Radical Feminist Analysis

Intimate partner violence has been a significant issue for centuries in all countries. "Since 1974, nearly 2,600 spousal homicides have been recorded in Canada" (Bunge, 2002). Of these homicides, more than three-quarters have been against women. Although through feminism and the women's liberation movement, there has been a slight improvement in the incidences of violence against women, there has also been a drastic change in the perception of the issue by society. After reviewing the most recent literature on violence against women and victimization through intimate partners, it has become prevalent that there are now two crucial stances that are taken. The first position is that of the women being victimized as the

Prior to the 1800’s, the majority of legal systems regarded ‘wife beating’ as a way in which a husband could assert his dominance and authority over his wife. Within the 1970’s, attention to domestic violence began with the woman’s movement, principally through the introduction of feminism and women’s rights. In recent years however, the way domestic violence is viewed has changed. Previously, domestic violence only occurred within marriage, predominantly against wives and therefore formalised through the use of a marriage contract. Within modern society, domestic violence can now refer to

For centuries domestic violence has been perceived as a private matter private of which the government has not been concerned about nor was it considered the government’s business to intervene on behalf of a battered spouse. The unlawful nature of this failure for state or federal government intervention against this crime contributed to the systematic abuse of women in the family. The traditions, customs, and common law found in both British and American societies continued right up until the last decade of the 20th century and left the battered wives and very frequently, her children, at the mercy of the husband. It wasn’t until the 1990’s when the government began to do something to protect mothers, wives, and lovers from intimate

The Puritans were a religious group who left the Church of England because they wanted to have more freedom with their religion. They thought the Church of England was “too Catholic”. They believed the Bible and its rules were the number one thing to go by and that all humans were evil and had to overcome their sin. Women had to cover their whole bodies in clothing. They couldn’t show their ankles or wrists. They also had to wear their hair up and out of their face at all times, except if they were in a room alone with only their husband. They always were on one side of the church away from the men or in the back on the church. These women in the society that will be talked about have broken laws and have been misjudged.

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

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

Violence against women has existed for centuries and women experience violence in many setting; however, domestic violence is the most prevalent. Abela and Walker (2014) explain that the women’s right movement took place because women were maltreated and oppressed (78). They state that the victimization of women was the reason why the second wave of the feminist movement arose. They also explain that during this time, laws in the Untied States allow men to hit their wives (Abela & Walker 79). Women from different cultures and different economic status have been victims of domestic violence. In this paper, I will focus on domestic violence against women from different cultures. I will present information about the history of domestic violence

United States social history has had many defining moments in which attitudes of domestic violence has changed. However, some of them did not make a huge impact or movement enough to change society’s views. Per class discussion, we learned that for many centuries women were seen as property of men and used as reproduction. There was a lack of respect and being beaten was part of them norm but at the same time men were considered the women’s “protectors”, which is ironic because women needed protection from their husbands. To top it all off, divorce was looked frown upon, leaving women no choice but to stay with their partners.

According to Crittenden and Wright (1999) one strategy to keep patriarchy in place is by using violence against women, this is not to say that all men use violence to maintain the male domination of society (Macionis and Plummer, 1998). Nevertheless there is evidence that suggests that the top levels of society, especially at the level where laws are made that the patriarchy are in control. An example of this is in 1991 rape was still considered legal within a marriage in England and Wales, this can be seen as an acceptance and observance of patriarchal ideas (Painter, 1995). This lack of law change may be because of the majority of the top jobs in government are held by men, from this it can be argued that the fact that rape was legal in marriage up to 1991 shows the male domination of the legal and political systems that women have to live under. This is in contrast with Australian law which removed the marital exemption from cases of marital rape at the earlier time of 1981 (Larcombe and Heath 2012). It is said by feminists that male power and dominance is throughout society and that domestic violence is a direct result of the patriarchal view of women’s place in society (Aitken, 2007). There is an opposing view to what causes men to become domestically violent, that it is because of an individual’s problems rather

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”

Domestic violence used to be considered a private family matter and was not considered a societal problem until feminists in the 70's started pushing the matter. Beginning in the 1970’s, social policy toward female victims of domestic assaults focused on improving legal response and

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

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,

As reported by, feminist criminologists, their perspective of rape and sexual assault differ between liberal and radical feminists. Liberal feminists’ viewpoint in regards of rape as a gender-neutral assault on a persons’ autonomy and mainly focusing on the harm that rape can do to an individual. In contrast, radical feminists describe rape as a subject to be recognised and understood as a major pillar of patriarchy; a social system in which men claim the positions of dominance and control of the central norms and values that are linked with masculinity (Johnson, 2005: p. 4-15). The radical feminists believe that rape is a patriarchal structure within male power, thus displaying the harms that rape can do to an individual and as a group of women. Furthermore, the radical feminists approach view rape as male have the control and authority over the use of women’s bodies, which involves the sexual and reproductive. Hence, this is the core element of patriarchy, Radical feminist believe that rape is one of many forms that connects men’s sexual exploitation and violence, as well as, reinforcing women’s oppression (Whisnant, 2013).

“Radical Feminism offers systematic analysis of the nature of women’s oppression including the way it is sustained through law and criminal justice processes. It is not only to understand male dominance and control of women and but also to end it.”