The Importance Of Domestic Violence

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Within the last 100 years, many ideas regarding the social, political and economic standings of people have evolved in a more egalitarian point of view. While many issues within these categories still exist, it is clear to see that there has been an effort in the ways in which these policies have adapted for the better. Abuse is a topic that covers a vast majority of different social and ethnic classes and it affects more people than would be expected. Domestic violence can be defined as the use of physical or sexual force, actual or threatened, by family members or intimate partners. Many different actions such as threatening, hitting, kicking, stalking or harassing are considered a crime within the domestic violence sector. For quite some …show more content…

Domestic violence is used in order to achieve compliance from, or have control over, the abused party. Domestic violence has been thoroughly observed in the past, is very relevant in the present and will continue to be an issue in the future. In order for a community to thrive, there needs to be a level of similarity across the society. For previous generations, domestic violence was considered a private matter that was best dealt with by the father or husband away from the private eye. It was believed that it was the duty of the man in the household to discipline the family, regardless of the physical and mental repercussions associated with the actions. It has only been within the last 40 years that domestic violence has been considered a crime in community standards that required intervention from outside sources (Jaffe, P. G., Crooks, C. V., & Wolfe, D. A., 2003). This intervention meant that women had the opportunity to speak out …show more content…

Currently, some of the relevant criminal offences include the use of physical and sexual violence, forms of psychological or emotional abuse within the family that involve using words or actions to control, isolate, intimidate or dehumanize someone, neglect within the family, and financial abuse within the family (Statistics Canada, 2015). The pursuit of methods in treating and reducing violence by abusers has stretched from counselling agencies, to law enforcement, to the courts, and to corrections agencies. Based on an abuse screening survey conducted in Calgary in 2009, a total of 1053 people were interviewed about their experiences regarding domestic violence. Of the abused, 172 (58%) respondents reported more than one form of abuse. The most prevalent forms of abuse were physical (67%) and sexual (25%) followed by isolation, (12%) intimidation (13%) and economic abuse (12%). Within the same study it was concluded that Aboriginal Canadians had the highest rates of reported abuse (61%), while those who self-identified as black had the lowest rates (20%) (Siemieniuk, R. C., Krentz, H. B., Gish, J. A., & Gill, M. J., 2010). Many of the people within this study claimed that they experienced abuse at some point during their

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