Assault Against Women

The data covering Intimate Partner Violence in the United States (U.S.) is staggering and given that not every case is reported even more so.

Domestic violence (DV) has and continues to affect millions of, women, men, children and the elderly every day. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, defines Domestic violence as, “hurtful, repeated and intentional behavior that one person uses to maintain power and control over another in an intimate relationship.” (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, n.d.) Abuse impacts many individuals from various backgrounds. Abuse comes in many forms, verbal, emotional, physical, sexual and, covers a wide range of tactics to establish and maintain power and control. A predominant form of DV is Intimate Partner Violence is also known as (IPV,) which affects millions of people every year, primarily women

Breiding, Matthew J., Sharon G. Smith, Kathleen C. Basile, Mikel L. Walters, Jieru Chen, and

“Every year, in the United States there are over 3 million incidents of reported domestic violence. Every year, 4,000 victims of domestic violence are killed.” (Domestic Violence: Disturbing Facts about Domestic Violence). Domestic violence is a crime that is not just committed in the United States, but worldwide. This crime is committed every day, every hour, every minute, and every second. Anybody can be a victim or the abuser. This can happen to any child, man or woman. This is a horrific crime. Women are more likely to be the victim in domestic violence than men. “Forty-five percent of all violent attacks against female victims 12 years old and older by multiple

Violence against women is a substantial public health problem in the United States. According to data from the criminal justice system, hospital, and medical records, mental health records, social services, and surveys, thousands of women are injured or killed each year as a result of violence, many by someone they are involved with or were involved with intimately. Nearly one-third of female homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2001). Throughout this, many will read about intimate partner violence also called

Approximately 1.3 million women are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States. In a 1995–1996 study conducted through the fifty states including the District of Columbia, it was found that nearly 25% of women were raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, or dating/acquaintance at some time in their lifetime (American Bar Association, 2010). According to the U.S. Department of Justice, between 1998 and 2002, of the almost 3.5 million crimes committed against family members, almost half of these were crimes against spouses. Eighty-four of those spouse abuse victims were females. In 2001, intimate partner violence made up 20% of all nonfatal

Every year, nearly 10 million men and women are abused by an intimate partner in the United States. Intimate partner violence or IPV is defined as any behavior within an intimate relationship that causes physical, psychological, or sexual harm to those in the relationship (Burgess, Regerhr, & Roberts, 2013). Acts of physical aggression include slapping, punching, kicking, beating, and biting. Twenty individuals are victims of physical violence every minute in the United States. Psychological maltreatment is the hardest form of abuse to detect, however it can cause long-term detrimental consequences such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Displays of psychological maltreatment include, but are not limited to verbal attacks, isolating the victim, verbal threats of harm, humiliation, controlling the victim, and stalking. Sexual harm is characterized as any forced sexual intercourse. Research suggests that 1 in every 5 women will be raped in her lifetime (Burgess, Regerhr, & Roberts, 2013).

This summarizes report of the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence 2010 survey, will provide statistical information on victims who experienced one or more violent crimes from their husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend. These crimes arrange from stalking, rape, to physical and mental abuse. It will examine the impact of intimate partner violence on gender, race, and ethnicity. This report will give an overview of health consequences and the implications for prevention for Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence. Lastly, this summary report will provide a definition of what is the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey and how it is developed.

Like many woman, her attacker was the man she shared the best years of her life with, her husband. At this moment she continues to suffer psychologically from the experience she fell victim to. With this in mind, we will examine what constitutes intimate partner abuse, the risk and protective factors, and indicators of intimate partner abuse. As well as the victim’s frame of mind and experience regarding the areas to be discussed.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a common international health concern that affects both men and women and has lifelong consequences. According to World health Organization “Worldwide, almost one-third (30%) of women who have been in a relationship report that they have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner”.(WHO Jan 2015fact sheet 239). Wuest et al. (2010) describe intimate

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) or domestic violence (DV) reportedly affects more than 5 million Americans each year (Goodley & Fowler, 2006). IPV is the most common cause of nonfatal injury to women it the United States (U.S.). It is an ongoing issue that was first widely recognized as a major societal concern in the 1970’s (Nicholls &Hamel 2015). It is a significant problem with critical consequences for an individuals overall health and well-being. IPV not only has acute effects but lifelong implications as well. It is not limited to one group but crosses all barriers, it has an effect on both genders, people of all ages, all races, all cultures, all educational levels and all socio-economical backgrounds. Although, IPV affects both genders, this paper will focus primarily on women. It will seek to examine the repercussions of IPV on the victim’s health as well as children exposed to IPV. This topic is important to discuss in order to reduce the occurrence of IPV and to be able to better support victims of IPV. It is not a problem that can be solved overnight or with one specific intervention, but must be addressed through a collaborative effort from individuals within a community.

Sexual assault can be defined as offences of a sexual nature, stretching from simply indecent behaviour to violent crimes committed without someone’s consent (Bijleveld 2007:321). The most common victims of sexual assault crimes are women and young girls with the crimes being committed by people known to the victim. Sexual assault is one of the most common and horrific crimes around the world affecting not only the victim, but also their families and the broad society in which they live (Boyd, Morrison & Quadara 2007:1). According to a 2006 Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 20 men are sexually assaulted by the age of 15. The same survey indicated that the people who are most at risk of being sexually assaulted are girls between the ages of 10 and 14, followed by young women between the ages of 15 and 24. There are several theories of crime that explain the behaviour of offenders who commit these heinous acts. They are the control theory, the rational choice theory and the social learning theory.

Sexual assault crimes are crimes that are unfortunately occurring in a more consistent bases. This type of crime also happens to anyone, either the person is a male or a female and does not matter where you live. In the past, this type of crime was considered to have a vague definition what is sexual assault and how it can be proven. There were not clear definition on who were the actual victims of this type of crime, for example does this apply only to women or does it also apply to younger victims such as children. Gender identity if men and boys can also be sexually assaulted was also vague and hardly taken into consideration. Now, there is a more clear definition on the different types of sexual assault crimes, the types of punishment in which a perpetrator should receive and the type of policies that should be implemented to solve this atrocious issue not only in the different communities but also in variety of colleges and universities.

Despite the efforts that have been made to curb sexual assaults, statistics show that sexual assaults in college campuses still occur (Lee, Spring 2003). In fact, the facts are even scarier, showing that one in every four ladies in campuses have been victims or near victims of sexual assault (Lee, spring 2003). Interestingly, 1 in 12 men in college have been involved in sexual assault, but they felt that their actions were not illegal. Perhaps, this ability of the perpetrators to justify their actions based on their own perspectives may be largely to blame for the increasing occurrence of sexual assault. Under the criminal law, sexual assault refers to the nonconsensual, unlawful and intentional sexual contact by one party of another person’s body. As such, it includes acts ranging from forcible rape to sexually touching another person’s body without their consent, even with clothes on. The peculiar situation with sexual assault in campuses is that often, the victim and the perpetrator are known to each other thus it may not raise much alarm at first (Lee, Spring 2003). In fact, most sexual assaults are reported to have taken place during or after dates, which in a way explains the reason why most perpetrators feel like their actions were justified. Still, the law is very clear on the inviolability of other people’s private space, especially sexually, and as such, there should be minimal tolerance, if at all, of any inappropriate sexual contact. Also, the widespread use of

Interpersonal violence is a growing problem within the United States, with little growth in the support of victims. Because of this, interpersonal violence should be in the health care agenda. One in four women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), and one in nine women experiencing forced sex (Southerland, 2012), making it important for health care professionals to discuss this problem with their patients. Another reason that interpersonal violence should be included is because health professionals are confidants for those going through abuse, and are also the first stop once someone is sexually assaulted.