Abuse is one of the most demeaning and destructive acts, yet it is overlooked and sometimes ignored but is becoming one of the most rapidly growing crimes in today’s society. Often, this crime is overlooked on account of the fact that the worst abuse that takes place is not always physical, but emotional and mental abuse and society as a whole, does not comprehend how demoralizing and destructive this is. The people who are consistently abused, whether it be female or male, adult or child, each individual live their lives in constant fear of their abuser, and they frequently find themselves in a situation where they begin to feel like they can no longer trust anyone else. “It takes the average victim seven attempts before leaving.”(Jarett 3) With an average of this magnitude, how far does the abuser typically have to go before the person who is being abused leaves?
Contrary to the incidents that are reported and the stories that are relayed, “Domestic violence does not discriminate.” (Kulmala 1) In the media, the public hears about the abused women and children, but rarely do you hear about the men who are abused. This type of abuse to men certainly exists: it is just that most men are taught not to fight back or hit a woman. They also are often humiliated, or even laughed at if they share their story because as a society, we have the premonition that a real man cannot be abused by a woman. “One out of six boys are abused before they reach the age of eighteen.” (Bailey 2) What is even worse is that these men are not only taught that they should not fight back, but sometimes their situation will be such that they genuinely cannot fight back. The majority of these abusers will bite and hit the men while they are asle...
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... cycle of their parent, or parents in some cases, abusing them. Nine out of ten people who were abused as a child never tell anyone about it.
Contrary to what is reported and what many people believe, abuse does not always happen from the start, some families can have no sign of abuse for many years when a family member may begin to abuse them. The abuser most likely grew up being abused, or witnessing a family member being abused, and by abusing their children, the abusers begin a never ending loop of abusive behavior. What most people are not aware of is that the abusers literally need the person that they are abusing. They are desperate for attention and they will get it regardless of what means are necessary to do so. The most tragic thing about this is, due to their love for their abuser, some victims never leaving, and that often costs them their lives.
Knudsen, Dean D. and Miller, JoAnne L. Abused and Battered: Social and Legal Responses to Family Violence. Aldine De Gruyter, Inc.; New York. 1991.
Domestic abuse is a significant and threatening issue in the United States. Sadly, the rates of this shameful violence are increasing. This violence is not limited to the privacy of relationships and homes, it occurs everywhere and in all relationships. Football player, Ray Rice portrayed an act of domestic violence when he punched his wife and knocked her unconscious on February 15 of 2014. Women are heavily affected by this abuse and it’s the leading cause of injuries on women. According to crime reports (qtd. in “Domestic Violence”), one woman is beaten by her husband or partner every 15 seconds in the United States. Also, according to a report (qtd. in “Domestic Violence”), domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the United States, more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. Domestic abuse is not simple, it has a historical context to it, it creates abusive cycles in relationships, and it links to economic statuses.
Domestic violence and abuse takes place within family-type intimate relationships and forms a pattern of intimidating and controlling behaviors, which overtime escalates (Dennis, T. 2014, p 1). It can also cause physical psychological or sexual harm to these relations as well (Gul & Faiz, 2013). Domestic Violence according to Fairtlough (2006) is “the misuse of power and the exercise of control by one individual over another, generally by men over women, with whom they have been in an intimate relationship. It assumes a wide range of abusive physical, sexual, and psychological behaviors.” Dennis argued that domestic violence has become a serious societal and public health issue and is a major risk factor for psychiatric disorders
Each year approximately 4.8 million acts of physical or sexual aggression are perpetrated against women while 2.9 million physically aggressive acts are perpetrated against men within the United States (Edleson, Ellerton, Seagren, Kirchberg, Schmidt & Ambrose, 2007). Many of these incidents take place in the presences of children, which make these figures even more disturbing (Evans, Davies & DiLillo, 2008). Research indicates that 40.2% of United States battered women responding in national surveys state that their children have witnessed one or more abusive events (Edleson et al., 2007). Overall 66% of research samples regarding childhood exposure to domestic violence reported to having direct exposure to the abuse (Barnett, Miller-Perrin & Perrin, 2011).
However, it is too often overlook that domestic violence may not only occur in terms of a man meting out violence against a woman but could also render a man as the victim too. Many times people turn their backs on male victims of domestic violence (Murray, S. & Powell, A. (2007). Due to the focus on violence against women, men lack a proper or even popular framework to fight domestic violence when it occurs that they are victims (Cruz, 1996). There is also a stereotype that only women can be victims of domestic violence. This makes it hard for men to open up and report when they experience violence from a partner (Cruz, 1996).
Every nine seconds in the United States a woman is assaulted or beaten; that works out to nine thousand six hundred women every twenty-four hours (DVS.org). This type of abuse occurs everyday, all over the world, but most cases are neglected and never reported to the police. Domestic violence is one of the most chronically underreported crimes in the world. It is estimated that only one-fourth of all physical attacks, one-fifth of all rapes, and one-half of all stalkings against women are reported to the authorities (NCADV). The lack of reported cases that take place just give abusers another foothold in the climb to the top.
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.
Domestic Violence Statistics states, “Around the world, at least one in every 3 women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime” (1). The United States Department of Justice defines domestic violence as, “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” (para. 1). Domestic violence is a crime that numerous citizens fall victim to in every country. Anyone can be a victim of domestic violence regardless of race, gender, sexuality or religion. Being a victim of domestic violence can affect a person’s way of life permanently and the way these victims interact with other people can become a difficult task and can eventually affect their future. Domestic violence is substantially wrong because it can cause drastic permanent effects in a person’s life, can cause physical, emotional and intellectual damage, and affects a child’s state of mind of what is normal and what is not if they are in a domestic violent atmosphere. While women are usually victims of domestic violence, men are victims of this crime as well. The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney states that, “According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief, men account for approximately fifteen percent of the victims of reported intimate partner crimes” (Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, par.1). Physical, emotional, economic and physiological abuses are all forms of domestic violence that many people would consider to fall under another crime. There are many crimes that many citizens commit, but domestic violence is one of many that should not be taken lightly.
When people think of domestic violence, they often think of an injured or bruised woman who has been brutally assaulted by her partner. However, not all abusive relationships involve violence. Verbal abuse is the main abuse that will be discussed in this research paper. Just because you’re not assaulted does not mean you’re not battered. Many women suffer from verbal abuse, which is no less devastating. Sadly, emotional abuse is often unrecognized, even by the person being abused. Emotional abuse can hurt just as much as physical violence, or even more in my opinion. This problem has become especially evident in in our country today. As an example, lets look at my last relationship, we were together for almost two years, and sometimes it seemed we were on a roller-coaster ride, in our relationship. It appeared she was so insecure about herself that she had a breast implant surgery, besides that she was not happy with her figure. She is now thirty-four years old and there is a fifteen-year age difference between us. The truth is that it seemed that every time she would get upset, she would just yell and threaten to call my parole officer, and she would say to me how “I was a no good gangsta thug, and she wished that I was back in prison or dead, and how she regrets leaving her former boyfriend for me.” When in fact, my anger and jealously would overcome my feelings for her.
A common problem in the world today is domestic abuse. Many times the male of a household abuses the woman and children that they life with. Although there are opportunities to safely get out of these situations, women too often stay. While this seems crazy that anyone would even think of staying in a situation of such violent nature, the reason is for more astonishing. Many times the women of these relationships love their abuser. An article written by a woman named Amanda
Abuse can happen to anyone, at any age, at any time. This is repetitive acts of behavior of wanting to maintain power and have control over someone whether it be through childhood, adolescents, or adulthood. This subject is sensitive as it impacts so many different people around the world. The topic of abuse is not just a family matter, it comes in all forms, such as sexual, emotional, and physical. Abuse is accompanied by the long term emotional tolls, especially on children because their brains are still developing and can take abuse harder than others. One question to ask, is how does one overcome abuse? As children and adolescents develop, how do they function emotionally and physically? These traumatic experiences that happen through
We’ll start with child abuse victims and the affects and reasons of this abuse. There are four types of child abuse and I will list them in order from least to greatest, neglect, physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Neglect takes first with the NCVS having 54% reports of child neglect in 2007. Neglect is a very serious form of abuse it is the failure for a parent or guardian to provide for a child’s basic needs, including physical and educational needs. We grow and development drastically in the first twelve years of our life so when parental guidance and love is absent it affects a child’s developmental skills along with learning right from wrong. Many forms of neglect occur in larger households and with households with domestic violence. Many parents with multiple kids become too busy focusing on the older children they tend to forget the youngest one. So it’s common for a three year old to walk out of the front door and on to the street when no one is there to tell him or...
When the topic of abuse comes up, many different forms of abuse pop into individuals heads. Whether its Physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse or even drug abuse, the list just keeps going. Now take all those different forms abuse and imagine them happening in a family. A father physically abusing his children, a mother verbally berating her daughter about her body image, a child growing up in fear. According to the research by David Wolfe in the Journal of Consulting and clinical Psychology, that the number of children that have suffered a physical injury due to physical abuse is between 1.4 and 1.9 million annually. With such a high number of physical abuse happening to children, one can imagine how high the number of all the
Billboards, radio, and TV ads across the country proclaim that “every fifteen seconds a woman is beaten by a man.” Violence against women is clearly a problem of national importance, but has anyone ever asked how often men are beaten by women? The unfortunate fact is that men are the victims of domestic violence at least as often as women are. While the very idea of men being beaten by their wives runs contrary to many of our deeply ingrained beliefs about men and women, female violence against men is a well-documented phenomenon almost completely ignored by both the media and society.
Many people have difficulty understanding why any person would want to hurt a child. “The public often assumes that the people that abuse their children suffer from a mental illness but fewer than 10 percent of abusers have mental illnesses” (“Child Abuse” Encarta). There is more room for abuse in a family when the parents or caretakers are of a young age or just have very little patients. Mature adults that are raising kids tend not to abuse their children because they are able to cope with the demands of their children and the other stresses around them.