Public Health Problem : Domestic Abuse Essay

Domestic violence is an epidemic and the number one health concern in our country. There are more abusers and their victims compared to past years. As a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship, domestic violence is used by one person to gain or maintain power and control over another one. It can be physical, sexual, emotional, and economic abuse and not look the same in every relationship because every relationship is different. This kind of abuse affects people of all ages and sexes, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, education and employment levels. Abuse towards children and the elderly can be violent or aggressive behavior. Thus, there are many types of abuse that one can suffer; awareness of the signs of domestic violence is especially important before getting into any kind of intimate relationship.

Victims or survivors of domestic violence end up enduring so much mental, physical, and emotional abuse that they do not realize there is a problem. WomensLaw.org defines the following behaviors as abuse: psychological abuse, such as intimidating someone, threatening physical harm to someone else, and destruction of pets and property; physical abuse, which is described as grabbing, pinching, shoving, slapping, and punching; emotional abuse, which includes constantly putting someone down, making someone feel unimportant, using abusive language, such as calling them ugly or worthless and tearing down another’s relationship with their children. A combination of these actions can come together and damage someone. The Joyful Heart Foundation emphasizes that the long term effects of domestic violence can have a major impact on someone’s

Believe it or not domestic abuse is more than physical. “Domestic abuse includes forced or arranged marriages, sexual, verbal, emotional, and economic abuse as well.”(wiki) Let’s break these down and explain exactly what these types of abuse mean. “Arranged marriages usually occur in many Eastern countries where a child commonly around the age of 5 is married to a much older man who is then used as a wife after her first menstrual period for children and work. Sexual abuse occurs when a man or woman takes advantage of another through rape, drugs, molesting, and even sexual comments. Many know but do not consider the laws on age of consent; if a partner is too young for such a relationship.”(Wikipedia) Verbal abuse consists of yelling and screaming in a way that would be considered bullying. “Emotional abuse is a cycle of intimidation, threats, and undermines self-worth. The abuser in this situation gets in the victims head and makes them feel as though they deserve to be punished. Economic abuse is when the abuser has complete control over the partner’s finances making it difficult for them to escape or have any freedom.”(Wikipedia)

•On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.

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

Domestic abuse is a very serious offense, and it needs to be stopped. It is not only a legal offense, but it is a humane offense. Abuse is wrong and lead to very serious consequences for the abuser and the abusee. Relationships are very important and are a wonderful part of life, but they can crumble when tension and strain are not properly taken care of. This can lead to abuse, and once abuse starts it can be difficult to stop. This is why prevention needs to be improved and strengthened. In order to strengthen domestic abuse prevention there needs to be more focus on counseling, classes, and programs.

Currently in the United States, every one-in-three women and one-in-four men are abused physically by their chosen partner in their lifetime. It is estimated that twenty people per minute are physically affected by their partner; therefore, there are around ten million people every year battered by their partners (“Statistics” National Coalition Against Domestic Violence). The United States Department of Justice defines domestic violence as:

Abuse can come in many forms, including those that we cannot physically see. Intimate partner violence can occur physically, sexually, and psychologically and emotionally. Physical violence includes the use of physical force, such as slapping, hitting, kicking, grabbing, throwing, use of a weapon, and the like, with the intention to cause harm, injure, or kill (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Sexual violence describes violence that uses force to compel a person to engage in sexual activity against their will or ability to decline. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). And lastly, psychological and emotional violence involves harming the victim through the use of threats or coercive tactics such as, but not limited to, humiliating, controlling, isolating, or stalking (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Similarly, there are two major forms of intimate partner abuse: intimate terrorism and situational couple violence (Leone, Lape, and Xu). Intimate terrorism describes a pattern of abuse in which one partner exercises a cycle of continuous power and control over their significant other by means of physical or coercive actions that trap their victim in the relationship while, in contrast, situational couple violence refers to violence that it provoked by a specific conflict (Leone, Lape, and Xu). Overall, it is clear that intimate partner abuse occurs in a variety of ways and to varying degrees of

Every minute, twenty people are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. According to the Natural Coalition of Domestic Violence, after one year more than ten million men and women become a victim of domestic violence. Every year someone new becomes a victim. Every year someone gets physically harmed or even death. Every year someone finds freedom from domestic violence.

Domestic violence covers a large array of abuses. Some of the different types of abuse include Physical, Emotional, Verbal, Sexual and Economical. Women suffering abuse usually suffer from all the different types. Often one type of abuse will bleed or lead to another and most abuse cases never start out with something physical. Most of the time one form of abuse is being used to enforce another.

For domestic violence, medical providers can be as much of a first responder as law enforcement or emergency medical services. The medical provider who is going to note that the victim has been seen several times for the same injury. One of medical providers’ core functions is to investigate the well-being of the patients. If a patient presents with multiple concussions in a year without a good explanation of the circumstances that caused the concussion, this would raise the red-flags for the provider. Additionally, with new governmental regulations providing incentives for providers to transition care to another provider, the whole medical record for a patient can now be in the hands of the provider. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016) At Santa Clara County Health and Hospital System, the primary care provider will receive documentation of all their patients who are admitted or seen in the emergency room. Information sharing about patients will only increase with time. If a patient is seen on one side of the country in the emergency room for a concussion, their primary care provider on the west coast can receive a report of this concussion. The awareness can be a matter of life or death for a patient.

In beginning my revision process, I started by staring at my submitted essay over and over. First thought, I should have changed the title to something along the lines of, “Domestic Violence, is there Treatment?” Second thought, Wow!! What a difference I am from the person who first began this course. I took a look back over my previous submitted writing assignments and could see my writing abilities has drastically improved, As I reviewed and reflected on the submitted essay “Domestic Violence and Treatment”, I believe, I did a complete and thorough job in delivering my subject. As I previously stated, I credit you, Mr. Perkins and this course for my improvements. I have always struggled to put my thoughts on paper in a manner that is coherent. I now feel that my ability to write and express my ideas, thoughts and knowledge have grown stronger.

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.

Underreported and underestimated, domestic abuse rips families apart every single day. Domestic violence comes in mainly five different forms, physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, and economic. This violence ruins families, demoralizes the victims, and the public downplays the household terrorism that goes on every day. Generally thought of as taboo, the public belittles and humorizes domestic abuse as a way to deal with it, that avoidance must come to an end.

“Every year in the United States there are over 3 million incidents of domestic violence. That means that every nine seconds a women is beaten by her domestic partner” (Findeley). There are many women that stay silent when being abuse by their partners. The consequences of staying quiet when obtaining abuse can be dangerous and can also lead to death. Many women do not recognize the importance of the fact that there is in speaking out if they are being abuse by their partner. No woman should take domestic abuse by their partners. Every woman deserves a healthy relationship; A healthy relationship involves trust, respect, and consideration for the other person. Domestic abuse has gotten worse during the past years and is still rising up. One can see that domestic abuse can occur everywhere. Domestic abuse is considered a crime and woman should not keep silent when being abuse.