Persuasive Essay On Domestic Abuse

1172 Words3 Pages

Introduction to the issue

This progression of abuse has gone on far too long. I have witnessed this string of events in my own family. Starting with a shouting match, escalating to a slight push and ultimately ending in me rushing to the emergency room at 2 am. I will never forget that look on her face; a swollen left eye, bruises the size of tennis balls that covered her arms and upper body, the inside of her hands with cuts that look like defense wounds. She jumped when I ran in the room where she was being treated and started to hug me. This was a familiar hug, one that I have had many times before from her from previous attacks from her husband. As I embraced her I began to ask myself is this finally the last straw, will landing her …show more content…

That was one of the hardest days of my life. As I look back on her life I wonder what makes the abused return back to their abuser. Women are raised to love your husbands, for better or for worse. Domestic abuse does not fit that definition. Society has a conventional standpoint that domestic abuse is private, something between a woman and her husband. Society has viewed this as justification in handling the behavior of a spouse. My cousin called the police on her husband several times, but the city they resided in mandatory arrest laws did not exist. While researching I found out that in the city they lived in if no visible injuries are observed nothing can be done by peace officers. This cycle will never end until tougher laws are enacted. Martha Fineman stated that “only in the last 40 years has culture pushed aside the notion that domestic abuse is the norm for families, and acknowledge that the public system has a moral responsibility to address this issue”(1). Domestic violence and the mere definition of abuse differ from state to state. In addition to laws that vary the form of assistance that is given can vary to a large degree. Because states vary, …show more content…

Department of Justice”1). This act of domestic abuse includes physical, mental or psychological control over another person. The abuse refers to any criminal behavior that involves; assault, battery, sexual assault, stalking, harassment and homicide. Domestic violence also goes by many names, partner abuse, spousal abuse, intimate partner violence the list goes on, but the meaning is the same. Prior to the 1800’s domestic abuse was widely accepted and a valid approach to discipline a wife. The laws at that time stated that “the husband is only allowed to whip his wife with a switch no bigger than his thumb” ("Domestic Violence Timeline."1). This practice went on until 1882, when Maryland passed a law that made wife beating a crime “punishable by 20 lashes on the whipping post”. ("Domestic Violence Timeline."1). The illustration below shows this act in 1899 (“The Whipping Post”). where a husband was sentenced to 20 lashes under this law. Soon other states followed suit but with stipulations. North Carolina law stated that “a criminal indictment cannot be brought against a husband unless the battery is so great as to result in permanent injury, endanger their life or is malicious beyond all reasonable bounds”("Domestic Violence

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