The once prominent leader of India, Mahatma Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” Violence is never the solution to a problem yet violence seems to be, at times, the only way groups in society can express their beliefs. The world is faced with all kinds of violence, from social media to physical acts. There is no single factor that can be attributed to violence in society. Its causes are complex and occur at different levels within society. Although laws and regulations attempt to eradicate violence in society, society’s reaction towards violence varies based on gender roles. Society distinguishes gender in different ways. In the biblical scripture of Adam and Eve’s original sin lead to gender roles. “I will …show more content…
For women in modern day society, femininity is viewed as the beautiful matriarch. A woman’s role is to be the homemaker and caretaker of the family under the superiority of her husband. Throughout history women have faced adversity in their pursuit of gender equality. One of the more profound adversities that women face in society is domestic violence. Up until the 1970s, society viewed domestic violence against women as a minor offense. Cases rarely came to court and authority would diminish the issue as being a critical problem. In some cases, society portrays domestic violence against women as a joke under the male gender superiority. “In the past, domestic violence was often seen as a way husbands could legitimately 'correct' their wives” (Anna Clark). Male dominance is variously supported based social class, rank and geographical region. “Since the 1970s, feminists have fought for protection against domestic violence. …show more content…
Violence against women as grown to be a critical problem in society. Today, society has given women the right to obtain the justice and retributions they deserve. On the other hand, domestic violence against men are ridiculed in society. Society needs to recognize that domestic violence a human problem, and both gender should be freely protected without judgement from the malice and misery he or she may face. People in society do not personally experience the emotional toll that soldiers experience in war. By accepting the male violence of war contradicts its intentions to eradicate violence in society. People also needs to identify the harmful impact that violent sports, such as football has on its players for the long term effects. If people continue to support violent sports, than more and more people are at risk of mental and physical
Like child abuse, it affects every American by impacting those we love the most. Awareness for domestic violence victims has evolved since the beginning of our country. In earlier times, it was a private matter, and took place “behind closed doors”. They helped them past their sufferings and place them back into mainstream culture. (Karmen, 2015) Claims one movement that assisted with the process is the Feminist Movement. This widespread movement took place during the 1970’s, and represented the “beaten women”. It helped them stand up for themselves during their distraught times. Domestic tranquility ensures women their safety at home under their husbands’ protection. The Feminist’s Movement questioned domestic tranquility and urged women to stand up for themselves (Karmen, 2015). They discovered the “silent crisis” that lived inside so many women at the time. The crisis was that the men they married gave into the times of “behind closed doors” and “look the other way”. Those times would stand no more, due to the feminist’s movement and widespread awareness. Laws and legislation have changed since the rediscovery of the victims of domestic violence. One example is restraining orders. Restraining orders set up a level of protection for the women from the male offenders. Another example of legislation is The Violence Against Women Act. Promulgated in 1994 the act mandates that all states enforce protective orders issued in a
As can been seen when looking at the issue of intimate partner violence, both historically and more recent, much of intimate partner violence is gendered, meaning that men are normally the perpetrators of violence (Hattery and Smith 2017). For this reason, the feminist theory is one of the few middle range theories used to examine intimate partner violence (Hattery and Smith 2017). The assumption of the feminist theory is that patriarchy undergirds everything in human society and allows for the abuse and oppression of women through inequality of power and privilege (Hattery and Smith 2017). Patriarchy shapes individual power within the household, playing on culturally gendered norms and expectations, and institutional power, such as the criminal justice system; the main structures of society (Hattery and Smith 2017). For this reason, this theory focuses on the structural nature of the issue rather than the individual nature of intimate partner violence (Hattery and Smith 2017). Distribution of power allows male partners to abuse their partners and “get away” with it if the injury is not physically visible, or life threatening, it is not considered criminal. Most times the perpetrator of violence does is not prosecuted, whether it be underreporting or lack of follow-through by either the victim or the court system (Hattery and Smith 2017). Feminist theory proposes dismantling patriarchy, or at least the reform the way that intimate partner violence is handled by the court system through accountability (Hattery and Smith 2017). The largest flaw in the feminist theory is that it is said to not address “exceptions to the rule” which are cases where the female partner is the perpetrator; and fails to address violence seen in the LBGTQ community (Hattery and Smith 2017). The assertion that the feminist theory does not adequately explain violence in the LBGTQ community is short sighted. As with any heterosexual relationship, a homosexual relationship,
There is a preconceived notion that all families are a “great big happy family”, unfortunately this is entirely false for a hand full of families; not all families are filled with love and joy, a few possess a very dark side (Sev’er, 2014, pp. 273). This dark side is the violence that occurs within the family, whether it be child abuse or domestic violence. Domestic violence is defined as violent or aggressive behaviour within the home, typically involving the violent abuse of a spouse or partner (Oxford Dictionary). Although there are instances where women are violent, Kimmel and Holler (2011) state “most family violence is perpetrated by males - husbands beating wives, fathers hitting children, sons hitting their parent, boys hitting their brothers or their sisters. The actual or implicit threat of physical coercion is one of many factors underlying male dominance in the family” (355). To refrain from the phrase ‘domestic’ violence, bell hooks used the phrase ‘patriarchal’ violence to describe abuse that occurred within the family. Patriarchal violence “is based on the belief that is acceptable for a more powerful individual to control others through various forms of coercive violence. This belief is associated with male domination” (as cited in Kimmel and Holler, 2011, pp. 355). Many would correlate the term ‘domestic violence’ with ‘wife-battering’ (Kimmel and Holler, 2011, pp. 355), meaning that people automatically think of a man physically or mentally abusing a women when they hear ‘domestic violence’. These examples make it evident that family violence is extremely gendered, and it continually reproduces and reinforces gender inequalities within the family.
Violence against women and girls have been simplified and normalized in our societies today (and in history); they are not even recognized by humanitarian laws (Cross, 2013). More women are victims of physical and structural violence. High structural violence adversely affects women politically, socio-economically and culturally. Structural violence against women are built and maintain in the society through socio-cultural/political constructions and norms (Cockburn 2004) which are used to manipulate, dominate and control women (Canadian women
Violence against women occurs worldwide yet it is an undetected issue. In the past, violence against women was seen as a private matter between spouses and more often than not women remained silent and accepted this treatment from their partner. In retrospective, women were safer outside than in their homes because everything that occurred indoors was acceptable. Now, violence against women is a social problem because we have learned that it occurs in the macro level of the public sphere not just the private sphere of the home. Violence against women has stemmed from social norms and gender stereotypes which have influenced the violence.
For a person looking objectively the everyday life of an individual may look peaceful in the absence of any physical form of violence. But the everyday life itself may contain violence in structural form which is called ‘violence of everyday life’ (Scheper-Hughes, 1993). One of the best example of structural violence, but mostly taken for granted is ‘cultural violence’. ‘Cultural violence’ refers to aspects of culture that can be used to justify or legitimize direct or structural violence, and may be exemplified by religion and ideology, language and art, empirical science and formal science and thus follows “follows the footstep of structural violence” (Galtung, 1990).
DISCUSS THE EXTENT OF PROTECTION FOR WOMEN AGAINST MALE VIOLENCE BY THE STATE. For this essay I am going to look at Domestic Violence against women and what the State is doing to protect them. Domestic Violence is now a well-known global occurrence affecting not only women but also their children too. Violence against woman has been around since the dawn of time. We have all seen cartoon pictures of the caveman dragging his mate behind him by her hair. It was just something that men did. Woman had no protection against men especially if they were married to their attacker. For the first 75 years of the 20th century women were seen as meek and subservient to their men and were also owned by those men. Men had a social right to keep their women under control. Things began to change from the late 1960’s early 1970’s. As feminism became more popular the feelings that men owned their women began to subside. But this change in society did not so much to change the occurrence and violence of violence in the home. So what exactly is domestic violence? “ Domestic Violence is usually defined as physical, emotional, sexual and other abuse by someone (usually but not always a man) of a person (usually not always a woman) with whom they have or have had some form of intimate relationship such as marriage, in order to maintain power and control over that person. It may include threats to kill or harm the woman and/or her children or other family members” (Barron 1992) Lists of typical injuries sustained by victims include: § Bruising § Bleeding § Hair loss § Knife wounds § Scratches to body and face § Concussion § Broken/loss of teeth This list could go and on. Injuries do not have to include physical but also mental. The cause of domestic violence against women can never fully be documented. There is the Liberal approach that violence against women is a rare occurrence and that it is only a small number of men who will abuse. They blame social backgrounds that form a cycle of abuse. If the father used violence against the mother then the child will see it as normal. They also feel that to push a man as far as to commit an assault sexual frustration should also be taken into consideration. But the criticisms against this approach include the notion that not all men who come from a broken home go out and commit rape and systematic abuse. They see that the women have to...
According to (Farney and Valente, 35-49), domestic violence is a major concern in the society, considering the fact that it affects the community in a detrimental way. Basically, domestic violence involves negative acts carried out on a person, which often tend to undermine and control the person. Such acts mostly involve physical violence apart from emotional abuse, with intent of manipulating one of the parties in relationships. From this, definitely, domestic violence is an issue that affects the health as well as social-economic state of individuals, and on top of all, it is a human rights issue. Reason being, there is downplay of human rights such as the right to equality coupled with security and freedom among many other rights through domestic violence.
It’s not society’s fault that they don’t recognize the serious problem of female domestic violence. Throughout history it was made known that women are usually the victim of abuse. Men were the dominant gender our whole history as humans. Strength gave men power to dominate women. For thousands of years this has been the case. So it’s very understandable why the sudden change of roles can be bewildering for most. On average, men are larger, and stronger than women. As a result, women are seen less likely to abuse
“Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women in the United States” (Jones 87). Every twelve seconds, a woman is beaten by a man (Jones 6). Every nine days, a woman is murdered by her husband or boyfriend (Jones 7). Statistics like these outline the severity and seriousness of the domestic violence epidemic in this country. Unfortunately, it has taken lawmakers too long to recognize domestic violence as a devastating situation that affects millions of people both physically and emotionally. Domestic violence affects not just people, but businesses as well. Domestic violence results in high turnover and absenteeism at work, extended sick leave, and losses in productivity (Jones 12). The financial cost of domestic violence on business productivity helped facilitate government intervention towards addressing domestic violence, and encouraged laws protecting victims of this type of abuse.
As professional athletes remind us on a weekly basis, domestic violence is a social problem which continues to plague the nation. Through stricter law enforcement, improved hospital reporting techniques, and nationwide education and counseling, this problem can be reduced. Domestic violence has many different names such as, family violence, battering, wife beating, and domestic abuse. All these terms refer to the same thing, abuse by marital, common law, or a dating partner in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence is not limited to physical beating. It is any behavior that is intended to overpower and control another human being through the use of humiliation, fear, and physical or verbal assault. Domestic violence is a very important issue in today’s society because it has such a profound negative affect on the abused, mentally and physically. Verbal abuse can be just as damaging as physical abuse. Verbal abuse is words that attack or injure an individual’s self-image, which eventually shatters one’s self-esteem. In this paper, I will discuss the many kinds of abuses against women, the reasons why women stay in these relationships, and possible solutions to diminish or reduce the problems of domestic violence.
Violence against women is a very serious subject, but the aspects of violence against women have changed over the past few decades. Some of the forms of violence that occur to women are as follows: rape, and domestic violence, which includes intimate partner violence. “Domestic violence or intimate partner violence includes bodily harm, usually accompanied by verbal threats and harassments,emotional abuse or the destruction of property”(Burn 26). Statistics show that in the United States there are 4.8 million rapes, intimate partner violence, and physical assaults per year (Burn 26). My interviewee explained how,“ Back then women were socially taught to keep their mouths closed when it came to domestic violence against women from their partner”. This is an example of how domestic violence has changed from the 1950’s to present day. She herself learned that it was socially right for domestic violence to happen when she was growing up in her own home. Women knew that they could not say anything about domestic violence. Today in the United States, all women have to do is call the police and they will be there, most likely in the women's favor because they are suffering from ...
“One in three women around the world experience violence in their lifetime, often in the hands of someone they know” (UN Women). According to a recent study by UN Women, the estimated cost of intimate-partner violence accounted for 5.2 percent of the global economy. GBV undermines the safety, dignity, overall health status, and human rights of the millions of individuals who experience it, and also the public health, economic stability, and security of nations. Thus, it is important to address the issue of violence against women and girls and to
Women are victims of domestic violence, receive sexist remarks, and undergo objectification in the media. Domestic violence occurs due to the gender and power inequality in opposite sex relationships. Society has expectations of how male and female should behave in intimate relationships: men are expected to be the providers and the dominant ones while women are devalued as secondary and inferior. Therefore, issues of power, control, and autonomy are the main reasons for domestic violence. Every day, women experience sexism whether it is on television, at work or even at home. Society sees men as biologically superior creatures compared to women. Sexism has become very common and even acceptable and this is the problem (Gill, 14). If from a young age females endure sexist remarks, they would naturally accept those remarks and easily become the victims of the patriarchal society. Another personal problem that affects women is the objectification in the media. Sexually objectified pictures of women appear in television advertising, on the web and in newspapers. This encourages girls to think of and treat their own bodies as objects of others’ desires. Women try to improve their social position, yet sexual objectification reduces them to the status of mere tools for men’s purposes and makes them preoccupied with their appearance (Gill, 14). Women should have enough courage to
Violence. Just mentioning the word conjures up many images of assault, abuse, and even murder. Violence is a broad subject with many categories. Some types of violence are terrorist violence and domestic violence. Violence can arise from many different sources; these sources whether biological, cultural, and social all can evoke violent behavior. All cultures experience some sort of violence, and this paper considers violence as a cultural phenomenon across a range of various settings. Violence plays a part in both Islamic and Indian cultures according to the articles “Understanding Islam” and “Rising Dowry Deaths” by Kenneth Jost and Amanda Hitchcock, respectively. From an anthropological perspective, violence emphasizes concerns of meaning, representation and symbolism.