There is no question that domestic violence directed against women is a serious problem. Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop has called it women’s number-one health problem. The statistics reported in the popular press are staggering: Nearly one third of women in hospital emergency departments are there due to domestic violence, three out of four female homicide victims are killed by their husbands or lovers, and 6 million women are victims of abuse by people they know each year (Journal of the American Medical Association June, 1992).
Let us begin by first defining what abuse is: abuse is the use or threat to use physical, sexual, or verbal behavior to coerce the partner to do something one wants; to degrade or humiliate; to gain or maintain a sense of power or control; to act out ones anger inappropriately. Abusive behaviors may include subtle or covert harm as well as life threatening acts of violence. Yet, it seems to be that violence against an intimate partner does not seem to be as serious as other crimes. We know this, because less than half of our states view marital rape as a crime (History of Governor’ Commission on Domestic Violence, 2001). The Governor’s Commission on Domestic Violence was established by the Weld/Cellucci administration in April 1992, shortly after domestic violence was declared a public health emergency in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Governor’s Commission on Domestic Violence leads the nation in its comprehensive and innovative approach to addressing the crime of domestic violence. Some of its many accomplishments include:
· State funding for domestic violence prevention and intervention initiatives including: resources for district attorney’s offices, battered women’s programs and emergency shelters, legal services, school based teen dating violence programs, certified batters intervention programs, and judicial training. For FY01, state funding totaled over $23.4 million dollars.
· The publication of the Annual Prevention and Intervention Plan (House 1 budget) detailing domestic violence initiatives.
· The support of progressive domestic violence legislation including Chapter 209A, stalking law, firearms legislation, and uniform enforcement of out of state restraining orders.
· The first state wide Domestic Violence Law Enforcement Guidelines.
· The publication of...
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... get the help they need. We are only failing our communities and ourselves by looking away from this social problem and leaving it to the family’s alone to solve for themselves.
The violence will not simply stop, and it will not get better. Once it starts, it will happen more often and it will get progressively worse. No matter how much a battered woman loves her partner, she should know that she is in real danger. She has to ensure her own safety. Battered women’s centers, crisis intervention services, and family crisis centers have names like Counsel for Abused Families, Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Crisis Intervention Service, or Family Help Place. Family crisis centers provide hotlines that are open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. If she cannot find a crisis center, she can call the police, sheriff, district attorneys, public library, or Salvation Army. The Salvation Army has kind and caring people who will help her without regard to her color, religion, or ethnic background. They can put her in touch with the people who can give her exactly the help she needs. A battered women must not stop until she finds that help. Her life depends on it!
Domestic violence is a problem in our country with nearly 1 million women experiencing at least one incident of domestic abuse each year, (2009/10 British Crime Survey). Social-program funding is being scrutinized in the current economic climate with doubts as to whether American tax dollars should be used to help victims of domestic violence. Cutting funds for government programs that assist victims of domestic violence is not an option for many reasons. In this essay I will explore some of the many ways these programs help our fellow citizens in order to support the argument for continuing to fund said programs.
Legal Advocacy Network Webinar Series: 83rd Legislative Session Update. (n.d) Retrieved Feb 09 2014, from Texas Council On Family Violence Web Site: https://ce.tcfv.org/index.cfm?pg=semwebCatalog&panel=showSWOD&seminarid=4780
Every year about 4000 women die in the U.S. because of the domestic violence. Every year this number gets higher and higher. Even though we live in the 21st century people can’t find the way to improve the situation. But before searching for the solution, people should understand what domestic violence is. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, domestic violence is: “any abuse—including physical, emotional, sexual, or financial—between intimate partners, often living in the same household” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Most of the people believe that domestic
Domestic Violence is a widely recognized issue here in the United States. Though many people are familiar with domestic violence, there are still many facts that people do not understand. Abuse is not just physical, it is mental, emotional, verbal, sexual and financial. Many victims of physical abuse are also fall victim to these abuse tactics as well. An abusive partner often uses verbal, mental, emotional, and financial abuse to break their partner so to speak. It is through this type of abuse the victim often feels as though they are not adequately meeting their partner’s needs.
Significant studies have been done since the 1980’s, studies that include: how domestic violence impacts the family unit as a whole, treatment methods for the victims, family members, and offenders, as well as policing techniques.
... policies have to be able to effectively deal with the crime. The results of this study can be used to formulate policy in the state and in other states. The study plays an important role in understanding the nature of domestic violence, and how enforcement of stricter laws against it will affect its prevalence in the community.
...ces. In this project, local advocates and volunteers work in collaboration with schools, churches and community organizations providing educational presentations on the effects of domestic violence on children. Parents also learn non-violent parenting skills, enabling them to deal with their children effectively. They also provide a 24-hour crisis line, a place to sleep, clothing, food, medical treatment referrals, and assistance with reporting crimes to police and prosecutors. This program has helped reduce the crime, and strengthen the children?s self-esteem through community service. Relationship building is a prime focus, and they learn how to create healthy relationship with others. We still have a long way to go in the future. Activists must continue to promote public awareness of domestic violence, and help to make this country a better place to live.
Clark, P. M. (2011). Interventions for domestic violence: Cognitive behavioral therapy. Corrections Today, Vol. 73 (1), pp. 62-64. Retrieved from http://crimesolutions.gov/PracticeDetails.aspx?ID+16
Women will continue to suffer from domestic violence unless there is some sort of intervention to help them. When dealing with this population, it is essential to create a safe environment where the woman can talk freely about the abuse without any retaliation from the abuser. When someone comes into a therapeutic session, everyone deserves to be treated with respect and care. This in turn will create a sense of hope that a different type of life can be possible. Also, knowing that there is a support system can help the woman begin the process of change. Despite this, the process of leaving the abusive partner is slow (Warshaw, n.d.)
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is historically referred to as domestic violence. It describes a pattern of coercive and assaultive behavior that may include psychological abuse, progressive isolation, sexual assault, physical injury, stalking, intimidation, deprivation, and reproductive coercion among partners (The Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), 1999). IPV leads to lifelong consequences such as lasting physical impairment, emotional trauma, chronic health problems, and even death. It is an issue affecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Eighty-five percent of domestic violence victims are women (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003).
Around the 1950’s and 60’s, the Civil Rights and Anti-war movements began to lay the ground work for the feminist movement. During the 1970’s, spousal abuse became a public issue and the battered women’s movement was brought to the public eye. At this time there were several movements under way such as, women’s liberation, women’s health, and anti-rape movements. As a results of the success of these agencies and the resources and networking that already was in place, many battered women’s shelters were opened across the United States. The first of these, was the Women’s Advocates shelter in St. Paul, Minnesota which opened in 1973. It was not until 1984 that a bill, The Family Violence Prevention Services Act was passed through Congress. This act would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Service to give grants to States that would assist them in creating, expanding, and maintaining programs and projects that aid in the prevention of family violence.
Domestic violence is not just fighting, hitting or an occasional argument. It’s a chronic abuse of power. The abuser of domestic violence, controls and tortures the victim of threats, intimidation, and physical violence. Domestic violence is one of the leading causes of violence in America. The abusers are not only men, women can be abusers as well. Women make up the vast majority of domestic violence. According to the American Bar Association (ABA), 90-95% of domestic violence victims are females and 70% of intimidating homicides are females. Domestic violence is a serious crime and everyone needs to be aware of its effects. This essay presents and explains the evidence supporting the major risk factors for intimate partner homicides.
Module five helped me to expand my knowledge in relation to the community responses to domestic violence, as well as dating violence and elder abuse and community agencies resources related to domestic violence. Back in the 1970’s if an officer responded to a domestic violence call, most of the time the officer would recommend the couple or family to contact a family services agency because the police thought domestic violence calls were a family problem not a police problem. “In the 1980’s, laws were enacted and procedures were set in place that were directed toward protecting the victims of domestic violence”. (Cahill, Davis, DeBoard, Gibson, Johnson, Marcon, & West, 2011) Now, when police responds to a domestic violence call they usually
To begin with, the definition of domestic violence is “the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another” (“What Is Domestic Violence”). Ranging from grown women to young children, many are victims to abuse. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States” (“Statistics”). Just by calculating, that is 28,800 people who are abused in just ONE DAY! The scary part is that this number does not even account for the numerous cases that are not even told. Many victims are threatened or even hurt so bad that they must keep their mouth shut in fear of even worse abuse to come. Of
Domestic violence is skyrocketing in our society. In the U.S., as many as 1.5 million women and 850,000 men were physically assaulted by their intimate partner last year, and numerous children abused by their parents. These sad criminal acts will continue to grow in our society, unless our community takes action to stop these crimes. First of all, the most important tool we have available against this type of crime are the authorities, which include the police department, hospital, and social workers. If they manage to work together as a team to make the whole process of protecting a victim more efficient, it will encourage victims to actually phone for help.