Domestic Violence Against Women

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

State (Miccio, 1999). Through the rule of thumb, any conduct that resulted in black eyes, welts, and split lips constituted no violation of the law. Husbands would not be prosecuted if they beat their wives with a stick no thicker than the diameter of their thumb. This rule of thumb, in effect, gave husbands the right to use physical force as a means to control their wives behavior and women were left at the mercy and control of their husbands. In 1870 the “subtle chastisement” law in the United States ended, but women saw little improvement in the prevalence of domestic violence (Ball, 2002).

Domestic violence against women is prevalent in almost all the societies in the world. It is an issue which was not even recognised as a crime 40 years ago and is still not recognized as a crime by many societies. Women suffer from violence, including physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological violence by strangers and their partners all over the world (Kaya, 2010). Even though it is a worldwide occurrence, there are some women who face more intense and frequent violence depending on their culture, country, religion,

Domestic violence, alternatively referred to as Intimate Partner Violence, is defined by the Department of Justice 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.” While domestic violence is commonly thought of as only physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence can also be emotional, economic, or psychological. Domestic violence has remained constant in society throughout history, even though over time society’s response to the issue has changed. While domestic violence affects everyone regardless of race, gender, age, etc. it is estimated that approximately 90% of all victims are women. For the purpose of this paper, I will be focusing on

Just like Janie, many women are physically abused. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence estimates that 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by their partner each year. Nearly eighty five percent of domestic violence victims are women and females between the ages of twenty and twenty-four are at the greatest risk of partner violence. Janie was only one of the few women to be assaulted. In the 1900’s, Janie’s time, it was even more likely that women were abused since men had more rights.

Sexual abuse refers to any action that pressures or coerced someone to participate in a sexual act that the individual does

Physical: Physical abuse is a type of abuse when someone is being physically harmed by another/group of person/people. It is an aggressive behaviour that results in another person having physical injuries. It could be that they don’t even use their own fists to hit someone; they may use another object to throw or hit someone with. It could be kicking or punching, restrained to a chair, being locked in a room, grabbing, and pushing, slapping, pulling hair, biting, punching and kicking.

Women abuse is a problem that plagues society in numerous ways. It is a problem that lacks proper definition in today’s society, and as a result has many misconceptions regarding the subject. It has been a problem that has been going on for centuries and has only recently been discussed as inappropriate and a disgusting act against women. The stereotypical family of a mother, father and children, loving, caring and happy with each other is always depicted on television. Real life relationships and families range from happy and loving to extreme dysfunctional in today’s society. Not every relationship and family experiences the “haven in the heartless world” (Momirov, 2011), many experience more heartless world within the family. This paper will focus on women abuse within the family. The purpose of this paper is to explore women that are victims of domestic abuse and the social structures that create the social problem women will face for the rest of their lives. This paper argues that neoliberal state policies create the social conditions that force abused women to stay in abusive relationships. This paper covers women abuse through three main parts. Part one of this essay will

Domestic violence became a realization and a serious concern in the mid 1970’s for many Americans. “This realization is due to the women advocating on behalf of the battered women movement”

Physical abuse is a deliberate use of physical force that results in bodily injury pain or impairments. Sgns of physical abuse can be burns and scalds, marks on the skin consistent with being slapped, scratched, bitten or pinched.Sexual abuse is direct or indirect involvementin sexual activity without valid consent. Signs of sexual abuse could be sexual transmitted disease,unexplained crying and distress or anxiety and fear of physical touch. Emotional/psycholoigical abuse is any action by another that damages an individuals mental wellbeing, signs of this is attention seeking behaviour,depression,low self-esteem and lack of self confidence.

In his 2003 paper Jeffery Adler states, "social scientists generally link domestic violence to strains and tensions in gender relations, especially men's efforts to preserve masculine authority. According to many criminologists, sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists, wife beating represents a "strategy of patriarchal power, typically employed either to discourage women from challenging men's authority or reign in those who stray from established or expected gender roles." (Adler, 2003) In 1995, Michael P Johnson introduced two distinct forms of domestic violence. One is where families suffer from occasional outbursts of violence from either husband or wives (common couple violence) While others are terrorized by systematic male violence (patriarchal terrorism). The distinction between the two is important because it has implications on how policy is implemented, the development of intervention strategies, and educational programs. (Johnson 1995)

Historically, domestic violence on females has evolved drastically. It used to be a norm for women to be objects of their fathers or husbands and lacked civil rights. In many cultures, domestic violence was not preceded as a crime. According to Marcia Chaiken’s article “Domestic Violence and Criminal Justice,” she explains the history of violence against women and how it has evolved through the centuries. Chaiken states how women experience physical and sexual violence by their intimate partners which leave harmful effects on mental and physical health, and their ability to live healthy and productive lives. In the past, men had the right to use physical force against their wives and forcing sex was considered a private relational problem. Forcing sex was sought as romance back in the day, not rape. Religions generally discouraged the act of physical abuse within relationships, but women had to obey the men because they lived under his roof. A common perception of the past was that a man’s home was inviolate and authorities cannot interfere with relationships. Around the 1960s, women

The history of domestic violence goes back all the way to the start of mankind. Ever since lower people were taken advantage of by higher people in society. The men were much stronger than the women which resulted in the women usually being the ones abused. In the beginning, the man had every right to abuse his woman. If you stare back into the 1940’s and 1950’s you will notice that little was done to stop domestic violence. The police would get involved but would leave the situation to be resolved by the family members. As suggested in the peer-reviewed article “Domestic violence past and present” by Anna Clark, policemen would just tell the man to composed himself and the woman to stop aggravating him. For example, in the sentence “Before the 1970s, judges and police officers still saw wife beating as a trivial offense—policemen would tell husbands to calm down and wives to stop annoying them, and cases rarely came to court. Popular culture depicted wife beating as a joke, and psychiatrists saw it as a pathology of the

Domestic Violence is a human tragedy, and has been a part of life for many individuals. It is not subjective to a particular group, race, or culture. Historically, the feminist movement preserved the theory that domestic violence is a growing matter because of the continuous power differential between the male gender and the female gender. Remarkably, this approach on domestic disputes unveiled the inner workings of barriers men, women, and children would face when in a domestic violence situation. The feminist theory emphasizes on studying “the gendered nature of all relationships…which aims at understanding how gender is related to social inequalities and oppression” (Marsigila & Kulis, 2015, p. 148). Disastrously, an ignorant notion that once dominated our culture was the belief that emotional agony was less painful than physical brutality. However,

Domestic violence has been a main issue throughout history and all over the world; it can evidentially affect children, the elderly, women, and even men. Although abuse can affect many individuals, a significant portion of domestic abuse cases are against women. Globally, women are constantly facing physical, social and mental abuse by men and/or their significant others. In past years, the issue of domestic violence has gained the attention of researchers. In fact, studies have shown that it is a global issue negatively impacting the social and health status of individuals, particularly women. A survey of domestic abuse in Canada signifies that 29% of married women have been abused by their partners at least once (Nwosu, 2006). Many argue