While no crime is a good thing, crimes of domestic violence are especially heinous. Not only is it important that offenders are caught and tried in court, but, it is equally if not more important to take special care to protect the victims in these cases. One such protection afforded to victims is protection orders. There are, like any crime, specific criteria which an offender must meet in order for a victim or victims to seek protection against them. Additional consideration must be given on the part of the victim as to which area of the legal system they will seek help from, the civil court, criminal court or both.
The Courts Discussion In our legal system there are two distinct areas, the civil and criminal law systems. Separate courts exist in order to govern each. In cases of domestic violence both arenas may be involved as a result of the same act. For maximum protection against an offender, it may be in the best interest of victims to pursue legal action under both. In a civil action a person is simply asking to be protected against their abuser. If a person violates a civil order they may have to serve time in jail as a result. Criminal law is for cases
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Protective orders are no different. One study will show how much they work, another will say they are very ineffective at meeting their intent. Using examples from a period of several years, protective orders in the state of Colorado alone aren 't effective all of the time. Much of the time, perpetrators have prior issues with domestic violence or other criminal behaviors. Of course familiarity between the victim and perpetrator didn 't help either when a person was killed as they arrived at work. Contributing factors include women who haven 't taken the advice of coworkers or relatives such as going to a shelter. Advancements have since been made in the arena of protecting victims of domestic abuse and
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
One of the policies that needs to be discussed is arrest for domestic violence. This policy is regarding the pro- and mandatory arrest policies (Hoymand, et. al., 2009). This current policy is very important in families, even though there might be a few issues if kids are involved, it still would be best if the police were involved if the situation got to point of the danger of one’s life. Pro-arrest policies allow police officers to arrest when answering to call if there are indication of domestic violence such as broken glass, scrapes on a person, or knocked over furniture (Hoymand, et. al., 2009). Mandatory arrest policies take place when police officers make an arrest even though the officer did not witness the victim being assaulted by the perpetrator (Hoymand,
The purpose of this research paper is to prove that criminal law in America has failed to provide a defense that adequately protects women suffering from Battered Women's Syndrome. Battered Women's Syndrome, or BWS, is a very complex psychological problem facing criminal courts today and has caused great debate on whether or not it should even be allowed in the courtroom. Although the syndrome has been given more consideration as a warranted issue by society, those who create our laws and control our courtrooms, have not developed a defense that sufficiently protects these women. United States courtrooms, instead of protecting battered women, have put these women on trial and found them guilty of murder.
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.
Domestic violence can be described as any form of abuse towards a victim, whether physical, emotional, sexual, verbal, psychological, or economical. The stakeholders in such violence are the abuser(s), the victim(s) and the bystander(s), all of whom are affected in some form or another by the abuse. For further clarity, domestic violence in this discussion refers to situations where the principle stakeholders, i.e. abuser and victim are in a relationship, for example partners, co-workers or friends. Domestic violence affects all stakeholders, not only the victim but the abuser and bystanders, and it can be easily prevented.
... 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.
Domestic violence affects numerous women across different aspects of their lives. The main cause of injury to women is domestic violence (“Domestic Violence Statistics,” n.d.). Factors that contribute to the occurrence and continuation of this form of violence towards women include isolation, economic aspects and access to resources. Abusive men socially isolate their partners from friends and family. The women have restrictions in contact with other people. This manages to keep the battering hidden and makes it harder for the victim to find help and leave. Perpetrators of domestic violence may also isolate their partner from employment. It is a control tactic and enables the abuser to have complete control over the finances of the household and her ability to access the money. This also socially isolates the women because she no longer has co-workers to be around and is forced to stay inside the home all day by herself. She is now totally economically dependent on her abuser, which decreases her opportunity to leave the relationship and to have stability once she leaves. ...
Domestic violence is well-known to be a serious problem in Canada. Domestic violence includes physical assault or aggressive actions against family members, spouse, intimate partner, boyfriend or girlfriend. It can have many negative results and even result in death. Statistics Canada (2013) mentions stress, chronical diseases and addictions as common results of domestic violence. In most cases, the victims are women. According to Statistics Canada (2013), among all the cases of domestic in 2013, 80% of victims were women. Statistics Canada (2013) states that intimate partner violence is higher when female victims are between 25 and 34 year old. Alcohol also can increase risk of domestic violence. Another factor is that life in certain poor neighborhoods has a lot of instances of street violence. If not effectively stopped, domestic violence can result in murder. Many intimate partner homicides result from escalation of
Martin, M. E. "Mandatory Arrest for Domestic Violence: The Courts' Response." Criminal Justice Review 19.2 (1994): 212-27. Print.
In this research paper Amy Homan McGee’s case study of domestic violence will be discussed along with research done that signifies that police intervention alone does not produce adequate results for the prevention of intimate partner violence. A case study was chosen in order to specifically focus on one victim’s story and highlight the intervention methods rather than the criminal act itself. This approach was chosen in order to examine and analyze multiple methods of prevention and intervention tactics that may help future, or current victims of domestic violence. The methods and programs discussed, such as safety orders and community coordinated responses, may result in women receiving sufficient assistance.
Domestic violence, also referred to as intimate partner violence, intimate partner abuse or domestic abuse, affects over one million people in the United States alone. It can be carried out in any number of ways including physically, emotionally, sexually, psychologically and/or financially. Its legal definition considers it to be “any assault, battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, or any criminal offense resulting in physically injury or death of one family member or household member by another who is residing in the same single dwelling unit” (Brown, 2008). In the United States it is considered a major health problem so much so that it was declared the number one health concern by the U.S. Surgeon General in 1992 (Peterman & Dixon, 2003). Not only is it a rapidly growing health problem but it is a growing societal concern as well. Extending beyond the effect felt by the victims and their families, it impacts our communities, government, law enforcement and public service agencies.
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.
Domestic violence is a devastating social problem that impacts every sector of our population. Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner(USDOJ,2012). Domestic violence can be physical, economic, emotional, sexual, or psychological. Physical domestic violence is an attempt to impose physical injury such as grabbing, slapping, hitting, biting, etc. Physical violence can also be withholding necessary resources to sustain health such as medication, food, sleep, or forcing alcohol or other drug use. Economic abuse is an attempt to make the victim financially dependent. Such as sustaining control over financial resources including the victims earned income, forbidding employment, on the job harassment, or withholding information about family expenses. Emotional abuse can be the attempt to undermine the victims self worth. This could be belittling the victim, name calling, insults, criticism, manipulating, etc. Sexual abuse is any sexual contact without consent. For example, marital rape, attacks on sexual parts of the body, forced sex, forced prostitution. Sexual abuse can also be an attempt to undermine the victims sexuality by treating them in a derogatory manner, criticizing sexual performance, or withholding sex. Psychological abuse is the attempt to implant fear. This could involve intimidation, threats of physical harm, harassment, mind games, and stalking. Psychological abuse can also be an attempt to isolate victim from friends and family member. Abusers can go so far as withholding access to a telephone, transportation, constant check ups, forced imprisonment, and undermining personal relationships. Dome...
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.
Criminal and Civil Law – Criminal law is the law through which public commitment of crimes are prosecuted by governing bodies, whereas civil law is the law through which private parties may bring lawsuits against one another for real or imagined wrongdoings. E.g. criminal law would deal with the prosecution of a crime such as one person hitting another with their car, and civil law would deal with the lawsuit, as the person hit would sue the driver of the car for monetary compensation.