Domestic Violence
Introduction
Domestic violence or domestic abuse is a situation whereby an intimate partner exerts control or dominance to his or her partner through physical, sexual or psychological harm which eventually results in physical or emotional pain to the victim. Some other forms of domestic violence include violence during dating and stalking. Domestic abuse exists within all ethnicities, income levels, education levels, sexual orientations and age groups. Domestic violence occurs between married and unmarried couples, dating couples, former lovers and even same-sex couples. The victims of domestic violence can either be men or women; although, evidence shows that a majority of women are the victims and a majority of the men being perpetrators. Domestic problem is a major problem in the world today and affects nearly a quarter of the women. It has been found out that domestic violence is the major cause of injury for women between the ages 15-44 years (Violence against Women, 2015). Domestic violence against women is recognized as an important problem in the society by many governmental and non-governmental organizations and many pieces of legislation have been passed in a bid to stem the tide. Due to the fact that many women are the victims of domestic violence, many organizations dealing with the problem focus their attention and efforts on women and children.
Literature Review
Domestic violence is an issue that has been with us for many centuries. Since the ancient ages through the middle ages and the twentieth century, a man’s use of force against women was justified and was expected (Swisher, Wekesser & Barbour, 1994). For a very long time, men had been given the right to beat up their wives or partners for just about anything they had done. Whether she was unwilling to work in the fields, disobeyed the husband, caused jealousy or neglected the house, men found different reasons to punish their wives through violence. Before the nineteenth century, when a woman was married, she lost her personal and property rights and hence subject to violence from men. It was not until the 1970’s did violence against women started to be viewed as a serious societal problem (Swisher, Wekesser & Barbour, 1994). This was mainly as a result of the emergence of the feminist movement and society’s intrusion into the family unit all over the world. The issues that were long considered private started dominating the public sphere prompting laws for the protection of individual family members. Domestic violence was now being seen as a problem that needed to be stopped. This sparked movements against violence against and eventually laws prohibiting violence against women. As a result of the widespread prevalence of violence against women, many studies have been carried out on the issue giving valuable information and dispelling the common myths against the topic. Even with the various legislations on violence against women, many women are still victims of the domestic violence.
Domestic violence against women is not limited to a specific country, region, culture or particular groups of women in area, it happens in almost every corner of the earth. The roots of violence against women can be traced back to the unequal power relations between women and men and the prevalent gender discrimination. For a very long time, women have been viewed as being weaker than the men and hence the domineering nature of men’s behavior. Even though many countries have made huge strides toward reducing the gaps between men and women, many women are still victims of violence and rape. All over the world, women continue to become victims of violence even though measures are in place to prevent domestic violence. As a result of a number of reasons such as safety, economic prosperity and fear, many women fail to report cases of domestic violence and continue to stay in abusive marriages. Many cases of violence against women go unreported due to the women’s fear of the implications on their lives, families and society.
A number of research studies have revealed that physical violence inflicted by an intimate partner is the most common form of violence experienced by women all over the world. It is estimated that at least one in three women experiences domestic violence in the form of physical beating, coercion into sex or verbal abuse among other forms of violence. Women aged between fifteen years and forty four years are at higher risk from domestic violence and sexual abuse than from motor vehicle accidents, war, cancer, malaria and other diseases. A number of studies carried worldwide have shown that nearly half of the women that die from homicide are often killed by their current of former partners or husbands. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 40-70% of women who are victims of murder in the United States of America, Australia, Israel, Canada and South Africa are killed by their partners. Worldwide, it is estimated that one in five women is a victim of sexual abuse or will become a victim of sexual abuse in their lifetime.
In US in the year 2001, domestic violence made up to twenty percent of violence against women that did not result into death. This represents about 600, 000 crimes. In the year before, close to 1200 (33% of female murder victims) women were killed by either their husband or their intimate partner. The US Department of Justice indicates that assault by an intimate partner is the major cause of premature death in the US. According to Matthews (2004), 19% of female homicide victims among the Native American and Alaska Native communities were killed by close family members. Matthews (2004) further observed that there was a 300% increase in the number of female Asian Americans seeking the services of Asian Task Force against Domestic Violence between the years 1995 and 1999. Among the Latino community, 34% of females reported experiencing different forms of domestic violence (Matthew, 2004). It is evident that violence against women is prevalent against all cultures in the United States. It is worth noting that domestic violence is most prevalent in families living in abject poverty and in families where the men are unemployed. This goes on to show that poverty and unemployment are major causes of violence against women today. McCue (2008) takes note of the fact that socio-economic factors play an important role in violence against women.
National Organization for Women (NOW)
National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization group in the United States. The organization was formed in the year 1966 with the goal of taking action to ensure equality for all women (National Organization for Women, 2016). The organization mainly works in the grassroots and has hundreds of thousands of contributing members all over the country. NOW has more than five hundred affiliates (local and campus) in all the states and the District of Columbia. NOW, over the years, has strove to stand by its principles and not to be pushed around by the popular public opinion and as a result it has been able to solve a number of violent cases against women as well as shape public policy and opinion with regard to equality (National Organization for Women, 2016). The organization engages in both traditional and non-traditional means in pushing for social change. It engages in lobbying, electoral and brings about lawsuits in some of the cases. Additionally, the organization mobilizes its members into participating in marches, attending rallies and participation in non-violent civil disobedience. All these strategies are aimed at ensuring equality between men and women as well as put an end to the violence against women. As a result of its work, NOW has managed to ensure women occupy elective posts, obtain a decent education, enact tough laws against violence and create employment and business opportunities (National Organization for Women, 2016).
The organization strives hard to ensure an end to the violence against women, especially domestic violence. The organization has a unique approach to the issue of domestic violence. It emphasizes the fact that there are usually many interrelated facets to the issue such as sexuality and race, sexual violence, xenophobia, poverty and its related violence, gender bias and discrimination and radicalization among others (National Organization for Women, 2016). The organization takes note of the fact that all these issues stem from the attitudes that the society has towards women. Consequently, the organization works hard to ensure that these underlying issues are solved to ensure the minimization of the risk of domestic violence. The organization has a zero tolerance policy toward domestic violence, especially towards women (National Organization for Women, 2016). To make sure that they achieve this policy, the organization works hard to affect public policy, carry out awareness campaigns on the dangers of domestic violence and the need for equality, and providing programs and educations that change people’s attitudes and promote change.
Data Collection
Recommendations
Domestic violence against women is not limited to a specific country, region, culture or particular groups of women in area, it happens in almost every corner of the earth. The roots of violence against women can be traced back to the unequal power relations between women and men and the prevalent gender discrimination. For a very long time, women have been viewed as being weaker than the men and hence the domineering nature of men’s behavior. Even though many countries have made huge strides toward reducing the gaps between men and women, many women are still victims of violence and rape. All over the world, women continue to become victims of violence even though measures are in place to prevent domestic violence. As a result of a number of reasons such as safety, economic prosperity and fear, many women fail to report cases of domestic violence and continue to stay in abusive marriages. Many cases of violence against women go unreported due to the women’s fear of the implications on their lives, families and society.
A number of research studies have revealed that physical violence inflicted by an intimate partner is the most common form of violence experienced by women all over the world. It is estimated that at least one in three women experiences domestic violence in the form of physical beating, coercion into sex or verbal abuse among other forms of violence
References
Crowell, N. A., Burgess, A. W., National Research Council (U.S.)., National Research Council (U.S.)., & National Research Council (U.S.). (1996). Understanding violence against women. Washington, D.C: National Academy Press.
Matthews, D .D. (2004). Domestic violence sourcebook, 2nd ed.Detroit, MI:Omnigraphics.
McCue, M.L. (2008). Domestic Violence: A Reference Handbook, 2nd ed. Santa Barbara,CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc.
National Organization for Women., 2016. Violence against women. Retrieved from http://now.org/about/
Swisher, K., Wekesser, C., & Barbour, W. (1994). Violence against women. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press.
UNICEF. (2000). Domestic violence against women and girls. Florence, Italy: Innocenti Research Center, UNICEF.
