Domestic Violence Solutions

Domestic violence is a problem in our country with nearly 1 million women experiencing at least one incident of domestic abuse each year, (2009/10 British Crime Survey). Social-program funding is being scrutinized in the current economic climate with doubts as to whether American tax dollars should be used to help victims of domestic violence. Cutting funds for government programs that assist victims of domestic violence is not an option for many reasons. In this essay I will explore some of the many ways these programs help our fellow citizens in order to support the argument for continuing to fund said programs.

Working with victims of domestic violence can be an extremely rewarding and fulfilling endeavor. One of the most crucial aspects for a paralegal working with victim of domestic violence is adequately engaging in the task of educating oneself to understand the commonalities of such victims and the ordeals that they have been through. Such clients are drastically different from other individuals who have suffered other physical and violent crimes. Understanding the background of someone who has lived through domestic violence is absolutely central to being able to provide adequate and sensitive legal care. Most victims of domestic violence are women (95%) though domestic violence can have an impact on ever age, class, race, ethnic, cultural or religious group (purplerainfoundation, 2012). "In the United States, nearly one in three adult women experience at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood (American Psychological Association, Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family 1996 Report)" (purplerainfoundation, 2012). These women are often terrified of their partner's temper, apologize when they are abused and often in the most extremely controlling and isolated environment where the abusive partner will control who the partner sees and where the partner goes outside of the home, jealous of outside relationships (purplerainfoundation, 2012). In these abusive relationships the women are hit,

This is because the bodies tasked with creating awareness will adequately inform the victims, perpetrators, as well as the general public on the identification and effects of domestic violence, and the prevention strategies of domestic violence between intimate partners. At the same time, it will be instrumental in pooling together affirmative actions that are necessary in reducing any further occurrences of domestic violence between intimate partners. Domestic Violence especially between intimate partners is linked to a multitude of negative social and health outcomes. When it comes to this type of domestic violence, women are more affected than men. As such, it is women that report more severe injuries as a result of the violence they face. The cycle of domestic violence between intimate partners describes a pattern of recurring violence, as well as the tendency for violence to keep escalating over time. Therefore, one of the most unwanted effects of domestic violence is homicide. Women are more likely to seek support whenever they experience violence. However, this is not always possible because such women are faced with various barriers when accessing services, which ultimately affect their decisions to remain or leave an abusive relationship. Such barriers include stigma, racism, as well as gender discrimination that further limit their access to numerous services and compromise their health and

Domestic abuse in the United States is a large-scale and complex social and health problem. The home is the most violent setting in America today (Lay, 1994). Sadly enough, the majority of people who are murdered are not likely killed by a stranger during a hold-up or similar crime but are killed by someone they know. Not surprisingly, the Center for Disease Control and prevention has identified interpersonal violence as a major public health problem (Velson-Friedrich, 1994). Current estimates suggest that three to four million women are the victims of physical abuse by their intimate partners (Harris & Cook, 1994). According to the FBI, some form of domestic violence occurs in half of the homes in the United States at least once a

Although assistance is now available to those who need it, domestic violence is still a problem that must be dealt with. The victims of domestic violence have real problems that need attention, but it seems as if the issues these people face are not top priority. There are multiple things that are going on in a domestic violence situation, but to someone on the outside looking in, the obvious choice would be to get out of the situation and leave.

Many women and men seek intimate relationships in order to fill their emotional needs of security, safety and love. Their journey starts off with their loved ones spoiling them with flattering gifts and emotional words. The love they feel is so wonderful and deep that they believe that nothing can come between them. They are so happy and convinced that they will live happily ever after with the one they love. Unfortunately, the fairytale they have dreamt about was only temporary and soon comes to an end. The love story they have ones longed for turns into a horrible nightmare. The emotional words they were once spoiled with turn into howling screams and name-calling. The flattering gifts turn into physical abuse. This relationship is referred to as domestic violence or intimate partner violence. This happens when a partner or significant other declares power, authority and control over the other partner. To maintain this authority and control, the abusive partner uses emotional, physical or sexual abuse over his victim (Alters 27). Victims will desperately look for an exit out of this relationship, but only to be blocked by numerous walls of the despair, fear and misery. Many people are convinced that victims have the option of leaving, but they are too weak and they choose not to. What many people don 't know is, victims of domestic violence have many reasons preventing them from leaving their abusers. In most cases the outcomes of leaving are

Many feel if they seek help, the abuser will find them and it will only get worse. The victims need to feel safe, or else they are not going to use the programs to receive help. As both of these articles reveal, these programs are not working. On the contrary, “The Seriousness of Domestic Violence Is Exaggerated” argues that it’s not because the programs are ineffective, but that it’s due to the increase in social services available. However, due to the countless studies that were done, it has been proven that this domestic abuse is a problem. Moreover, there needs to be more effort taken into putting these programs into action. Improvements in how the programs are put into practice need to be made, since how the programs are put into practice now are not efficient

The first step in helping a victim of domestic violence is understanding what it is, and how common it is in the community (Turner, 2016).

In most circumstances, family and loved ones are usually seen as the most reliable support systems that a person can have. However, there are certain circumstances in which family members are the ones who are creating the problems. One of the prominent issues that can potentially occur within families involves domestic violence, with the victim usually being a woman. With most family matters, those who are looking from the outside are usually hesitant in intervening with those types of personal issues. In order to reduce the occurrence of domestic violence, there must be assistance and training provided for all of the parties involved. This includes providing assistance to the victim, perpetrator, and third parties in order for change

The prevalence of domestic violence in the United States is that it is occurring far more often than many individuals would choose to admit. This form of violence is by no means new and culturally the problem itself does not discriminate, there is no specific criteria that completely omits one from becoming a victim of domestic violence. The dynamics of domestic violence consist of the aggressor utilizing violence to maintain dominance and control over the victim. The victimization that is consistent with domestic violence can come in various forms including, physical, sexual, psychological, mental/emotional, and financial. Domestic violence victimization is a cycle that usually is difficult to terminate by many victims as well as aggressors. Individuals involved in abusive relationships continue to remain in them for various reasons such as, maintaining financial stability, desire or hope that things will change overtime, fear that their abuser, will further harm them for leaving the relationship, embarrassment of their situation, or there may be children involved and the victims wants to avoid some of the harsh realities associated with a broken home. Oftentimes domestic violence victims blame themselves for the violence encountered by their abusers, figuring that if they do things differently the next time, maybe they won’t be victimized again by their partner. Conversely, violence committed by abusers is often self-driven and hinges on very minor actions executed by the

Domestic violence is defined as emotionally or physically (or both) controlling an intimate partner, often involving physical assault, stalking or sexual assault (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). Something close to my home, Fargo North Dakota 2005, 1 in 5 women reported that she had left her home due to abuse. In Fargo, 45 percent of homeless women had experienced violence from an intimate partner in the past year (ACLU Women 's Rights Project, n.d.). Living so close to Minnesota as well, 1 in every 3 homeless women were driven from their home by domestic violence in 2003 (ACLU Women 's Rights Project, n.d.). These numbers are unthinkable when a person lives in the area, and knowing that it happens to just about anyone. Many women don’t have the resources or family around them that they can rely on when something of that nature occurs. When a woman has had enough of the abuse and decides to leave the situation, they often times have

Million of women in the United States are physically, and emotionally abuse by an intimate partner each year. Domestic violence is a situation that harms and kills most particularly women, children, and families members. As a result, battering of women is one of the foremost causes of injury to women. The growing awareness of how pervasive and destructive this situation is in our society, and the violence that accompanies it, has created a wide variety of programs, shelters, educational endeavors, law enforcement initiatives, and other efforts to prevent the development of this well-known trend. Fortunately, most victims of domestic violence today have one or more ways out, if they know there are available opportunities exist and able to use them accordingly.

Women will continue to suffer from domestic violence unless there is some sort of intervention to help them. When dealing with this population, it is essential to create a safe environment where the woman can talk freely about the abuse without any retaliation from the abuser. When someone comes into a therapeutic session, everyone deserves to be treated with respect and care. This in turn will create a sense of hope that a different type of life can be possible. Also, knowing that there is a support system can help the woman begin the process of change. Despite this, the process of leaving the abusive partner is slow (Warshaw, n.d.)

Every year in the United States, One in four women are victims of the domestic violence; however, this is only based on what has been reported to the department of justice (Stahly 2008). While men are also victims of domestic violence, women are more often the victims. Moreover, 90% of domestic violence is male initiated. In severe cases domestic violence ends with victims being murdered. More specifically, domestic violence resulted in 2,340 deaths in the United States in 2007, and 70% of those killed were females (CDC 2012). Many people think that victims have the option of leaving and many people blame victims for putting up with the abuse; what many people don 't know is, victims of domestic violence have many reasons preventing them from leaving their abusers, these reasons include, isolation, having children bounding them with the abuser and lack of financial support. "It 's never pretty when you leave an abusive and controlling relationship. The warden always protests when a prison gets shut down," says Dr. Steve Maraboli (qtd from web). Whether a victim stays or leaves their abuser, the outcomes of both situations are not always as easy as many people predict. In some situations, the outcomes of leaving may be very dangerous for both the victim and her children.

Women’s shelters, also called domestic violence shelters, serve as a community housing resource for individuals who need to escape abusive situations. Past maltreatment could range from physical violence to psychological or even financial control. AOTA (2011) defines domestic violence as: “pattern of coercive behavior designed to exert power and control over a person in an intimate relationship through the use of intimidating, threatening, harmful, or harassing behavior.” Oftentimes, there have been several layers of abuse happening simultaneously. While residents who end up at shelters have typically lived through traumatic experiences, their specific ordeals and personal reactions to them will vary. The people seeking shelter are survivors who have taken the first step towards changing their lives for the better or people in the middle of crisis.