taking perpetrators to justice or costs of medical treatment of injured victims. A report published in 2002, impacts and costs of domestic violence on Australian corporate/ business sector, absenteeism and replacement approximately coast employers 30 million dollars yearly, whilst the total cost including indirect and direct costs were around 1 billion dollars. The 2004 study by Access Economics, established that the cost of domestic violence 2002 to 2003 was 8.1 billion dollars, with the estimates including costs of suffering and pain, health costs as well as costs of long term productivity. Community response to the myth of battered women if it were not debunked If the myth of battered women had not been debunked, the Australian community can establish support services to decease levels of violence against women. These support services can include counseling or accommodation. Perpetrators programs can also be established and in order to make them effective, they can be established as a portion of the integrated criminal justice that includes the pro-arrest policy together with the woman’s advocacy programs. The community can work jointly with the Territories and States to establish consistency in domestic abuse and between family abuse and family court orders. The government can take a consistent model to gun regulation and become active in developing a scheme that will offer police services access to national information on all forms of domestic abuse orders. There is a community viewpoint that judges need training on gender issues, entailing the effects and nature of domestic abuse. The main aim of such training will help in confronting myths and stereotypes which function to legalize violence in homes. It will also challenge the traditional belief that women deserve to be hit or slapped and offer an apparent understanding of the dynamics of this form of violence. Conclusion The perception that domestic violence always involves battering of women is just a myth domestic violence not only involves physical assault but other forms of abuse that as emotional, verbal, sexual and financial violence. Additionally, domestic abuse is not only performed against women and men are also abused by women and impacts of abuse are similar in both males and females. These forms of abuse are not well observable like physical violence, because there do leave marks that show that the victim has been abused. The constant emotional, verbal and sexual abuse usually damages victim’s self confidence and self esteem since they usually aims at controlling the victim and making hi or her helpless in controlling his or her own life. Even though the wounds of physical violence might heal, the psychological harm caused by the other forms of abuse, leaves permanent marks which are ingrained in the inner self of the victim. Bibliography Cefrey, H, 2008, Domestic Violence, The Rosen Publishing Group, New York. Mugford, J, Mugford, S, & Easteal, P, (1989), 'Social justice, public perceptions and spouse assault in Australia', Social Justice, No.4, pp. 103-23. NCVAW (1991), Position Paper, National Committee on Violence against Women, AGPS, Canberra. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002, Crime and Safety . Broadbent, A. & Bentley, R. (1997). Child abuse and neglect Australia 1995 - 1996. Child Welfare Series, (17). Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Canberra. ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics 1996, Women’s Safety Survey, ABS Catalog No. 4128.0 Canberra Blakey, K, 2008, Domestic violence and abuse, ProQuest, Australia. Australian Institute of Criminology, 2009, A National Survey on Community Attitudes to Violence Against Women 2009. Moe, A & Bell, M, 2004 ‘Abject economics: the effects of battering and violence on women’s work and employability’, Violence Against Women, 10:1, 30. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004, Sexual Assault in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2004. Read More

A national survey on community attitudes to violence against women undertaken by the Australian institute of criminology (2009) established that the overall attitudes in general community to non physical types of abuse were least likely to be considered domestic violence. For instance, forcing the spouse to have sex was usually regarded as a form of domestic abuse by 83% of men and 86% of women in the universal community. Nevertheless, only 42% of males and 58% of females within the general community were decisive o identifying that constantly criticizing a partner so as to make them feel useless or bad as always a form of domestic abuse.

Psychological or emotional abuse Like other forms of abuses, emotional abuse is motivated by urges for control and power. The objective of this type of abuse is to systematically weaken the victim to the extent of making him or her lose self confidence and yield her or his self to partner’s control. A partner might engage in psychologically abusing the partner subconsciously or deliberately and it might go on for a long duration or may be periodic. In psychological violence, the abuser may also choose to treat the victim as a servant, and make all decisions with no any recourse to her or him (Cefrey, H, 2008).

According to Blakey (2008), emotional domestic abuse is a pervasive type of domestic violence, yet it may be the hardest to identify. Victims who experience emotional abuse do not have outward signs of violence like people who experience physical violence. Emotional violence is composed of criticisms or constant put-downs, belittling talk, deceit and lying, social isolation, name calling, controlling behavior, threats of self harm or harm to others and blame for actions. In several cases, an abusive relationship escalates from emotional violence to physical abuse.

However, this does not imply that emotional domestic violence isn’t serious in its own right because it can result to long lasting trauma. The most latest national Australian emotional abuse statistics, generated by the Australian institute of health and welfare, illustrate that in 1996- 1997, emotional violence cases accounted for 31 percent of substantiated child maltreatment cases (Broadbent & Bentley, 1997). Spiritual abuse Spiritual abuse occurs when a partner prohibits the victim from attending places of worship or forces her to take part in religious or spiritual practices against her wish.

The partner might also scripture verses to control the partner to do her or his bidding. Men particularly utilize scripture verses that states that women are supposed to be submissive to their husbands in order to demand absolute obedience from the woman with no authority to disagree (Cefrey, 2008). Sexual abuse Sexual domestic violence is any form of violence of sexual nature that takes place within family or intimate partner relationship. Cefrey (2008) notes that sexual violence includes forcing a person to take part in sexual actions against his or her will, refusal to have safer sex, infecting a person with sexually transmitted diseases or exposing an individual to materials of sexual nature such as pornography without one’s consent.

In sexual domestic abuse, the man reduces the partner to a sex object and makes her undertake degrading sexual acts that are against her beliefs. To some extent, partners physically attack sexual parts of their victims. The 2002 ABS crime and safety survey established that 28% of female victims of sexual violence had been injured in most recent event. A National Survey on Community Attitudes to Violence against Women 2009 established that 93 percent of people acknowledged that forced sex within an intimate relationship is a crime and a form of domestic violence.

The personal safety survey (2500) performed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), established that 1.3 percent (101,600) of Australian women were sexually abused whereas 0.6 % of Australian men were sexually abused. Additionally, 17 percent of males had been sexually abused at least once since they were 15 years, while 16.

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