Social Work Implications Of Violence Against Women

Throughout history, women have continuously found themselves as the subjects of oppression. Although the treatment of women has drastically changed over time, women are still exposed to much of the violence that exists today. Per the National Organization for Women, “young women, low-income women and some minorities are disproportionately victims of domestic violence and rape” (National Organization for Women, 2016). Women-centered violence is highly prevalent and reoccurring all over the world, even in our local communities. Individuals may be hesitant to consider just how much violence against women affects their communities.

arrested on the grounds of questionable violence (proof should be established in the court of law). The value that directly correlates with domestic violence from a social work perspective would be the importance of human relationships, the social worker has to comprehend that cultivating a healthy and supporting relationship between family members is vital while creating a stable environment for society. It “promotes, restores, maintains, and enhances the well-being of individuals, families, social groups, organizations, and communities” ("Code of Ethics (English and Spanish) - National Association of Social Workers").

Mandell argues that regardless of class, race, age, sexual orientation, woman are subject to male violence. Nothing can protect women in a patriarchal society. Violence against women ranges from verbal and physical abuse to sexual abuse, rape, pornography, battering and rape. (Mandell, Fifth Edition) Violence against woman is common and persistent. Thirty years ago, most forms of violence against women were hidden under a cloak of silence or acceptance. SOURCE Although, years later, it became apparent that violence against woman occurs on a massive scale; that no woman is immune. She emphasises that women are targets to be victimized. Men are socialised to objectify woman, legitimate aggression, and blame woman for their own victimization. ‘Where woman dominate, men have to resort to greater use of force to remain dominant’. (Mandell, Fifth Edition) They set the glass just high enough, so women cannot reach to break it, keeping the male in the dominate position.

This part of the dissertation will cover the similarities and differences between men and women as victims of domestic violence. The first topic that will be discussed is reporting. It can be difficult to understand or grasp the concept that men can be abused by women and nearly near the rate that women are assaulted and abused by men. In the white paper (Home Office, 2003) domestic violence was mainly described in terms of violence against women, males were largely ignored despite being acknowledged. In the white paper (Home Office 2016) things appeared to be different as male victims were acknowledged which suggests that it is becoming widely known that there is violence against men and it is being viewed as an issue. The Northern Rock Foundation concluded from their research that some males did not report partner abuse because they considered the occurrence too trivial and not worth reporting. Their research also looked into the large differences between the experiences of males and females; it was found that females were the main group to ask for help and also communicate with services. DOJ figures indicated that males are 11 percent less likely than women to report any type of violent crime that they were victims in. Ivankovich suggests that there are a number of explanations why male victims are unwilling to report. Men suffer abuse in silence because they fear that they will not be believed and people may jump to worse conclusions such as he is the perpetrator. Males

Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread human rights violations. It stems from social structures and traditions rather than individual random acts. It cuts across age, socio-economic, educational and geographic boundaries; affects all societies, and is a major obstacle to ending gender inequality and discrimination globally. The violence women face can be physical, sexual, verbal, and any other form that abuses power and control, which can make them feel insignificant. With dealing with all these negative aspects of violence why is it the case that women continue to stay? In Gender and Women’s Studies in Canada: Critical Terrain by Margaret Hobbs and Clara Rice, there are eight key reasons why women would stay in an abusive

The number of violence towards women have increase in the last few decades’ Potter & Banyard (2011). The research’s found, most of these violence occurs to women of low income women. Less violence is seen in women of middle and higher income levels. Some different types of violence which women face are domestic, sexual harassment, stalking sexual assaults, and emotional abuse (Potter & Banyard, 2011). It is documented these types of abuse takes a toll on women’s mental and physical health. Being a victim make it difficult for women to accomplish or be successful in the workplace, it is challenging to maintain or obtain employment. Potter & Banyard (2011), says when it comes to women in high level positions, although they are less likely to

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

suggest that there is a severity continuum of partner violence, not necessarily discrete categories. Those

The point of a primary prevention campaign is to address the overt and covert elements in society that support the normalisation of violence as an accepted outcome of some interactions. Findings from the 2009 VicHealth National Community Attitudes towards Violence Against Women survey suggest that there is still some acceptance that ‘women are asking for trouble’ when they do or act in certain ways, that men are expected to express their ‘masculinity’ in ways that may result in sexual assault or harassment of women, or that women have a lower status within society. These are not universally held beliefs but nonetheless are some of the subtle messages that must be challenged in the context of a primary prevention strategy. The reality is that men are more likely to engage in violence against women if they hold negative attitudes towards women and ascribe to the continuance of gender based roles that legitimise violence or consider domestic violence a ‘private matter’(Flood & Pease 2006). Men who do not support gender equality are also more likely to hold violence supporting attitudes. Women who hold traditional beliefs about gender roles are also less likely to report relationship violence (VicHealth

When conducting home/field-based visits, social workers must be aware of the risks of violence that can be heightened in specific situations. At times, services may be given on an involuntary basis, in which the clients may be angry or upset about. According to the NASW (2005), child welfare clients that have issues pertaining to domestic violence and substance abuse, which can become more lethal when professionals are present.

When speaking about domestic violence the picture that comes to mind is that of a man physically abusing a woman. Domestic violence manifests itself in other forms other than physical abuse. Domestic abuse can also take other forms like emotional, psychological and sexual abuse. Recent statistics show that domestic abuse against men is also on the rise (Cook, 2009). This can be argued in two ways: that it always existed but only till recently men have been able to come out and report cases of abuse by their spouses without feeling victimized and that previously men were seen as the superior gender and the women’s role was to be submissive but with the

Consequently, this leads to the denial of victimization to those not classified as “appropriate” victims (Sokloff and Pratt, 2005, p. 30). These definitions inform social policy and informal practices and creates a socially structured invisibility of certain victims. Traditionally, social action strategies often focus on white, middle-class women in efforts to challenge their situation. Victimization can be denied when social policy and informal practices label all batterers “he” and victims “she”. Similarly, victimization can be denied when social stereotypes are employed to neutralize the presence of social suffering. It is also denied when domestic violence is defined as culturally normal for groups that are not classified as white culture. If domestic violence is defined as “culturally relative” it ignores the complexity of other cultures’ values, trivializes the evolution of other culture, and diverts attention to the context of discrimination (Sokloff and Pratt, 2005, p.

Combined with certain psychological and environmental factors, this fact has become one of the causes of domestic violence. According to the statistics, the vast majority of people know about the suffering of women due to domestic violence. Although men can also suffer from domestic abuse, there is a huge disproportion between the number of males and females subjected to violence at home. The feminist movement has not only drawn public attention to this issue and founded numerous organizations aimed at protecting women from their violent spouses, but also helped create legislative and legal mechanisms that would protect victims of domestic abuse (A Guide to Understanding

Violence against women is one of the most prevalent crimes against women yet the most underreported. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of innocent women experience different types of abuse, and some do not even know it (UN Women, 2016). The cycle of abuse starts with tension building, in which the perpetrator starts becoming aggressive prompting the victim to fold and try to please the perpetrator. When the suspect does not get what he wants or is not satisfied, the act of violence starts. This includes verbal, threats, intimidation, arguments, blames, anger, physical assault, or deprivation from the outside world even from the victim's family and friends. After a while, the abuser would enter the honeymoon phase and apologize for everything that happened, then vows that it wouldn't happen again. And the cycle continues (Bell, 2008).

Feminists support the idea that women experience victimisation and an intrinsically different way to men. For example, from the Feminist perspective, there is thought to be a stronger possibility that women will be victimised by a close friend or family member than any other person (Natarajan & Ciobanu 2010). Radical Feminists attribute this to the social institutions and norms facilitating the victimisation of women. Feminist Criminological research has also facilitated in reshaping Criminology’s understanding of domestic violence. Considerable amounts of research surrounding domestic violence stems from work that used the Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus and Gelles