Abstract
The criminal justice system is actually a far-reaching and large segment of the legislative and judicial branches of the United States. Intellectuals, lawmakers, and attorneys have essentially identified various points of interest, which needs discussion, action, and change. These are in fact all challenges, which put excessive burden on criminal justice system resources. Theses crucial resources are manpower, money, and time. Therefore, it is worth noting that the United States criminal justice system in this 21st Century is facing many challenges that need to be addressed. Understanding the ways on how this system functions is normally difficult. Various challenges that are encountered are issues, which neither the victim witness advocate nor the prosecutors are in a position to control.
Social problem faced by the judicial system
Violence against women is essentially a technical term that is used collectively to refer to the violent acts, which are exclusively or primarily committed against the women. Similar to hate crime, this violence type targets a certain group with the gender of the victim as a primary motive. The involvement of girls and women in criminal justice system has for the most part been as the crime victims instead of being perpetrators (Renzetti 2001).
Therefore, this is a social problem that is present in the justice system. While women make up roughly half of the violent crime victims, they in fact represent a minority of the offenders. Various justice task force departments have identified domestic violence and rape as significant challenges that face the criminal justice system. Some reports indicate that, regardless of the national grassroots efforts that are aimed to reform domestic violence and rape laws, the prevalence and incidence of these two forms of violence towards women have failed to decline significantly (White 2011).
Implications of this social problem
Women abuse and violence can cause terrible emotional and physical pain to the victims. In addition, the entire society can suffer emotional pain because of violence against the women. It is worrying how there has been a rising number of women reporting instances of sexual assault and physical assault throughout the world. This increasing number is something that has effects on the entire society where it is viewed as a rotten one. Individual women have also suffered a lot. Experts argue that the solution to this problem needs to be addressed into detail since it is a problem whose effects are very awful. According to the World Health Organization, violence against women put an undue burden on the health care services with the women who have suffered this violence being more likely to require these health services at a higher cost ( Ptacek 2010).
Measures taken by the society to address this problem
Since this is a burning problem, the society has tried to put up both public policies and less formal policies to solve it. The violence against women Act has been passed and amended several times to address this challenge in our justice system. For instance, in 1994, the US Congress passed this Act and President Clinton signed it to enhance the territories and states ability to respond to the violence against women (Renzetti 2001). This Act defines the violence against women as stalking, sexual assault, and domestic violence. It requires the states to distribute funds in 25% allotments in law enforcement, prosecution, and victim services and other categories (Swisher 2000). The society has also taken an initiative to educate its members about the importance of respecting women. This is aimed to stop the violence against women.
These public policies and less formal responses have actually worked to stop violence against women. There has been a decrease in the number of reported cases of violence against women. The Act has been modified a number of times where various measures have been put in place to deal with this problem. Thus, the various forms of violence against women have decreased by these two interventions.
Alternative solution
The justice system should revise the punishments that those who engage in violence against women should face. For instance, it should prolong the prison sentences and make them more severe like death penalty. This will be very crucial in dealing with the problem of violence against women since it will make people fear the repercussions of engaging themselves in this social problem. The negative consequence of this alternative is that it will abuse the rights of the prisoners.
Conclusion
Violence against women is a social problem that every society member should work tirelessly to stop it. The authorities on their part should devise better mechanisms that will help in stopping these heinous acts to our beloved sisters and mothers. Finally, women should be included in the justice system since having been given powers they will deal with this problem in a better way.
Annotated bibliography
Renzetti, C. M., Edleson, J. L., & Bergen, R. K. (2001). Sourcebook on violence against women. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications.
This sourcebook talks about various types of violence against the women. It goes further to give a deeper explanation of these types of violence. The two authors explain what needs to be done to prevent our mothers and sisters from suffering at the hands of males. Thus, this is a very fundamental source to my paper because it has a lot of information concerning the topic.
White, J. W., Koss, M. P., & Kazdin, A. E. (2011). Violence against women and children. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
The source goes further to explain the violence towards the children especially the girl child. It explains the psychological problems that these children and women face because of violence. It also provides the responses to this social problem. Therefore, this source will help me in the paper as it clearly elaborates the psychological effects of violence.
Ptacek, J. (2010). Restorative justice and violence against women. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The source talks about the social problem of violence against women. It addresses the issues of justice where it explains what need to be done to deal with this growing problem. It explains the various acts that have been formulated to address this problem. It is important for my research paper because it explains what need to be done to the victims.
Lundberg-Love, P. K., & Marmion, S. L. (2006). "Intimate" violence against women: When spouses, partners, or lovers attack. Westport, Conn: Praeger
This source gives an explanation of the intimate violence against women by their partners, lovers, or spouses. It offers a better explanation of how women are exploited by men sexually and the effects of this on these women. It is crucial in my research paper as it explains the sexual harassments that women face.
Swisher, K., Wekesser, C., & Barbour, W. (2000). Violence against women. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press.
The source gives an explanation of this social problem in the society. It offers examples of violence against the women. It also explains what the society needs to do to address this problem. For this reason, this source will provide extra understanding about the problem of violence against women.
References
Renzetti, C. M., Edleson, J. L., & Bergen, R. K. (2001). Sourcebook on violence against women. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications.
White, J. W., Koss, M. P., & Kazdin, A. E. (2011). Violence against women and children. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Ptacek, J. (2010). Restorative justice and violence against women. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lundberg-Love, P. K., & Marmion, S. L. (2006). "Intimate" violence against women: When spouses, partners, or lovers attack. Westport, Conn: Praeger
Swisher, K., Wekesser, C., & Barbour, W. (2000). Violence against women. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press.
