The Day It Happened by Rosario Morales

Domestic violence: a taboo issue in our society, where the discussion is shut down by fear of instability or vulnerability. A crime, hidden from plain view, behind closed doors, that harms up to half a million innocent individuals every year. Someone is experiencing some form of domestic violence as we speak as for every 15 seconds there is a woman beaten around the world, and for every hour as many as 115 children are abused. Domestic violence, or intimate partner violence, is a violation of human rights. It involves violent, abusive or intimidating behaviour carried out by an adult against a partner or former partner to control and dominate that person.  Violence of any form should not be accepted in our modern society it nurtures fear and hatred, and it should not be locked away as an allowable social norm. We should be better than that.

Domestic violence (DV) has and continues to affect millions of, women, men, children and the elderly every day. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, defines Domestic violence as, “hurtful, repeated and intentional behavior that one person uses to maintain power and control over another in an intimate relationship.” (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, n.d.) Abuse impacts many individuals from various backgrounds. Abuse comes in many forms, verbal, emotional, physical, sexual and, covers a wide range of tactics to establish and maintain power and control. A predominant form of DV is Intimate Partner Violence is also known as (IPV,) which affects millions of people every year, primarily women

Intimate partner violence or domestic violence is not only a physical incident between a couple. Domestic Violence encompasses physical, sexual, emotional, economic, and psychological forms taken by a perpetrator against the victim. In Texas 77% of all Hispanic have either themselves or know someone who has experienced some form of domestic violence and 64% of all Hispanic have reported having personally experienced at least one form of domestic violence in their lifetime. This is a 16% difference from the 47% of Texans that have reported

According to John Thawley, “domestic violence, or domestic abuse, is a systematic pattern of intentional intimidation that is reinforced by violence or the threat of violence, for the purpose of gaining or maintaining power and control over one’s partner.” Many people feel the need to act in a way that will intimidate their partner for numerous reasons. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica state, the abuser might feel stressed or might have a lot on their plate and not know how to cope with it. Another reason, according to Encyclopedia.com, could be, as a child the abuser witnessed their parents go through domestic violence and it stuck with them as something that is normal or justifiable. Although, there is no justification for violence within a household. Many victims of domestic violence in the Hispanic community do not seek help because they do not understand the law and are afraid to call the police. Victims need to understand that, in the city of Houston, there are laws set in place to help them; regardless of what their cultural upbringing was, it should not justify their partner abusing them; and if their partner went through a challenging time as a child, they need to get help.

Intimate partner violence is prevalent around the world. Domestic violence is accepted in many cultures and is considered a private matter meant to be kept in the home. The majority of the perpetrators are men and the victims are women. Victims are usually blamed for the violence which influence the likelihood of women reporting abuse.

Domestic violence exists everywhere and affects all people regardless of socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, sex, ethnicity, or religion. Most times physical violence is accompanied by emotional abuse and controlling behaviors. The result of domestic violence includes physical injury, psychological issues, and death. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) occurs in 1 of 4 women in the United States and can be correlated with a loss of emotional, social, physical and mental health. Intimate Partner Violence is an issue that does not receive a lot of recognition and is overlooked majority of the time. There is a lot of information on women in intimate partner violence relationships that explains how it affects women physically, mentally, and socially.

“Every year, in the United States there are over 3 million incidents of reported domestic violence. Every year, 4,000 victims of domestic violence are killed.” (Domestic Violence: Disturbing Facts about Domestic Violence). Domestic violence is a crime that is not just committed in the United States, but worldwide. This crime is committed every day, every hour, every minute, and every second. Anybody can be a victim or the abuser. This can happen to any child, man or woman. This is a horrific crime. Women are more likely to be the victim in domestic violence than men. “Forty-five percent of all violent attacks against female victims 12 years old and older by multiple

Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior or coercive control in any relationship that is used by one person to gain or maintain power and control over another. (Violence). Most of society’s think domestic violence is when one of the spouses is abusing the other spouse. Domestic violence can occur between anyone who has lived together at one point of time; couples who have never lived together, but have a child together and family member who has live together in the same household. Domestic violence can happen to anyone, regardless of their class, religion, ethnic background, education, age, gender, disability status, sexual orientation, gender presentation, or immigration status. The domestic violence can place in different categories, such as; emotional abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse and financial abuse. Researcher had discovered tactics that the abusers use to control their victims such as; dominance, humiliation, isolation, threats, intimidation, denial and shifting blame. (Helpguide.org).

One of the major efforts of the domestic violence movement, from the beginning, has been to debunk commonly believed stereotypes and myths about domestic violence. This is important because an accurate awareness of the issue cannot occur within society if the general public believes that domestic violence is a problem that only affects certain groups of people and is therefore not in need of attention since it is not that common. In addition, one of the easiest ways to acquire an overall understanding of the basic elements of domestic violence is to debunk commonly believed stereotypes. For example, it is commonly believed that domestic violence only affects certain populations. As mentioned above, domestic violence occurs across all cultures, religions, ethnicities, income levels, sexual orientations, age groups, and education levels. Another myth is that domestic violence is not a common or serious problem when in fact, in the United States, a woman is battered every 9 seconds (NCVC, 2008). Another myth is that domestic violence is caused by substance abuse. In fact, many batterers abuse alcohol or drugs, but it is not an excuse for their

“Domestic violence is a type of abuse by one or both partners in marriage, friends, family, dating or cohabitation” (Aziz & Mahmoud, 2010). There are many forms of abuse from verbal and emotional to physical that often escalates over time in intensity for the victim. Data from the criminal justice system, hospital patient medical records and mental health records, police reports, surveys and social services reports of thousands of women revealed that many are injured and killed as a result of violence from someone close to them. “The US Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) defines domestic violence 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 regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender” (Robertson & Murachver, 2009). Researchers and the criminal justice system have not been able to agree on a clear definition to domestic violence which can range from physical injury, stalking, verbal abuse and humiliation, denial of shelter and access to money, and intimidation through aggressive behaviors. The definition of domestic violence may vary but the results from physical injury, mental and emotional trauma, and sometimes even death can last a life time.

Domestic Violence (DV) is a critical social issue that negatively impacts not only our own culture in America but as well as all other cultures around the world. Domestic Violence is a global issue reaching across national boundaries as well as socio-economic, cultural, racial and class distinctions (Kaur & Garg 2008). Domestic Violence is a serious problem that can be seen around every society from families of both developed and underdeveloped countries and of different backgrounds. Although there are various cases of domestic violence against men, children and the elderly; women account for the majority percentage of victims of Domestic Violence. This violence can take the form of physical assault, psychological abuse, financial abuse or sexual assault (Kaur & Garg 2008). Domestic Violence is a trend that is on the rise and will continue to plague our society if nothing is done on time to address this social issue.

"The Day It Happened" by Rosario Morales is a story filled with love, strength, abuse, and fear. The story takes place in an apartment complex most likely in Puerto Rico. This story talks about how Josie, a wife and soon to be mother, learns to stand up to her abusive husband and do what is best for her baby. Josie was abused by her husband not just physically but verbally as well. She overcame everything that was happening to her and decided what was best for her and her baby even though she was married with her husband's baby on the way.

Everyone is different with a unique set of values which shapes our beliefs and views that affect our personal behavior. Domestic violence can happen to anyone no matter the race, ethnicity, or social economic status. According to Babcock, Gree, and Robie (2004), domestic violence is a learned behavior and is defined by the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence (2014) “Is when two people get into an intimate relationship and one person uses a pattern of coercion and control against the other person during the relationship and/or after the relationship has terminated. It often includes physical sexual, emotional, or economic abuse.” When defining the parties involved in domestic violence disputes, a batterer and/or victim can be male or female. For the purpose of research results we will discuss the batterer being male and the victim as female. The process of understanding domestic violence includes understanding human behavior in the social environment and examining battering from a batterer’s perspective.

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.

Domestic violence happens every day and it includes people of all races, ethnicities, color, religions, rich or poor, old or young, man or woman and physical and mental disabilities. Domestic violence happens to anyone regardless of where you live, work and how smart you are; these do not matter to the person committing the acts of violence against you. Today, domestic violence goes by Intimate partner violence defined as actual or threatened physical or sexual violence or psychological/emotional abuse by a spouse, ex-spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend, or date (Meadows, 2014). There are other forms of domestic violence such as stalking and dating violence. Domestic violence just doesn’t occur to married couples,