Category: Domestic violence

Why I chose to read this:

I recently attended a domestic violence incident, where the patient had been the victim of mental and social abuse. I was completely misled by the partner, who appeared to be the person struggling to cope with the patient’s behavior and mood swings, however, this was not the case and after spending some time with the patient she disclosed she was in an abusive relationship. I have chosen to reflect on this situation because I realized I had a mistaken warning sign which could indicate domestic abuse. I also assumed the partner was the one in need of help.

Main points from my reading:

Domestic abuse is defined once someone mistreats another whether it be a family member, friend, or person without any personal connection. Domestic abuse can happen to anyone and is known as a hidden crime that is not often reported. On average 1.9 million adults aged between 16yrs -80yrs are victims of abuse. There are various different kinds of abuse some worse than others, however they all have a negative impact on the victim’s life.

The different types of abuse

• physical
• Psychological
• mental
• emotional
• financial
• social
• sexual
• discrimination
• neglect
• institutional

In most cases of domestic abuse, the abuser’s behavior may change they will normally play the victim and act as if they are not to blame. The abuser can become possessive and protective over the victim. The abuser may also answer questions on behalf of the victim and not allow the victim to speak often this is to reduce the chances of being found out. The abuser acts this way to allow them to have power over their victim.

Various reasons behind domestic violence

• Jealousy
• Unrealistic relationship
• Hypersensitive and reacts aggressively
• History of aggression
• Family history or previous victim of abuse and violence
• Insecure
• Untreated mental health
• Depression and suicidal behavior

Patients who are the victim of abuse may suffer from mental health and result in self-harming and in some cases attempting to take their own life.

Possible changes in my clinical practice that will result: or any areas that have been reinforced.

Following this research, I’m aware of potential signs to look for when a person may be a victim of domestic violence or any type of abuse. Should a person disclose they are the victim of domestic violence, it’s important to take them out of the challenging environment and provided immediate care and support. It’s important to complete a safeguarding form and pass the information over to the appropriate Health care professional in order for the victim to receive the most relevant support and advice.

I understand the importance of reporting such a situation to ensure the abuse does not continue, however ideally full consent should be given in order for the information to be shared, however, anyone can inform a healthcare professional of a safeguarding matter. Should the victim lack capacity you can also act in the person’s best interest.

Once a person discloses this information it’s important to take them out of the challenging environment and provided immediate care and support. It’s very important to listen to the victim and allow them to speak about their experience to ensure they have your support and full attention, this will build good repour and make the victim feel comfortable in your presence.      

After examining previous research in the field of domestic violence abuse and social scrutiny, there has been interest in the cultural and social consequences, of the views and opinions people have over the topic of abuse within a relationship (Citizen Advice, 2015). What is relatively noticeable from this information, is an apparent trend towards those who have experienced these crimes and those who view these crimes but not necessarily experienced them personally. This information is from a reputable source and was published in the last five years.

In 2018, the number of people seeking help and support from the healthcare sectors and the criminal sectors such as the police and women’s aid organizations, who supply support to women of all ages, gender, and sexual orientations through outreach services, including counseling services and a safe place to stay such as a refuge, is increasing by the day(Gov, 2018). The data that was collected throughout 2018, was also published in 2018, making it very current. The data from this article was sourced from the United Kingdom government website which is considered a reliable source.

The evidence gathered from the research gate in the year 2020, suggests ‘there is a lot of controversy in relation to gender surrounding this subject’. Especially in terms of the attitude of the general public on the topic, which is concerning. This data appears relevant as it was collected in 2019 and published in 2020. This information would appear to be valid and is utilized by reliable sources.

In addition, ‘The victims love the batterer… the batterer is not always violent’ (Lapd, 2020). According to LAPD, there are many reasons why domestic violence victim stays with their abusive partners. The victim may be dependent on said batterer, so that person will not leave them. There are situational and emotional factors as to why they stay with them. Also, the Stockholm or Hostage Syndrome may be keeping them there. This is when women feel locked into a hostage syndrome, hence why they stay in an abusive relationship. They are bonded together when the abuser shows even the smallest kindness to the victim, they then become extremely grateful towards them. This information is considered reliable as it comes from a receptacle source, it is also relevant as it was collected and published in 2020.

‘One of the questions we hear time and time again is why doesn’t she just leave?’ (Women’s Aid, 2020). Women’s aid believes that society should stop blaming the survivors for staying with an abusive partner and instead support them; which will enable them to leave. There are many reasons why they struggle to leave – be this psychological, emotional, financial, or physical threat. They believe society should empower women to make the best decisions for them. This data appears relevant as it was published in 2020. This information would appear to be valid and is utilized by a reliable source.

‘Domestic abuse can happen to anyone at any time. A woman or man can commit domestic abuse and they usually appear to be good, loving partners, fathers or mothers and are well liked’ (Cambridge, 2021). Cambridge Constabulary has a section on its official page with guidance on domestic violence. This explains how men and women can be abusers and they can come across as if they are perfectly ordinary members of society and even well-liked. Online domestic abuse on social media platforms, according to them, has become more used in domestic violence cases than ever before. The abuser monitors the victim’s social media accounts, and emails and watches for everything posted including pictures and messages. They even use GPS to keep track of their partners. This information is very current as it was updated in 2021 and provided by Cambridgeshire Constabulary which is a UK-based police department who are considered a credible source.

From March 2019 to March 2020, the Crime Survey for England and Wales showed that an estimated 2.3 million adults aged 16 to 74 years experienced domestic abuse in the last year (1.6 million women and 757,000 men). The police recorded 758,941 domestic abuse-related crimes in England and Wales, an increase of 9% from the previous year. Are victims feeling more confident in reporting their abusers? Or are the police just documenting these incidences better than in previous years? The cases of domestic abuse referrals to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision, fell 19% to 79,965, which was previously 98,470 from the year ending March 2019 (Statistics, 2020). This is a credible source and the information is current as it was published in 2020.

‘We know from our work, and the work of the Women’s Aid Federation of services, that domestic abuse is very common. However, this is often difficult to accurately quantify’ (Women’s Aid, 2019). Women’s Aid has created a page to understand where the data for the statistic of domestic abuse comes from. According to them, there are two ways of collecting data; firstly, using data that has come from other means, for example, figures from reported crimes or prosecutions, or for court orders made. Secondly, asking people directly about the issue – for example, experiences that may have occurred to them related to the crime. This is a reptile source and the information within it is current as it was published in 2019.

‘Men died at the hands of their partner or ex-partner compared with 80 women, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) data (DCDV, 2019). The National Centre for Domestic Violence has an article dedicated to domestic violence against men. When looking for research on domestic violence it tends to always come up with women as the victims, it seems to be that men are overlooked. However, according to NCDV, 3.8% of victims in 201819 were men, just under 800,000. As Mankind points out: “For every three victims of domestic abuse, two will be female, one will be male.” (Mankind, 2018). Divorced separated men are actually more likely to suffer domestic abuse than men who are married. These statistics are from a reliable source and the information is very current as it was published in 2019.

In addition, Men who experience domestic violence and abuse often don’t seek help until the problem becomes a crisis (Mathius, 2019). This information is concerning, as based on this information men tend to worry they would not be believed, or that they would be perceived as less masculine if they reported abuse. This data is credible and is also up to date as it was published in 2019.

A study conducted by researchers at Bristol University found that men are often not aware of specialist support services. Also, the men who participated in this study, felt that the support available was not appropriate for male victims of abuse. It also recorded that men were afraid to speak and only sought help when their situation reached a critical point (Bristol University, 2019). This source has come from a respectable university, making the data extremely reliable and trustworthy. It is also current as it was conducted in 2019.

The biggest myth about domestic violence, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse is that it does not happen to men. However, nothing could be further from the truth. These attacks can happen to anyone regardless of age, gender, appearance, or sexual orientation. An abuser can be male or female, gay or straight, and of any ethnic background (Gottlieb, 2021). This is sourced by a professional therapist working in the industry of domestic violence, making this a credible source. Also, it has been updated in the past two weeks making this information very current.

It’s important to understand that children are absolutely and categorically victims of domestic violence themselves. When a child is subject to these behaviors, by their parent’s carers they are being subjected to child abuse. It’s important to understand that living in a home, where domestic abuse happens, can have a serious impact on a child or young person’s mental and physical wellbeing, as well as their behavior. And this can last into adulthood. The police have a duty of care to report crimes of domestic abuse to social services when they attend to this type of incident and children are present. They have a duty of care not only to the adult victims but to protect the child children who are also victims (NSPCC, 2021). This data is from a receptacle source and the information within it is current as it was published in 2020 and updated in 2021.

Domestic Violence has affected and continues to affect the lives of many individuals, it is not only found among adults, children, and teenagers who are also victims of domestic violence or are the abuser in an abusive violent relationship. Domestic violence is an abusive relationship between individuals who abuse one another, aggressively, physically, sexually, financially, and even emotionally. Although someone might not physically be getting abused, watching their parents or relations getting abused are often very traumatic. In worst-case scenarios, the witnesses turn out to become abusers as a result of what they witnessed, children adapt easily to what they see. This essay informs readers that people need to discuss domestic violence more openly because there are a lot of people in dangerous and deadly situations due to domestic violence yet without many people to inform or any resources to help them. It will put forward reasons for the implementation of laws against domestic violence.

Domestic violence is disruptive to anyone in its path, it affects not only the individual who is being abused but also those around them including children. Ghani and Abdul (2018) carried out a study by interviewing 25 women between the age of 19 and 65 to examine the lives of victims of domestic violence in Malaysia and their children. The research showed that children should not be around domestic violence because it can inflict emotional trauma on a child, resulting in pain and hatred towards the parent who abuses the other, which then leads to bad parental relationships. I agree with the literature, especially concerning parental relationships. The first people children search for love from are their parents and they also are the very first people a toddler learns from. When a toddler physically witnesses violence among parents, that child will get older angry, bitter, hurt, and emotionally unstable amongst many other things which is why the house should never be a hostile and abusive household because the child can pattern that behavior physically or emotionally (O’hara and Namy 2017). It can be concluded that domestic violence affects children no matter the circumstance especially when it comes to parent and child relationships.

Children who visually see domestic violence consistently go through emotional torment because of the behavior they witness from those around them. Some examples of what a child may experience from the age of birth to five years of age may include, being strongly influenced by one of their parent’s reactions and a situation whereby an infant may also be easily startled (Days 2016). When they begin to hear loud and terrifying noises accompanied by the few people that the infant knows are either angry or injured. It leaves the child with the knee-jerk reaction of getting scared, most times the infant may cling to the parent being abused due to sharing the same fear and anxiety. Also something as simple as a woman holding her baby in her arms while being abused can cause the child to suffer injuries, (De Jong and Allan 2016 ). In some cases, mothers may attempt to protect the infants by holding them or may think they can use the infant as a type of shield to stop the abusers from physically assaulting them. Regardless of the circumstance or age, a child is still being harmed as a result of domestic violence.

Domestic violence disrupts every developmental stage of a toddler. The next phase is elementary school-age children who are often aged six to eleven. Witnessing domestic violence causes stress, hinders brain development in a child, and can delay normal childhood milestones (Healey and Justin 2014). However, as Healey and Justin (2014) explain, when a house is filled with domestic violence, walking on eggshells along with constant anxiety and fear makes it difficult for children to feel like going back home. As a result, it can cause children to withhold from sharing their emotions because the people close to them such as their family members have caused them to no longer feel safe and secure (Thornton, 2014). I believe this literature shows that there must be more attention to the emotional effects violence features a child because it can cause a toddler to feel as if they have to seek out security and safety in other places to exchange the will of eagerness to feel protected and safe by their relations.

When the child grows into preteen-teen years, their personality and the way they react in society and others may be a permanent personality trait. Ages thirteen to eighteen years of age may experience generalized depression, anxiety, and frequent nightmares increasing the risk of internalizing and externalizing outcomes in adolescence (Carrie et.al (2010). However as Carrie et.al states, when children grow up in a violent household they are twice as likely to be in one when they are older as well. The boys grow into men, having toxic masculinity and therefore the need for a dominant mindset leads to violent future relationships with their future partners. On the other hand, the girls grow into women and have the mindset of being subordinate to men, and therefore become likely to fall into relationships with dominant abusers. While the child may move out when fully grown, the effects of growing up with domestic violence travel far into adulthood (O’Keefe, 1997). It is a lifelong battle to overcome the damage it has done socially, emotionally, and physically.

In conclusion, Domestic violence has and continues to affect the lives of many individuals including children. Therefore, there is a need for a change in the approach to domestic violence to save lives and protect children from being emotionally and physically abused. For there to be a change regarding domestic violence, it has to be acknowledged, addressed appropriately, and spoken up more in schools, jobs, churches, etc

“One box in you face just true you reach home late” is a line from a song that was released by Vybz Kartel in 2018. In Jamaica, domestic violence is a very common form of abuse between persons who are in an intimate relationship, as a result, there are many negative effects that are associated with it. Additionally, not only adults are involved but children are also involved in domestic violence. The children who are involved or who witness domestic violence are at risk of having behavioral issues and it therefore leads to emotional distress (Gluck, 2019). As a result of this, depression, low self-esteem, and anxiety are among the negative effects of domestic violence in Jamaica.

Victims of domestic violence are likely to suffer from depression. Dufort, Stenbacka, and Gumpert (2014) posited that domestic violence is related to numerous suicidal thoughts and attempts. For example, this can be seen in a case that took place in a Jamaican household where a woman was beaten repeatedly by her common-law husband, after a few years she became extremely depressed and stressed and this led to her committing suicide. Likewise, victims of domestic violence may believe that they do not deserve any better or that they will not find someone that truly loves them (Collinson, 2019). As a result, the victim may suffer from extreme anxiety and depression.

Victims of domestic violence may suffer from psychological scars such as anxiety. Women who experience domestic violence are likely to suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is a disorder that is witnessed or experienced in a traumatic event such as domestic violence (Parekh, 2019). Children may also suffer from PTSD and will have nightmares over time. In Jamaican society, most men are aggressive and short-tempered while women are more submissive. When persons are involved in domestic violence it usually involves offending and attacking the partner aggressively (Muhammad, 2018).

The victims of domestic violence may also suffer from low self-esteem. In most instances, the victims suffer from this as a result of bullying from the offender. The victims of domestic violence stay in this abusive relationship because of threats received by them from the offender (Collinson, 2019). In the Jamaican household, a lady was been abused and bullied by her husband, she was always been told by him that she is fat and ugly and no one cares about her. She thought that she could not get out of this situation and she did not speak to anyone about what was taking place she could not manage to go through the abuse anymore, and when she decided to speak to someone about the matter, the bullying got worst and a few months later she committed suicide.

One can conclude that domestic violence is a common form of abuse between a person who is in an intimate relationship as a result there are many negative effects of it, which includes depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Children who experience domestic violence are likely to think that is how they should be treated while they grow up. Additionally, the victims of domestic violence often fear their offenders because of the threats they received from them.

Domestic violence is an extensive, continuous and misunderstood problem. There are many factors that reoccur in different cultures, and all cultures have been reported to have experienced domestic violence in high numbers, this includes indigenous, non-indigenous and immigrant women. They all experience separate struggles in their cultures with reporting the domestic violence however the most common factors that continuously show in reports is their lack of confidence in the formal services available, the degrading response received from their informal social circle, lack of education on their options in their situation and a lack of available services when they do seek the help required.

Domestic violence occurs in both rural and urban area, regardless of culture. There are many studies showing the common factors that cause the violent incidents that have regularly occurred in a high number of cases, these factors are all common for both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians as well as immigrant women. Common causes include drug and alcohol abuse, money issues in both high- and low-income earners, lack of knowledge around their rights and available services and the people they have contact with.

Immigrant women suffer with the domestic abuse for reasons unique to them, Immigrant women unlike Australian citizens are more often unable to communicate effectively, nor do they have the same access to informal social services as they are generally alone without family or close friends. In most study cases immigrant women were found to have little to no knowledge of their rights as Australian residents nor were they able to contact any formal services to seek help as they were unsure of what they could do to gain assistance.

Indigenous and Non-indigenous women also have a lack of knowledge however they generally experience other challenges these are reported to be, major inabilities to trust formal authorities to help them thus they do not report the violence, there is a lack of trust in informal social outreaches such as friends and family for fear of them reacting negatively. There is also a lack of trust with local services due to the high reported numbers of women who have gone to seek help from homelessness serves and have then been turned away to return to the violence. Research of data collected from homelessness shelters showed that on average 66% of women who had left their abusive households and sought help from homelessness services were turned away. Many women who have received a negative response or failed to seek help during their first attempt to report and leave the violence will generally not attempt to do so again for fear of the outcome if they are shown the same lack of respect and assistance again.

There are many policies and practices in place throughout Australia to help women who are in need of assistance to report and safely leave the violence however within this system there is also many faults that need to be addressed and resolved before women can feel comfortable coming forward about their situations. Police, prosecutors and judges along with medical staff need more training to better and more effectively deal with women experiencing domestic violence however in the mean time projects set up to research and process information regarding women and domestic violence cases have found they should be focusing on prevention strategies.

Even with all of the faults within the system there are some programs in place that are working efficiently and have been successful in helping the women who have approached them seeking help. In Western Australia a project under the name “safe at Home” has allowed women to seeking help to remain in their own houses with their children and their partner has been removed from the property. This has reduced the number of women returning to their abusive partners for different reasons after leaving, it has reduced the psychological impact on women and children who would have otherwise had to pack up their belongings, move and start a new life with very basic help and no social circle.

A womens social circle highly is important in their success when attempting to seek help. Most often women will seek informal assistance from family or friends, their reaction to the information of the abuse highly affects what the next step for that women seeking help will be. It is believed that by destigmatizing the ideas surrounding domestic abuse women seeking help will gain a better response that may empower them to seek further legal help. They also rely on the their social circle for the support they require when dealing with the process of leaving their partner and reorganising their daily life.

There are many studies that have concluded on the major problems associated with the large number of domestic violence victims, they also state the reason for a lack In reporting and the struggle women face when attempting to seek help they also have a large number of ideas they want to implement to try and reduce the numbers of victims and allow access to help to become a lot easier and more effective to reduce the number of women being turned away and having to return to the abuse. However with a lack of funding and a government not prioritising the domestic violence it has been little to no help for the people attempting to reduce the numbers of women affected.

In order to successfully start decreasing the number of women experiencing domestic violence and those who lose their lives to this abuse, the government needs to make it a priority to fund the research and implement strategies to allow services to better accompany women seeking help and refuge from their homes and the abuse, training the police, prosecutors and medical staff to respond faster and more effectively to help the women instead of turning them away or in general not responding within a reasonable amount of time will allow women to start trusting the services again.

Prevention strategies need to be implemented while the process of rebuilding the trust between Australians and the legal system is rebuilt and a new social standard needs to be placed over victims of domestic abuse to allow women to feel safe in discussing their abuse to people of an informal or formal standard. Women need to be made to feel as though they can comfortably seek help and speak about their abuse, they need to know that they will be treated as a priority and not a problem and that by seeking help their life will get better and not drop to a lower standard. The Australian government needs to organise for polices and procedures to be current throughout every state and ensure domestic violence victims are prioritised and not turned away or made to feel isolated and problematic of their situation. Once women are comfortable seeking help and reporting abuse and the government and all services are able to provide a working system of assistance the number of women killed each year due to the violence will start reducing.

The study of the household as an economic unit is normally viewed as a cooperative unit. Domestic violence occurs mostly against women and would be better explained as a non-cooperative relationship within the household. A woman’s economic status is undoubtedly linked with domestic violence between a married couple of a household. This link can be broken down into three aspects as discussed by Weaver et al. (2009). Firstly, although domestic violence is prevalent across households of all socioeconomic status, there is evidence that suggests that domestic violence is more likely to occur within a household that has a vastly differing economic status, having poorer women suffer more from domestic violence. Secondly, women who are economically dependent on their partner find it more difficult to leave their abusive relationship due to the inability to be self-sufficient. This may cause victims of domestic violence to have a higher relapse rate in returning to their abusive relationship for economic relief. Lastly, domestic violence can take the form of suppressing the earning capabilities of women as a method of abuse. This may take the form of lessened opportunities for education and access to funds as a way to undermine the possibility for the victim of domestic abuse to become self-sufficient. This essay will explore relevant theoretical frameworks that help explain the link between women’s economic status and domestic violence and possible pathways to reduce the occurrence of domestic violence within households.

Becker (1965) focuses on families as a cooperative unit in which both parties are able to make altruistic, normal family preferences. In this neoclassical model, the couple is able to allocate their time either in the labour market or on household work depending on their preferences and their opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is the cost of your action with the next best option foregone. To achieve their maximised utility function, there is a joint budget function in which income is pooled together. This model does not work when analysing the effects of women’s economic status on domestic violence because the couple is not working cooperatively in an altruistic sense. Additionally, there are fundamental problems with the neoclassical model. This model ignores the internal decision-making structure of the family, denies any potential for conflicting preferences within the household and implies that income is pooled within the household without concern of who receives or earns the income. These are problems that would not work with a non-cooperative family in which domestic violence occurs due to the inherent lack of a hierarchy of power and differing income between the parties within the marriage.

In order to better analyse domestic violence within a household, we must look at McElroy and Horney’s (1981) model of the household in which each party has distinct preferences and are seen as individuals. In order for both individuals to arrive at the same output as the cooperative model of Becker, individuals combine their preferences. In McElroy and Horney’s model, for marriage to occur and sustain, both parties within the relationship must have equal or greater than utility than they otherwise would have outside of the marriage. Marriage will sustain even when utility is equal to that of when outside of marriage due to the costs of divorce such as legal cost and rehousing et cetera. This leads us to the bargaining game theory model as discussed by Lundberg and Pollak (1996), which helps us identify why and at what point will the parties in the relationship cooperative and fail to cooperate. The bargaining model is an approach to understanding how resources are divided within a household, and how changes in circumstances change the allocation of resources. Using this model, we will be able to find a unique pareto optimal Nash bargaining solution in which we cannot make someone better off without making someone else worse off.

The bargaining power of each party of the household is determined by his or her threat point, which is the maximal level of well-being or utility that each would attain if the couple cannot reach an agreement within their marriage. The initial value of one’s threat point is arbitrary as it is the relative threat point of oneself to their partner that gives us information. The divorce threat point is the point at which an individual’s utility would be higher outside of marriage. In this model, if women have a high utility associated with their divorce threat point, they would have more bargaining power in the relationship. Higher bargaining power would directly translate to the second aspect discussed by Weaver et al. (2009) in which women would find it easier to leave their partner by being more self-sufficient. To analyse the likelihood of women having a higher bargaining power we must look at data associated with female participation in the labour market. Traditionally, men are the primary earner in the relationship while women are more inclined to household production such as cooking, cleaning and childcare. But in recent times, women’s labour force participation has increased. Data from the Reserve Bank of Australia (2018) has shown a steady increase in labour force participation for women aged 25 to 54. This would, in turn, allow women to have a higher personal budget and utility, giving them higher bargaining power in their relationship. In order for marriage to sustain, males have to give women more utility and incentive to stay in the relationship, which would reduce the tolerance of domestic abuse for women.

There are also external factors that lead to a reduction in domestic violence. Easing divorce laws occurred in the 1970s within many major western countries. Australia pushed forward The Family Law Act of 1975, which repealed an early law that forced marital couples to have proof of a matrimonial offence such as adultery, cruelty or desertion (Australian Institute of Family Studies [AIFS], 2006). The introduction of no-fault divorce increased the number of divorces in Australia from 7 per 1,000 marriages to 19 per 1,000 marriages. Although domestic violence would appear under cruelty for matrimonial offence, proof of the offence may have been hard to collect and present for women. The introduction of the no-fault divorce law allowed women to follow through with a divorce without having explicit evidence of domestic abuse, and overall gave them more bargaining power within the relationship and increase their threat point.

Historically, women have had lower opportunities for work and have had smaller wages compared to their male counterparts. In 1984, the Sex Discrimination Act was pushed forward in Australia to have sex discrimination and sexual harassment against the law, which would provide women with more equal rights (Australian Human Rights Commission [AHRC], 2018). The passing of this law increased women’s ability to participate in the labour market and feel so doing so. Although this law has helped women work towards a higher economic status, the historical patriarchy is still prevalent within the workplace. Employers may explicitly not hire a woman due to her sex, but still may implicitly do so without consequences. This may be due to the cost of women having a child and being on maternity leave or quitting after training to start a family. Employers may see that hiring women has a higher opportunity cost than hiring men. The empowerment of females being able to work towards a higher personal economic status increases her bargaining power, which in turn would allow her to become more self-sufficient and leave a possibly abusive relationship. The Sex Discrimination Act also legally alleviates the blockades in place where the male in the relationship may suppress the earning capabilities of the female in order to keep her in the abusive relationship.

The link between women’s economic status and domestic violence is explicit and is evident through many databases and research papers. Although data does not suggest a direct causality between a higher economic status and rates of domestic violence, we can explain the link between them through the use of the bargaining game theory model. As society shifts away from historical standards of who is the primary earner within a relationship, we are gaining more evidence in support of the link to domestic violence. The reduction of social stigmas and increased equality between men and women have provided many pathways to reduce the occurrence of domestic violence. The research of economic status and domestic violence will be furthered in the future to include same-sex marriages due to the attitudes of society towards these socioeconomic issues becoming more relaxed.

When a woman is beaten, threatened, molested, harassed physically or emotionally everybody listens. She is given all the sympathy and support. She is backed by both the society and the judicial system. Indeed, the violence against women is so brutal and shameful that it is not only a slap on women’s dignity but also crushes her soul. Sometimes it affects the minds of the victims so much that they prefer ending their lives than living with continuous fear of getting beaten, insulted or even raped by their own family members. Thus, over the years the society has become more sensitive toward violence against women, especially for violence at home, a place where she is entitled to feel safe and loved. Violence against women have been given serious thoughts and serious actions are taken against it both from the social and the legal aspect. But what if a man claims that he has been harassed and molested at his home. What is the first thought that comes to our minds? Is he a liar? How can he be so weak and sensitive? And the list of questions does not stop. The society has sculpted the character of women and men both. Where the former is expected to be weak, sensitive, emotional, physically attractive and the latter is expected to be bold, stoic, physically and emotionally strong, this has led to the creation of an image of a man who does not feel pain or is not weak and hence, does not allow any man to feel or go through it. Even if they are suffering, they decide to stay quiet in order to match with character sculpted by the society or to say preventing their masculinity from getting tainted.

Domestic violence or intimate partner violence (IPV) is the abuse sexually, physically or emotionally between people who are in an intimate relationship. It is generally done by the partner who is more dominating and aggressive irrespective of the gender. The reasons which give rise to domestic violence on any of the genders may include societal pressures, family issues, stress, or anger. It induces the fear in the mind of the one getting dominated and establishes control by the one dominating. For women it is mostly because they are considered weak and vulnerable and should stick to certain roles they have in the society and if they don’t, they become the victims of such abuse. The patriarchal structure has always been in the power and has oppressed women since ages and now in the 21st century, this very own structure is worsening the plight of the men especially when they are the victims of the domestic violence. The society doesn’t recognise them as the victims which further stops men to report the abuse which statistically reduces the number of cases against men of domestic violence against the number of cases reported by women of similar abuse. What we cannot see is what we cannot believe since the number of cases reported by men of domestic violence is so less almost nil in most of the countries, the problem remains unnoticed and unimportant so much so as if it doesn’t even exist. Men continue to suffer in silence and feel helpless. They cannot look for support and help from anywhere. They have to go through hell every day and still pretend that everything is okay.

Resources and services available to men seeking help with domestic violence are less than what is available to women. They cannot even knock the doors of the judicial authorities because there are no legal provisions that deal domestic violence against men. In India before 2006 the cases of domestic violence against women were to rise even though more than half of the women did not report the abuse. Renuka Chaudhary, former Union Minister for Women and Child Development, stated in 2006 that around 70% of women in India are victims of domestic violence. Therefore, a bill for the protection of women against the domestic violence from her husband or male live-in partner or their respective family members was brought into force on 26 October 2006 named as The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005. This act is only for the benefit of the women and not the men, many scholars and men’s organisations have criticized the act, saying it might be used inappropriately by women when unfavourable situations occur. Also, the act should be made gender neutral as men also suffer emotional, verbal, mental violence by their female counterparts if not always physical. The persistent battered women’s movement has led the society to become blind towards the condition of suffering men.

The position of men as victim is same throughout the world and not just in India, in England and Wales, supplementary to study of British Crime Survey, reported 6.6 million incidents of IPV in past 12 months compared to 987,000 found in the crime branch survey. Out of these 6.6 million incidents 3025 million involved male victims, with 1 million resulting in serious injuries. In 2010-2011 27% of women who experienced IPV reported it and only 10% of men did so. Suzzane K. Steinmetz wrote an article for U.S National Family Violence Survey in 1977 coined the term correlative to “battered wife syndrome” that is “battered husband syndrome”. According to the survey 47% male perpetrated compared to 43% women perpetrators of IPV. 39% husbands have thrown objects, 31% wives have done likewise. While 20% husbands have hit their partners, 20% wives have done the same. IPV roughly reciprocal between husband and wife with similar level of intensity. The articles suggested that “women are likely to select physical conflict to resolve marital conflict as men and women both have potential to commit acts of violence and do carry out these acts in unfavourable situations”. According to the recent data from the U.S, Canada and U.K for year 2010-2012 the rates of female perpetrated violence is more than male perpetrated violence. The reason of such higher rates is women are likely the first to start the acts of physical aggression than men.

In India also it was found through various studies that 52.4% men experienced gender -based violence. 51.6% went through emotional violence, 6% physical violence and 0.4 % sexual violence. The situation of men in such circumstances are same as of women. Some men collect the courage to report it while most of them don’t. physical violence a be seen and thus there are chances of remedy but how one can show mental or emotional violence and its impact on the minds of the person. Thus, some men find it easy to end their lives than living with everyday torture. Data shows that number of suicides in India are committed by men more than women one of the reasons being domestic violence among other reasons.

A serious attention is required to be given towards domestic violence against men in the society. especially when we as a society in 21st century talk about gender equality in all spheres be it political, economic or social. With changes in culture, degree of freedom in the households, broadness of mindsets, creation of new laws and acts the position of women in today’s society has changed adversely than what it was earlier. These changes have not only empowered women but also handed a tool for some women to take revenge or do as they like when we talk about matters like domestic violence or dowry or sexual violence. We forget that today, men too are in a vulnerable state because neither the society nor the legal system is there to support them. However, with rising protest by various Men’s Organisations against the gender biased laws, legal system is trying to amend laws to make them gender neutral and anti-men. This will allow men to find relief in hour of torture and also fulfil the very aim of any legal system that is justice for all irrespective of the gender. As society also we need to change our mindset and talk about domestic violence against men more openly so that a taboo that “men doesn’t feel pain” and “men as victims of domestic violence” can end.

Domestic violence is not just an issue in the United States, but it is a worldwide issue. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, this issue has remained “a serious problem” in the United States and the world (BJS). Domestic violence is a term to describe an abusive relationship between a family member and other individuals in a household. This may include physical, sexual, psychological, economic, or verbal abuse against a family relative. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), “1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience physical violence” by a relative or an intimate partner and about 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men will experience sexual violence in their lives ( Figure 1 ). It has been estimated by WHO (World Health Organization) that 35% of women worldwide have experienced physical abuse in their lifetime (Figure 2). South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria are some of the countries to have the highest statistics of domestic violence in the world. In 1998, 1,394 men were interviewed, and said that only 50% of them abused their partners. In Egypt, 80% of women said that beatings were common since the women refused to have sex with their husbands. In Nigeria, up to two-thirds of women say that they are victims of domestic violence (Figure 3 ). One-third of victims of domestic abuse are staying in an emergency department for safety. Although men are more likely to perpetrate violence, women also do this but isn’t really talked about much. Victims of domestic violence are too afraid to speak up because it can lead to police officers not believing them or wouldn’t do anything about the violence. There was an incident in Ohio involving a victim disguising a 911 call by ordering pizza. The dispatcher recognized that the woman was trying to report an incident but was disguising it by pretending to order a pizza (Figure 4). The woman who called the police was called because her boyfriend, Simon Ray Lopez (Figure 5), came home drunk and was threatening her and her mother before they were punched and pushed. Lopez was then arrested and is being held at the Lucas County Corrections Center on a charge of domestic violence. The dispatcher was then interviewed on how he was able to recognize the call and stated that “He utilized his training and his experience to recognize that a woman was in distress.” He then stated that if it was someone else who received the call, they would have hung up since they would’ve thought that it was a prank. If men are the victims, they would feel embarrassed about being abused by their intimate partner, so they wouldn’t speak up as well. Domestic violence is a serious issue in the United States and around the world that needs to be fixed but is not talked about frequently. To put an end to domestic violence, we need to be able to recognize it.

In order to recognize domestic violence, someone needs to recognize the type of domestic violence the perpetrator is causing. One of the more common types of domestic violence is physical violence. Physical violence is violence involving contact in order to cause injury, pain, and intimidation. This includes the perpetrator punching, hitting, choking, slapping, pushing, etc. This can lead to trauma on the victim and possibly death. According to the NCADV (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence), 20 people are being physically harmed by an intimate partner in the United States per minute. According to Healthy Place, 5.3 million incidents of domestic violence occur among US women aged 18 years and older, with 3.2 million occurring among men. Another type of domestic violence is sexual violence. Sexual abuse is any situation in which the victim is threatened or forced to have sexual relations with another person. Emotional abuse is one of the more common types of domestic violence. Emotional abuse can cause low self-esteem for the victim and can be controlled by the perpetrator. Most victims that suffer from this type of domestic violence may have depression, eating disorders, and alcohol abuse considering the fact that the victims are constantly being controlled and humiliated. Some ways that the abuser can abuse the victim would be constantly criticizing them, blackmailing, having control over the family, isolating the victim from their friends, etc. According to new findings from the NISVS (National Intimate Partner & Sexual Violence Survey), found that nearly half of Americans reported experiencing emotional abuse by their partner in 2013. They also found that there was an average of 80%; 40% of women and 32% of men reported expressive aggression by their partner, and 41% of women and 43% of men reported “coercive control.” One type that is very similar to emotional abuse is verbal abuse. Verbal abuse is a form of abusive behavior involving the use of foul language and threats to someone. Situations between partners have a higher chance of experiencing verbal abuse. In the U.S., 1 in 4 teenagers that are in a relationship ends up reporting that they are being abused verbally. Lastly, the final type of domestic abuse is economic abuse. Economic abuse is a form of abuse that makes one partner have all control over the economic resources. This type of domestic violence, it will make the abuser take more control of the family and make them feel that the perpetrator is the only one that can help them financially, but only when the abuser wants to. The abuser can also make them lose their jobs which will then cause the abuser to have even more control financially. Almost all of the domestic violence survivors have experienced economic abuse. Economic abuse is equally serious as the other types of domestic abuse since victims may be unable to leave an abusive partner or family relative for economic reasons. By this type, the victim will be struggling to find a job or even finding a place to live after leaving an abusive relationship.

There are many different causes for domestic abuse like psychological reasons that consider personality traits or disorders. Personality traits might include anger issues, low self-esteem, and maybe mentally ill. Personality traits and disorders that developed from the abuser’s childhood may have caused them to become more violent in their adulthood. There are many cases of domestic violence that have started because of one of the partner’s jealousy, which can be caused due to assuming that their intimate partner is being unfaithful, or wanting to leave the relationship. Mental illness can also be a cause of domestic violence. Being mentally ill is one of the few contributors to domestic violence as the perpetrators wouldn’t be in their normal state when in a relationship.

The effects of domestic violence can be short-term or long-term depending on the situation. Physical effects such as bruises, injuries, and broken bones are some of the most common physical effects that can happen in an abusive household. As there are physical effects, the victim can also experience psychological effects such as anxiety and depression. These psychological effects are long-term and can cause the victims to have PTSD. PTSD, also known as post-traumatic stress disorder, is a disorder in which the victim can’t recover from experiencing a traumatic event in their life. The victim can have flashbacks and nightmares which can be experienced for a very long time. Finally, there can also be a financial effect on the victim. The victim would have little to no money since the perpetrator would not have given them money since they left them. This effect has shown that this could be one of the effects that would make the victims not leave the perpetrators since they wouldn’t be able to survive without money.

As there are many causes and effects for why domestic violence occurs or why it is still going on, there are many consequences to dealing with it. One of the major consequences of dealing with domestic violence includes jail or prison time, the aggressor having to complete a batterer treatment class, and being issued a criminal protective order. According to Street Directory, Donald P. Schweitzer states how the criminal justice system doesn’t deal with domestic violence as a minor offense anymore, but rather a “unique” offense. Another more serious consequence of domestic violence is the loss of employment opportunities (Schweitzer). With one being convicted with domestic violence on their records, the perpetrator will have a harder time seeking a job, especially if it deals with the government, or can be fired due to the conviction. One could also be denied or get their state license canceled. An allegation of being an abuser can cancel or deny a state license dealing with real estate or a license to work for a care facility. Restraining orders will be issued by courts with allegations of domestic violence. According to Schweitzer, a consequence of these orders would be the “loss of liberty,” which could restrain the perpetrator to go certain places. The perpetrator could also lose the right to bear arms. This would be due to restraining orders since it automatically restrains the offender from owning or possessing a firearm. More consequences from domestic violence include an increased amount of spousal support aid. When ordering spousal support, one of the many factors ordering it would be the occurrence of domestic violence in a relationship. A perpetrator of domestic violence would be more likely to be ordered to pay for spousal support aid and pay additional damages. According to Womenslaw, the offender who is found to have committed domestic violence would lose his or her opportunity to get spousal support in California. A more serious consequence of dealing with this would be losing custody of a child or losing visitation rights. The court must consider whether the offender should have visitation rights or determine custody. The court would then determine what’s best for the child. There was a case dealing with this type of issue in 2012, dealing with the court not believing the victim about domestic abuse in the household. The victim, Hera McLeod, was pleading with the court about taking her toddler away from her boyfriend, Joaquin Rams (Figure 5), which she described as “abusive.” McLeod told the court about the Rams that he would start to be aggressive towards her and the many things he did to the family such as abusing their older child. The court ended up not believing her as there was “not enough evidence,” which then ended up in the court ordering supervised visits for Rams with the child. Supervised visitation is an arrangement in which one parent is allowed to spend time with their child or children while being supervised by someone else. After a few months, Rams was allowed unsupervised visits, which then led to Rams drowning the toddler at a friend’s home. Rams was then found guilty of capital murder in 2017. This case is one of many in which the court doesn’t really care about domestic abusers and denies claims from victims. Victims of domestic violence can also file a civil lawsuit against abusers, especially those who are/were in a relationship with them. These civil lawsuits can result in major compensation and help out in damages. There would also be an unequal division of property between the victim and the abuser. Texas is one of the few states in which they are a community property state. A community property state is a state in which they let the couple split their property 50/50. In some cases such as domestic violence, the court would decide on the unequal division of their property, favoring the victim. Domestic violence is also considered to be a crime of moral turpitude. Crimes of moral turpitude are considered acts of dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misinterpretation, and violence in Texas. This crime would lead to the question of the abuser’s credibility when they’re being testified. One last consequence of dealing with this is the loss of immigration status for immigrants. A conviction of domestic violence can lead to an immigrant losing his or her green card or U.S. permanent resident status. The loss of immigration status is guaranteed, even if the aggressor convinces the court to allow him or her to withdraw a plea of guilty when they complete the anger management program. The consequences of domestic violence can be very severe to the offenders and in most cases, help out the victims.

Management for domestic violence is mostly counseling and health care. Seeking medical help can have a good impact on the victims of domestic abuse. Medical professionals help out the victims by giving them advice and refer to them to appropriate services. Counseling is also a way for the victims to manage their experiences. Counseling sessions provide a safe environment for victims to express how they feel and their thoughts. The counseling professionals wouldn’t be judgmental because they are trying to give advice to the victims and how to move forward from their experiences. Group counseling can also be helpful since it lets the victim be with other victims who share similar experiences. This would lead to the victim knowing that they are not alone and that domestic violence is more common nowadays.

Domestic violence is not just an issue for women, but an issue for everyone who experiences it. The examples that are stated in this research paper are significant since they add to how domestic violence happens and its effects. Domestic violence should be considered a big issue worldwide rather than a private issue within a family. This global issue will continue to damage society by making those who are dominant in families take advantage of the inferior ones. It must be perceived with a lot of attention as there are many people suffering from this.

Domestic violence is an egregious act against women in the Barbadian society, therefore, it is paramount that the implementation of a structured program can help mitigate the problems precipitated by domestic violence. This proposal focuses on the implementation of a facility which will act as a refuge and offer a combination of educational prevention, crisis intervention approaches and long-term treatments for victims of abuse. This program will help Barbados based on the successful implementation of similar programs in the United States and Australia.

INTRODUCTION

According to Liesel Daisley, President of the Services Alliance for Violent Encounters (SAVE) Foundation, 1 in 3 women are victims of abuse (par. 3). The Royal Barbados Police Force reported that at July 24, 2018, there have been 204 incidents filed and that does not reflect on the number of incidents that go unreported or the current statistics for the present date (Griffith, par. 1). When implemented “Safe Haven” will be a facility where battered women and their children, if any; can seek refuge. It will offer a combination of educational prevention, crisis intervention approaches and long-term treatments for victims. This facility will seek to rehabilitate women and help them transition back to a normal lifestyle after an abusive relationship.

Credentials

I am a first-year student at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus and I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Economics & Accounting; with the hopes of becoming a financial analyst after graduating. These credentials make me qualified to plan and execute this proposal as my majors require aspects of financial management which is a necessity for managing the finances of an organization.

Purpose

The purpose of this proposal is to help prevent domestic violence among Barbadian women. It will also seek to educate and raise awareness on the impact of violence against women in our society.

Scope

The proposal focuses on a structured program which offers educational prevention, crisis intervention approaches, and long-term treatments in an attempt to prevent violence against women in Barbados.

Methodology

The information in this proposal was gathered using primary and secondary research methods. The primary research was by means of a telephone interview, whereas, the secondary research was by means of websites, news articles, and scholarly journals. It must be noted that the telephone interview with a victim of domestic violence was spontaneous and she wishes to remain anonymous.

The Impact of Domestic Violence Against Women in Barbados

This study conducted research in Barbados to educate and raise awareness amongst women and the public, on the impact of domestic violence against women. The research focused on the physical abuse among Barbadian women, the difficulties leaving abusive relationships and samples of cases taken from across the community. Domestic violence, or family violence, is abusive or coercive behaviors in a marriage or relationship (“Abuse Defined”, par. 1). It is not only physical, but it is also categorized as having a psychological, sexual, social and financial impact (see Figure 1).

It is common knowledge that people prefer to turn a blind eye and steer clear of domestic violence as it is one of those taboo topics (“The Truth”, par. 1). Due to the rapid advancement in technology and social media, awareness of domestic violence has been on a rise in Barbados. In some cases, the abuse led to the demise of the victim at the hands of the abuser. In an interview with Loop News, President of the Services Alliance for Violent Encounters (SAVE) Foundation, Liesel Daisley, stated that 1 in every 3 women are victims of abuse (par. 3).

Physical abuse happens when a person uses physical force against another person. It can start slowly and inconspicuously, for example, with throwing an object or a slap and intensifies over time. These assaults are abusive and can escalate to punching, choking, burning and using weapons. On 8 February 2009, Barbadian superstar Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty was brutally, physically assaulted by then-boyfriend Christopher “Chris” Brown. According to news reports, Rihanna sustained multiple contusions about the face and body from the altercation (see Figure 2) (TMZ, par. 1).

In 1979 a study developed by Dr. Lenore Walker, the cycle of violence focused on the repetitive nature of the abuser’s actions, describes the three stages that lead up to a violent event and why women stayed in an abusive relationship (see Figure 3). The tension-building stage is where the tension in the relationship increases and verbal or emotional abuse occurs. For women experiencing abuse, this can be very terrifying as anything they do wrong can cause the abuser to explode. Reaching a point where a release of tension is inevitable, an acute explosion occurs. The abuser violently lashes out and this behavior can become usual. In the honeymoon stage, the abuser may feel remorseful and try to justify his actions by blaming the victim or other factors such as alcohol or stress at work. At this point, the abuser apologizes and makes promises to seek help and that the violence won’t happen again. Believing the abuser can change, the victim ignores the possibility that the cycle may begin again (“Understand Domestic Violence”, par. 2).

The reality is that the most dangerous time for a victim is when she leaves an abusive partner. There are many factors an abused partner must consider such as, fear of retaliation and stalking; which could regrettably lead to the possibility of death. When children are involved, custodial arrangements can be further complicated due to concerns for their safety. The law is not always effective as a deterrent for domestic violence, in some cases, the victims are left vulnerable if their abuser walks free or gets a lighter sentence (“Barriers”, par. 1).

On 8 September 2018, a resident of Crab Hill was viciously attacked by her ex-lover. The attacker was able to inflict extensive damage on the victim before she was able to escape and seek help (see Figure 4). The victim’s family recounted the numerous occasions complaints were made to several different police stations for the attacker, who is a former police officer and lashed out at the Royal Barbados Police Force for not acting in a timely manner. A protection order was issued to the victim two months prior to the incident but that didn’t prevent him from breaching it multiple times. The victim’s sister called for justice for her sister and other women experiencing abuse and stated that preventive measures need to be put in place (Cummins, 40).

In an interview with a victim, she recounted feeling stunned at the first violent encounter and thought it was just that once. The abuse got worse as time progressed, which left her feeling alone and depressed. The victim’s and the abuser’s families were unaware of the violence in the relationship; until she was left hospitalized with serious injuries. The abuser struck her repeatedly about the face with an object and stabbed her in the hand (see Figures 5 & 6). The abuser’s brother walked in on the violent dispute and was able to intervene. The altercation left her to rely on her family during the recovery process, as she needed assistance to get out of bed and to use the bathroom. Reaching a point where she no longer wanted to feel worthless and weak, she built the courage to walk away from the abusive relationship.

The Successful Implementation of Structured Programs Study

In the United States and Australia, the implementation of structured programs has been successful in lessening the occurrence of domestic violence while helping women transition back to a normal lifestyle after an abusive relationship. These organizations provide help free of cost to women by offering domestic violence hotlines, immediate shelter at their facilities, counseling and group support.

Research indicated that Hubbard House has assisted 5,000 victims each year (par. 5). In its 42-year history the domestic violence hotline has answered more than 91,000 calls and provided shelter for more than 36,800 victims and their children (“About Hubbard House”, par. 1). The community-based intervention program has advocates within the Jackson Ville Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Children and Families. Advocates at the JSO assess police reports; victims who are at a high risk are offered assistance. The advocates at the DCF work alongside caseworkers and families who are victims of abuse. In addition to the programs offered to victims and their children, there is also a Batterer’s Intervention Program for abusers. This research proves that Hubbard House has made a significant impact by raising awareness and saving lives with their community-based intervention and outreach programs (“About Hubbard House”, par. 4).

In reviewing research studies from the ACT’s (Act Counseling & Treatments, Inc.) Mary Jane’s Hope residential program, one study followed women for two years to assess the efficiency of a community-based advocacy for survivors. Advocates worked with women for several hours over the course of ten weeks and were vastly experienced to help with leadership, education, employment among other issues. It was reported that 1 out of 4 (24%) of the survivors experienced no physical abuse and 1 out of 10 (11%) of women remained completely free of violence, over the two years of post-intervention follow-up. This study provided evidence that shows if programs improved survivors’ leadership skills, a support system and access to resources, these defensive factors can boost their well-being and quality of living (“Residential Program”, par. 9).

Studies show that legal procedures are inadequate to let victims and their families feel safe in their homes. In Australia, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service (DVCS) offers educational, crisis and long-term support to victims. The Women/Families–Staying@Home program provides assessments, planning, monitoring, advocacy and linking women and families with the support and services required. The program provides continuous support so that victims and their families can stay rooted to their homes and maintain connections to their social networks, jobs, education and stability for their children which is a part of the rehabilitation process (‘Women/Families”, par. 3).

Based on the success of these organizations, a structured program which offers educational prevention, crisis intervention and long-term treatments will be effective in the mitigation of violence against women. Implementing this program in Barbados will not only seek to reduce the high rise in domestic violence occurrences; but it will also assist the BPW Shelter for Abused Women, the lone facility on the island.

Recommendation

I am proposing to implement a long-term facility which will act as a refuge and offer a combination of specialized programs for women and their children who are victims of domestic violence. The implementation of this facility can help prevent domestic violence in the Barbadian society. This facility will be named Safe Haven and will commence operations from 1st January 2020. This facility will be situated in the sheltered and quiet area of Suriname, St. Joseph.

As a non-profit organization, costs will be absorbed by government grants, investors and fundraisers. When implemented, Safe Haven will accommodate 15-20 women and their children. Construction and renovations will be made on an existing infrastructure which will be donated by an invested organization. There will be 8 full-time staff members and a volunteer program will be offered to students at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus to assist at the facility.

Conclusion

The mitigation of violence against women in society is paramount to social sustainability and towards the development of the economy (García-Moreno et al. 1693). The implementation of this structured program can raise awareness and help prevent domestic violence in the Barbadian society.

Works Cited

1. “About Hubbard House.” Hubbard House, https://www.hubbardhouse.org/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2018.
2. “Abuse Defined.” The National Domestic Violence Hotline, par. 1. https://www.thehotline.org/. Accessed on 30 Nov. 2018.
3. “Barriers to Leaving an Abusive Relationship.” The Center For Relationship Abuse Awareness, par. 1. http://stoprelationshipabuse.org/. Accessed on 30 Nov. 2018.
4. Cummins, Kimberley. ”Bashed and Bloodied.” Daily Nation The Newspaper of Barbados, 10 Sept. 2018, p. 40.
5. Daisley, Liesel. “Barbados Still Fighting Domestic Violence Scourge.” edited by Christina Smith. Loop News Barbados, 4 Sept. 2017, par. 3. http://www.loopnewsbarbados.com/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2018.
6. García-Moreno, Claudia, et al. “Addressing Violence against Women: A Call to Action.” The Lancet, vol. 385, no. 9978, 2015, pp. 1685-1695. ProQuest, https://ezproxy.cavehill.uwi.edu/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2018.
7. Griffith, Tyrone. “Daily Domestic Violence Reports Worrying Police.” edited by Christina Smith. Loop News Barbados, 24 Jul. 2018, par. 1. http://www.loopnewsbarbados.com/. Accessed 11 Nov. 2018.
8. “Residential Program.” ACT (Abuse Counseling & Treatment, Inc.), par. 9. http://www.actabuse.com/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2018.
9. “The Truth About Domestic Violence.” International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC), par. 1. http://bacweb.org/. Accessed 28 Nov. 2018.
10. TMZ. “Rihanna Suffered Horrific Injuries After Alleged Assault by Chris Brown.” edited by Caroline Hedley. The Telegraph UK, 10 Feb. 2009, par. 1. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/. Accessed on 30 Nov. 2018.
11. “Understand Domestic Violence.” White Ribbon Australia, par. 2. https://www.whiteribbon.org.au/. Accessed 15 Sept. 2018.
12. “Women/Families–Staying@Home Program.” dvcs | Domestic Violence Crisis Service, par. 3. https://dvcs.org.au/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2018.

Introduction

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)is a serious threat to the victim’s physical and mental health, and it has increasingly become a global concern over the past decades. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in every three women in the world suffer from IPV at some point in their lifetime (Petersson, Strand & Selenius, 2019). In addition, it is the most prevalent form of a violence against women around the world. However, research shows that there is a clear discrepancy from culture to culture. The frequency of IPV is approximately 24% in Western countries, compared to 38% in Eastern countries. Certain attitudes or values toward IPV have been socially and historically constructed by such factors as patriarchal systems and unequal gender roles. For example, IPV is rampant in Pakistan, a male-dominant society (Iqbal & Fatmi, 2018). The purpose of this paper is to examine the problem of spousal abuse of women and analyze its underlying factors within a social context through one incident reported in Pakistan.

Domestic Violence in the News

In April 2019, a Pakistani case of domestic violence appalled people all over the world. Asma Aziz of Lahore, aged 21, publicly accused her husband of abuse on social media, uploading a photo and a video of her bruised face. She asserted that her husband forced her to dance to entertain him and his friends, but she refused. Then, she claims her husband took her clothes off in front of his friends and shaved her hair off and burned it. As well, she insisted that she had been a victim of spousal abuse for a long time. She alleged that her husband started beating her while intoxicated and regularly brought his abusive friends to their house. She tried to report this to police, but officers procrastinated in investigating the affair and instead asked for money. After that, she could not trust the police, and therefore, chose to appeal for help through her private social network. Both parents had passed away, so she had no one to stand by her. Despite appealing to the public by posting the video, some people posted in response that Aziz deserved the abuse, believing her husband’s plea to the media that it was his wife who was on drugs. Moreover, a male television journalist asked her a hypothetical question: would she forgive her husband if he stated in court that he regretted his behavior. Interestingly, the news pointed out that Pakistan has not done any research on domestic violence. Further, the report reveals that women’s rights are not protected, only 50% of women living in Pakistan feel safe in their community (MacLeod, 2019).

Analysis

The term IPV is generally described as any threatening behavior by a boyfriend or girlfriend, spouses, and ex-spouses. Violence is primarily taken against women by male partners and results in injury, harm, disability and even death (World Health Organization, 2017). In general, there are three domains of spousal abuse: physical, sexual and psychological (Ali, Asad, Mogren & Krantz, 2011). For physical violence, Iqbal & Zafar (2018) states that “it is ranged from scratching, pushing, punching and grabbing to the use of a weapon (e.g., gun, knife or other objects)” (p. 2). Psychological abuse entails humiliation, insulting and threatening behaviors. Sexual violence is signified by any attempted or completed sexual contact or forceful intercourse without consensus (Iqbal & Zafar, 2018). In the case of Asma Aziz, she seems to have suffered all three types of abuse. Her bruises and scratches demonstrate signs of physical violence and the action of shaving her hair off is considered insulting and humiliating. Also, the action of stripping her naked was enough to cause sexual humiliation.

Traditionally in Pakistan domestic violence is treated as a private matter. Most women tended to embrace that all issues in the home should be resolved in the family. Once disclosed, they believed that it brought shame to themselves and their family (Fikree & Bhatti, 1999). In addition, the majority of battered women are less likely to report spousal violence due to stigma and ignorance. Victims who have long experienced cruel violence by their husbands often do not recognize that domestic violence is a critical problem (Jalal, 2010). Domestic violence victims show fundamental aspects of IPV stigma such as self-stigma and anticipated stigma. Self-stigma negatively affects self-esteem, pain-control capacity, and self-efficacy. Anticipated stigma is the belief that discrimination and stereotyping will happen to the self from others once others know about their victimization. One study highlights that ‘victim-blaming’ may be a trigger of stigma. In fact, Aziz concealed the violence in her home for more than three years and was judged and blamed by some people when she eventually opened up to the public in a plea for help. People believed that she broke gender role expectations, or that she provoked her husband, thus they agreed with her husband’s violence behavior. Regardless of whether she was stigmatized during her married life, it is clear that she is more likely to be stigmatized at present or in the future (Overstreet & Quinn, 2013).

Looking into more detail, the continuity of violence in intimate relations inflicts harm. The majority of survivors from domestic violence cope with serious mental and physical aftereffects throughout their entire lives. Battered women’s exposure to persistent injuries, fear and stress eventually results in chronic pain and consistent central nervous system (CNS) symptoms such as fainting. Besides, they often complain about gastrointestinal problems including anorexia nervosa due to chronic stress. Numerous studies point to the strong association between mental health and domestic violence. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are the greatest manifestations of spousal abuse (Campbell, 2002). Further, survivors from spousal violence shows a greater potential to experience suicidal behaviors, insomnia, and poor social skills. Findings indicate that women suffering from spousal abuse risk misusing alcohol and drugs six times more than non-domestic violence victims. In other words, the trauma of Aziz will negatively influence her quality of life due to the implication of her spousal violence (Trevillion, Oram, Feder & Howard, 2012).

In terms of risk factors for domestic violence, gender power and male dominance are strong features in Pakistan. The patriarchal culture has long been embedded in South Asian countries including Pakistan and has played a pivotal role in shaping the attitudes and values with regard to women. Research shows that women are often exploited as a means to an end and that they are considered to be a men’s property. In countries with a top-down structure tend to embrace male-dominated power over female, thus it is legitimized that men control women (Sharma, et al., 2014). Within these countries, power and aggression represent superior masculinity and women are seen as submissive and deficient (Ali et al., 2011). As described in the news article, Asma was described as a servant or dependent controlled by her husband. If married women do not obey what their husbands tell them to do, violent behaviors are socially accepted and tolerated to promote traditional roles between sexes for an educational purpose (Zakar, Zakar & Kraemer, 2013).

In this respect, social learning theory (SLT) explains the patterns of criminal behaviors, especially aggressions against women based on culturally established patriarchal beliefs. Social learning theory developed by Albert Bandura argues that aggressive behaviors are acquired from one another and the examination of the social contexts is critical to predict aggressive behaviors (Cochran, Sellers, Wiesbrock & Palacios, 2011). SLT clearly states that people emulate role models’ behaviors, engaging in aggression and violence by observing and remembering what role models did. (Anderson & Kras, 2005). In addition, research shows that violent behaviors are learned when people observe, when people receive a reward after doing harmful behaviors, when people experience violence by others, and when people do not build a positive relationship with others. Within the differential association theory, observational learning does not necessarily require watching other people’s behaviors. In other words, people not only learn directly from others but also indirectly from various media contents including news, dramas and films (Alvarez & Bachman, 2017).

In fact, the role of women in media is often seen as sexually alluring objects to attract sponsors or weak, irrational and dependent, whereas men are portrayed as god-like or divine in Pakistan. A large number of Pakistani people believe that modern women, who are influenced by western cultures, are more likely to neglect family members. Thus, the duty of housewives is predominately portrayed as doing chores and taking care of husband and children in Pakistan media (Huda & Ali, 2015). In addition, researchers found that the majority of media framed domestic violence as a victim’s responsibility for terminating the violence. As well, they allowed the incidents to be ignored (Palazzolo & Roberto, 2011). Aziz also experienced ‘victim-blaming’ and ignorance by police officers. Within this context, it is predictable that aggressive behaviors against women in Pakistan have been established through the media’s patriarchal perspectives for a long time and now it becomes cultural norms. Aziz’s husband also has shown his abusive behaviors in accordance with the cultural customs. Therefore, the role of mass media is critical in order to promote an equal right regardless of gender against spousal violence (Zakar et al., 2013).

In order to protect women’s right to live a life free of violence, it is significant to strengthen regulations and formulate appropriate polices. Compared to the eastern countries, western countries conduct intimate partner surveys on a regular basis. The National Intimate Partner & Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) measures IPV, and they collect the victimization history of respondents to investigate accurate information. According to deterrence theory, perpetrators who are arrested for violent behaviors are less likely to do the same behaviors in the future. Thus, mandatory arrest policies are implemented to allow police officers to detain an abuser when there is a possibility of causing an assault regardless of the victim’s permission. Moreover, the United States of America offers a civil protection policy for IPV victims, which is a jurisdiction order to stop the perpetrators assaulting and inflicting harm on the women and other family members (Alvarez & Bachman, 2017). Despite planning for women’s empowerment, Pakistan has not shown any progress toward women. Also, religious parties complained that the women protection policies are violating Islamic values and asserted their withdrawal. In fact, the government established a new department for women, but so far they do not have any results of it (Karmaliani et al., 2017). In the news, Aziz did not receive any help from government. Her right to be treated equally with her husband was not protected. As a result, the ignorance of government about spousal violence jeopardizes women and damages their physical and mental well-being (Karmaliani et al., 2017).

Conclusion

There is a consistent rate of battered women and the cultural normalization of unequal gender expectations cause stereotypical attitudes and values in Pakistan. Few women are capable of choosing a divorce due to the hardship of living as a divorced woman and taking care of children by themselves. In order to ensure a better life for women and promote their human rights to the same level as men, all politicians should collaboratively work with one another. In addition, education tends to decrease the occurrence of domestic violence because both girls and boys equally receive a basic education. Schools need to teach about gender equality, and health care professionals should be trained for proper counselling, managing the health concerns of women, and preventing abuse against them. Lastly, mass media involvement will be required to help terminate gender discrimination and promote women’s empowerment in society (Ali et al., 2011).

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