Domestic Violence Essays Examples

Introduction

Domestic violence may be defined as the physical, emotional, or psychological abuse of an individual in a domestic context. Domestic violence is a common phenomenon happening in most families all over the world. Each year, the Ministry of gender addresses more than 3 million cases of domestic violence with women forming the biggest percentage. According to Innocent Research Center at United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), children and women are at higher risks of becoming victims of domestic violence. Most domestic violence cases occur in places where they expect the greatest safety, in their families (Innocent Research Centre, 2000). On the other hand, men are mostly ignored but they too are potential victims of domestic violence. In a civilized and advanced world, cases of domestic should not be a forgotten issue. The following paper gives an in depth analysis of domestic violence focusing on causes, effects, and recommended solutions to the problem.

Causes of domestic violence

Violence against women and girls continues to take centre stage in women and gender studies. Every country experiences daily cases of domestic violence. Human rights activists are always on the streets demonstrating to end violence against men and women but the problem keeps repeating itself each day. Understanding the causes of domestic violence would act as one of the solutions to the problem. There are significant numbers of factors that contribute to domestic violence. The most common cause of domestic violence is when one partner in a relationship develops a desire to control and dominate the other partner. According to Goldsmith (2006) low esteem, jealousy, strong emotions and difficulties in regulating ones anger makes the abuser cause violence in the family. On the other hand, a partner may feel inferior to the other partner because of differences in education levels, socioeconomic background, or salary levels.
On the other hand, culture and beliefs contribute towards many domestic violence cases reported today. The belief that women are supposed to be submissive to their husbands makes many men abuse their women. Studies reveal that most violent behaviors experienced at our homes are caused by interaction of individual and situational factors. People accused of causing violence learn the behavior from their backgrounds because of either cultural of family influence. Such men grow up knowing that women are supposed to be abused. Additionally, women who grew up in a family where violence was common end up becoming abusive to their husbands in as a way of revenging. Cultural values and beliefs continually communicated in the media and other social platforms and institutions reinforce domestic violence. Additionally, the ignorance of family members, peers and other community members to address the issue is also a major cause of domestic violence (Bragg, 2003).
Substance use and abuse acts as another major cause of domestic violence. Many cases of domestic violence are related to alcohol and other drugs. Societies that tolerate men using alcohol and other drugs record large numbers of domestic violence cases. Men are allowed to take alcohol and abuse their women and children. Additionally, wife batterers always blame their women of initiating the violence in a way to protect their actions. Many abusers rely on alcohol and other drugs as an excuse for their violence actions (University of Minnesota, 2003). Additionally, people using alcohol justify their abusive behavior by using alcohol as an excuse. The research also claimed that taking large quantities of alcohol and other illicit drugs increases the user’s sense of domination and personal power. Any other person trying to argue with a drunkard becomes abused irrespective of age and gender. Theorists have developed theories that associate domestic violence with drug abuse. Understanding the basics of these theories helps in designing interventions aimed at increasing the safety of domestic violence victims, especially women and children.

Statistics and the impact of domestic violence

Only the victim can understand the impact of domestic violence. Victims of domestic violence suffer physically, psychologically, emotionally, and mentally. The most annoying thing about domestic violence is that the action is performed by a well-known person to the victim. Quite a number of incidences go unreported despite the high number of domestic violence experienced in the society today, a revelation that the problem is far from ending. In most circumstances, abused person develops fear or feels ashamed of reporting the issue especially where men are victims. Women who have been victims of domestic violence ends up losing self esteem and live a lonely and abusive life. The Innocent Research Center revealed that 20 to 50 percent of women from each country have suffered one form of physical abuse from their husbands. The affected people are from both industrialized and developing countries. For example, Canada, United States, United Kingdom, and Japan record an average of 40 percent of domestic violence cases. On the other hand, developing countries like Thailand, Korea and countries in Africa record an average of 60 percent of domestic violence cases. The above statistics show that developing countries are more affected by the issue compared to developed countries (Innocent Research Center, 2000).
Domestic violence acts as an obstacle to achieving gender equality, development, and peace. Violence against men and women violates major human rights and causes more disrespect in the society. Domestic violence leads to denial of fundamental rights especially to women and girls. Women are denied the right and freedom to owning property, employment, and acquiring basic education is denied especially those in custom marriages. Additionally, civil and political rights provide certain regulations that require women and children to enjoy certain freedoms and rights that are denied by domestic abusers. The constitution gives the right to protection from gender-based abuse.
On the other hand, domestic violence leads to undermining of human development goals. Many countries have failed to achieve development potential because women’s role to participate in nation building is denied. Violence against women limits progress towards human and economic growth. In most developed countries, women participation in development projects is highly appreciated and it contributes to the growth and advancement of the country. Additionally, gender violence against men causes major economic and developmental breakdown especially when the affected person is a leader. Women who abuse their husbands make them less productive and afraid of making any progress because of intimidation.
Finally, domestic violence has major health consequences classified into acute physical injuries, chronic physical injuries, psychological problems, and obstetric problems. Examples of these health consequences are unwanted pregnancies in sexually abused women and girls, injury, permanent disabilities, and mental disorders. Additionally, domestic violence leads to fatal outcomes such as suicide, maternal mortality, homicide, and sexually transmitted diseases (Etheridge, Gill, & McDonald, 2014).

How to end domestic violence

Domestic violence forms one of the most complicated problems which cannot be solved using a particular strategy. The fact that a person abuses immediate family members makes it hard to find a working solution to the problem. Strategies to cope with the problems should be designed at family, community, civil society, state (national), and international levels. The family level is the most critical area requiring major strategies. The first approach is to ensure no case goes unreported. The government should introduce a policy that protects domestically abused victims whenever they report an incident to the relevant authority. Introducing the policy will eliminate fear developed by most victims who suffer from within. However, the best recommendation to end domestic violence is to educate the society about living a civilized life.
The local community and the civil society also have a role to play in ending domestic violence. Community-based support mechanisms should be mobilized to oppose violence. Local people and civil society groups should be given mandate to identify and report domestic violence cases within families and societies. Additionally, the community and civic groups are entitled to conducting campaigns and workshops aimed at ending domestic violence against men, women, and children. The state has the biggest contribution in ending domestic violence. The government has the role of ensuring they introduce laws and regulations that help end domestic violence. One of the recommendations is to employ spies within the society to carry out surveillance and report any case of violence.

Conclusion

Every individual deserves a happy and healthy lifestyle. Domestic violence limits such privileges and should be totally opposed in a civilized society. The discussion reveals that most that every person has a duty of ensuring their neighbors never engage in any form of domestic violence by reporting any incident to the authority, or advising domestic abusers.

References

Bragg, H. L. (2003). Child protection in families experiencing domestic violence. Administration
for Children and Families. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Etheridge, A., Gill, L. & McDonald, J. (August 2014). Domestic Violence Toolkit for Health
Care Providers in BC. Retrieved March 10, 2015 from http://www.kpu.ca/sites/default/files/NEVR/DV%20Toolkit%20%20PDF%20August%2024.pdf
Goldsmith, T. (2006). What Causes Domestic Violence?. Psych Central. Retrieved on March 10,
2015, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/what-causes-domestic-violence/000344
Innocent Research Center. (2000). Domestic Violence against Women and Girls. Retrieved from
http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/digest6e.pdf
Retrieved March 10, 2015 from http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/svaw/domestic/link/alcohol.htm