Why Women Stay in Violent Relationships Most women have at least one dependant who must be taken care of, many are not employed, their parents are either distant or unable or unwilling to help. She may lack the access to cash; she or the children may be in poor health, may face a decline in the living standard for herself and her children. Many older children may resent this decision. She may believe that she will be charged with desertion or losing the children and cash assets if she leaves. Some battered women have an ideology that may include: she does not believe in divorce, marriage is forever,” till death do us part”. They may believe that it is crucial to the children for them to have a mother and a father, no matter how terrible the father is, and she believes that she can put up with anything for the children’s safety. She may be emotionally dependent on the man, having never relied upon herself for the simplest decision. The abuser may have managed to isolate her from her friends and family and she therefore feels that she has no one to turn to. She may feel responsible for his behavior and try to change herself, therefore giving herself a very low self-esteem. Since abuse comes in cycles, she believes that he is basically good and this time he has changed. (23) Battered women understand that there is something wrong with men who alternately hurt them and then nurture them, though they do not know what causes this. They seem to think if they love them enough, give up enough, or submit to enough, that they will somehow be able to change the batterer's behavior. Battered women are trained to accept responsibility for the abuser's outburst. She is trained to make excuses for his imperfections; e.g. if she was a better wife he would not want to hit her. First, let’s define abuse, battering, and psychological abuse. According to West Virginia Sate Law it is defined as: The occurrence of one or more of the following acts between family members who reside together or who formerly resided together: Battering is not just physical aggression. Rather, Battering constitutes the systematic use of violence and the threat of violence in order to control, subjugate, and intimidate women. Without feat, there can be no battering. Psychological Abuse is defined as verbal degradation denial of powers, isolation monopolizing perceptions, occasional in... ... middle of paper ... ... Getting Away With Murder, Raoul Felder and Barbara Victor, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1996 Intimate Abuse, Richard Gelles and Murray Strauss, Transaction Publishers, New Jersey 1990 Keeping the Faith, Guidance for Christian Women Facing Abuse, Marie M. Fortune, 1987. National Crime Center, Crime and Victimization in America, A Statistical Overview, 1995 Rape and Violence Information Center Handbook 1996. Rebecca Eritano, Counselor, Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center conversations held between 1995 and 1997. Roweena Mersing, Advocate, Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center, Conversations held between 1995 through 1997. Stop Domestic Violence, An Action Plan for Saving Lives, Lou Brown, Francios Dubac, and Merritt McKeon, J.D., St. Martin’s Griffin, New York,1997 Terrifying Love, Lenore Walker, Harper and Row, New York, 1989 The Abusive Partner, An Analysis of Domestic Battering, Maria Roy, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. New York, 1982 Violent Relationships, Information Plus, Wylie, TX 1995 Violent Relationships, Information Plus, Wylie, TX 1997 You Can Be Free, An Easy to Read Handbook for Abused Women, Ginny NiCarthy and Sue Davidson, Seal Press, 1989
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.
“Such a woman faces two major obstacles: fear and finance -- fear for her safety and that of her children and a lack of money to support herself or them. The most dangerous time in the life of a battered woman is when she attempts to leave her abuser. Threatened by the loss of control, the batterer is likely to become even more violent and may even try to kill her. There are simply not enough shelters to protect all the women who need them” (1).
Almost as if they were to be trained as an animal. Second, socioeconomic status was a key factor in abusive relationships. Lower income women are proven to be more frequently victims of domestic violence than wealthier women. Situations where the male partner is underemployed or unemployed, he’s not seeking employment, or they are residing in a poor neighborhood all can have an impact of on abusive relationships. Third, some batterers were abused themselves. Here, batterers were abused during their upbringing whether it be physical, verbal, or sexually abused. They may have also witnessed domestic violence as a part of their childhood. From here, being abusive was embedded in their mind. They were confused about a healthy relationship. Using violence as a means of power and control was the way of life. Boys who witness domestic violence are more likely to batter as an adult. Fourth, race was another factor when being abusive. Black women seem to be more disrespectful towards men and talk out of line resulting in abuse. Black women also worry about the repercussions of reporting domestic violence. A lot of abusive relationships go
What is Abuse? Abuse is not just being hit. Abuse is any action that is harmful or controlling and that affects the well being of another person. Many people use the term "Abuse" to signify physical abuse, but there are many more ways of abusing someone than beating them. Physical abuse is the most horrifying and most noticeable of them all, but it is only one of the many types of abuse. Here are some of the names for different categories of abuse: Physical abuse, Sexual abuse, Psychological and Verbal abuse, Forced confinement, abuse towards pets or property, Financial abuse, and Child abuse. The two abuses that I will be focusing on will be physical and mental abuse.
2.) National Research Council. Understanding Violence Against Women, Washington, DC: National Academy of Press. 1996.
Gordon, A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE REGISTRY. (n.d) Retrieved Feb 09 2011, from Old Research Report Web Site: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/rpt/2011-R-0196.htm
Tjaden, P., Thoennes, N. (2000b). Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and consequences of violence against women: Findings from the Violence Against Women Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
People do not fully understand domestic abuse as much as they should. It is not simple and the different forms of it needs to be explained more often. “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. It includes physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, and emotional abuse” (“What is Domestic Violence?”). These types of violence can range from mild to severe. Mild abuse includes pushing, grabbing, shoving, or slapping a woman. Severe abuse includes kicking, choking, beating or using a weapon on women.
Domestic violence can be categorized into different categories. Firstly, is physical violence. Physical violence is physical abuse whereby the abuser will hit, kick, burn, punch, slap, smack and perform any action using body or objects that will hurt and bruise the victim’s physical health. An example of physical abuse is severe burns on the body due to cigarette burns. Secondly is emotional abuse. Emotional abuse is just opposite of physical abuse because the abuser will use harsh, vulgar and negative words to emotionally abuse the victim. The implication of verbal abuse such as yelling, isolation, name-calling and shaming also falls in the same category of emotional abuse. For example, shouting out vulgar words is a form of emotional abuse. Emotional abuse can cause severe depression and also lack of confidence. Besides that, it can also cause decrease of self worth and independence. Thirdly is financial abuse whereby the abuser will financially torture their victims who are usually their spouse or...
Shannon Brennfleck, Joyce. Ed. Domestic Violence Sourcebook: Third Edition. Detroit, Michigan: Omnigraphics Inc. 2009. 276-279. Print.
Most people in society are one sided when it comes to domestic violence. Most people automatically think domestic violence as men abusing women. Most people believe domestic violence is associated with gender. For instance, some people associate men with violent, destructive, and belligerent behavior. While women are often seen as innocent, fragile, and vulnerable. For many years men were the ones showing violent behavior, so most people believe men are usually the aggressor. Many people believe men should never abuse a woman, and if he does he will charged and most likely serve jail time. Although, women are not viewed the same way. Over the years women have become just as aggressive and violent as men have been portrayed. Many women who are violent are given a pass if they abuse a man. More simply, their behavior is overlooked, because they are not seen as a threat to society, so they will most likely not be jailed or punished for their behavior. In addition, there are many resources to help women get out of domestic violence situations. For instance, there are hotlines they can call, shelters they can visit, and support
For anyone who is a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, rape, and homicide there are many organizations available to speak to people 24/7, who will be their medical advocates, assist in housing, and many other ways to assist those who are in need. Because of the rise in domestic violence and rape, the 1970’s brought about shelters and rape crisis centers to work with those who have been violated or abused.
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 a violent confrontation between family or household members involving physical harm, sexual assault, or fear of physical harm” (Stewart & Croudep, 1998-2012). In most places domestic violence is looked on as one of the higher priorities when trying to stop crime. Domestic Violence cases are thought to be influenced by the use of alcohol, drugs, stress or anger but in reality, they are just learned behaviors by the batterer. These habits can be stopped as long as one seeks help (Stewart & Croudep, 1998-2012). For instance, a child is brought up in a household that is constantly involved in criminal acts. As this child grows up, the criminal lifestyle will be synonymous with his/her behavior. With that being said, it is also a given fact that if a household and its members are surrounded with violence, the relationships between one another will be strained. Eventually this will end up in a divorce or even worse, death, depending on how far the violence goes. If there is violence in a family, then the ones who are affected by it may feel like they deserve it because of what the batterer is accusing them of doing. Battering occurs among people of all races, ages, socio-economic classes, religious affiliations, occupations, and educational backgrounds (Stewart & Croudep, 1998-2012). Domestic violence can affect families in more aspects than one; the husband-wife relationship, the children, and also the financial stability.
Nisonoff, L. & Bitman, I "Spouse Abuse: Incidence and Relationship to Selected Demographic Variables" Victimology 4, 1979, pp. 131-140