Domestic Violence against Men and Women
Sandra Marable
Kaplan University
CM-220
Professor Freiteg
May 20, 2013
Whenever the thought of domestic violence comes to mind, more than often the visual picture is a women or a child. However, there is another side that has been ignored because it is pushed under the rug. The unfortunate fact is that men are the victims of domestic violence at least as often as women are. While the very idea of men is being beaten by their wives or partners runs contrary to many of our deeply ingrained beliefs about men and women, female or male violence against men is a well-documented phenomenon almost completely ignored by both the media and society (Watson 2013). The majority of
…show more content…
Guilt most often what keeps the victim, at the hands of their abuser, that internal turmoil that the victim goes through with leaving the since of feeling responsible, the feeling of leaving the relationship and the household, this alone is the underlying reasons behind not leaving, not wanting to separate the household. Self-blame can not be avoided for some of those who believe that they just have not done enough, the only thing that will help is time, distance and healing and too not get into another relationship until they are completely ready. It is estimated that about 3.2 million men are victims of assault by their partner each year in the United States.
However, most of these assaults are relatively minor, such as hitting, smacking, pushing, and shoving, others are much more serious. . It has raised serious questions about “implementation of arrest policies, equivalency of intimate partner aggression across genders, and management of female domestic violence offenders. This study compares demographic characteristics, criminal history variables, and the past domestic violence history of men and women arrested for domestic assault against a heterosexual intimate partner. Using victim reported information and data collected by local criminal justice agencies, we
In the most recent data available from 2015, it was disclosed that nearly 92,000 Canadians had report to the police an incident related to domestic violence; of this number, 80% of them were women (Burczycka, 2017). It is then no surprise that intimate partnership violence has been found to be one of the major causes of violence against women in Canada (Ministry of the Status of Women, 2015). Many agencies focus on supporting directly the female victims and providing them with secured shelters and safe spaces to rebuild themselves after leaving their abusive relationship (Shelter Safe, 2017). However, a need to address domestic violence from the roots arose in Ontario1982, when the community identified a gap in the offer of programs
Typically, domestic violence occurs between a man and a woman, and usually, women end up being the victims more often then men (Heidensohn, 2012). The male is usually more dominant because he is bigger and significantly stronger then the female. However, in recent years, men have been experiencing their fair share of abuse from women. According to a study done by the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men, “Over 90% experienced controlling behaviors, and several men reported frustrating experiences with the domestic violence system. Callers’ reports indicated that their female abusers had a history of trauma, alcohol/drug problems, mental ill- ness, and homicidal and suicidal ideations” (Hines, 2007). This study measured 190 male callers who called the DAHM and the study shows that women can also batter men. This applies to the case of Jordan Graham and Cody Johnson because a wife murdered her husband. No one should ever underestimate someone else’s strength or aggression as those characteristics can be extremely hard to gauge. Cody Johnson may have had no prior knowledge of Graham’s temper and may have even felt as if he were the dominant figure in their marriage. Sometimes, it is easy to accuse a spouse of being the core reason for domestic abuse, whether it is verbal or physical abuse. However, domestic abuse can be seen as a problem for human beings in general, “Others have argued that violence is a
The article constructs domestic violence as an issue of gender, race and socioeconomic status. Women are identified as the “majority” of victims (Taylor 2014). Consequently, the article conceptually represents domestic violence as events of intimate terrorism where one partner violently terrorizes the other partner to gain complete control over the relationship, which is entirely perpetrated by men (Johnson 2012). With that said, Johnson (2012) points out that majority of domestic violence is situational couple violence, where both the man and the
Statistics are still proving that men are still known to be the abusers many more times than woman. “In 2007, crimes by intimate partners accounted for 23 percent of all violent crimes against females and 3 percent of all violent crimes against males.” (The National Center for Victims of Crime, 2011) Many may suspect that the reason that it seems like men are less likely to be abused is because of the gender and the masculinity, compared to the body types of women and the fragility. Despite the gender aspects, there are cases of domestic violence when it was individuals of the same sex. Same sex relationships have about the same frequency of occurrences as to heterosexual relationships.
“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
Domestic violence is a crime that has increased in the recent years; therefore, recently, domestic violence has become a widely researched topic. Some of the extensive research regarding domestic violence “indicates that intimate partner violence arrest rates have risen as a direct result of the implementation of mandatory and preferred arrest domestic violence laws. However, this research also suggests that part of this increase can be attributed to an increase in the arrest rate of females in cases of domestic assault. In addition, the arrest of both parties involved in an incident, also known as a “dual arrest,” appears to have contributed to the rising rates of domestic assault arrest” (Hirschel et al., 2007, p. 255). In other words, it
This section will discuss the topic intimate partner violence against women as discussed by other scholars and authors. Various books will be analyzed to understand the topic better. The section will also explain the main issues independently analyzing different literature and will also discuss the similarities and differences. The issue has emanated a lot of public concern as more young women continue to suffer in silence with the fear of speaking out against their partners. Some women, however, are courageous and have opted to speak about the issue in public without fear of being judged or criticized. Careful analysis of the different books will help to determine the different perspectives that different authors understand
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
Domestic Violence: Victims Should Leave For many years, domestic violence has been a subject of many discussions, concerns and fears. As we all have probably heard or seen, most of the victims of domestic violence are women. It’s not unusual to question- Why don’t they just leave? Why silently endure the pains inflicted by the perpetrator when the door is open and there is so much help out there.
“Domestic violence is a type of abuse by one or both partners in marriage, friends, family, dating or cohabitation” (Aziz & Mahmoud, 2010). There are many forms of abuse from verbal and emotional to physical that often escalates over time in intensity for the victim. Data from the criminal justice system, hospital patient medical records and mental health records, police reports, surveys and social services reports of thousands of women revealed that many are injured and killed as a result of violence from someone close to them. “The US Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) defines domestic violence as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender” (Robertson & Murachver, 2009). Researchers and the criminal justice system have not been able to agree on a clear definition to domestic violence which can range from physical injury, stalking, verbal abuse and humiliation, denial of shelter and access to money, and intimidation through aggressive behaviors. The definition of domestic violence may vary but the results from physical injury, mental and emotional trauma, and sometimes even death can last a life time.
Our culture refuses to hold women equally accountable as men for their participation in Domestic Violence. Women’s behavior whether perpetrator or victim, is understood and passed off as socialization or poor economic status. On the other hand men are held fully accountable for all of their behavior. “Despite the tough guy stereotype all boys are encouraged to embody and the abuse many bear as a normal
It is estimated that 3 to 4 million women are assaulted each year, which would make that every 9 seconds a woman is beaten (Domestic Violence Intervention Program, 2015). Domestic violence is the most significant reason for the injury of women, and violence in marriages, and it accounts for two-thirds of all marriages (Domestic Violence Intervention Program, 2015). Women that derive from all cultures, age, race, occupations are assaulted by their husbands, significant other, lovers and partners (Domestic Violence Intervention Program, 2015). The same rates of domestic violence occur among whites, black and Hispanics. Professional men are among those that batter women, they are the ones that get professional help. More than 50% of women that
According to statistics found by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Every nine seconds a woman is abused by her husband or intimate partner. At least 1 in every 4 women and 1 in every 9 men have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetime. Most often the abuser is one of their own family. Domestic violence is a problem that somehow affects every one of us in this room at some time and is actually the leading cause of injury to women -- more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined.
It is the view of this paper that scholars that have taken the vertical approach to studying domestic violence tend to exhibit bias against men while limiting their search for solution to domestic violence to men. This research sees everything wrong with this biased view and punctures it as insufficient since there are many cases of domestic violence against men. In the United States alone there is rising cases of domestic violence perpetuated against men by abusive spouses. Campbell Dennis (2010) writing in British Guardian observed that 40% of men suffer domestic violence in the United Kingdom. Also, statistics of domestic violence released by United States Center for Disease control shows significant rise in domestic violence against men. According to Weinberger, Bari Zell (2016), violated men face number of obstacles when domestic violence is being reported. He identified some factors effecting male victims of domestic to include; convincing the biased police who do not see women as abusers; getting help and shelter for victims; to the psychological
Insecurity in relationships; Majority of relationships tends to have the problem of partners being insecure and feeling like they are most likely to be dumped. Therefore, individuals who attempt to leave a relationship increase the risk of being victims of domestic violence; this is because the abuser usually feels abandoned and lonely