The Role Of Domestic Violence In The United States

Statistics state, “One out of every four women will go through domestic violence situations in life. (safehorizon.com) Domestic violence is aggressive behavior towards someone else at home or in a relationship. This can happen at home between spouses/partners or parents and children. Domestic violence should be given more acknowledgment in the media and in classrooms so that people are aware of what is happening. If we do not continue to advocate for victims and educate society, victims will continue to suffer physically,mentally, and emotionally, victims of this behavior go back to their abuser, leading victims to later become abusers themselves.

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

Domestic violence is skyrocketing in our society. In the U.S., as many as 1.5 million women and 850,000 men were physically assaulted by their intimate partner last year, and numerous children abused by their parents. These sad criminal acts will continue to grow in our society, unless our community takes action to stop these crimes.

Before reading the first two parts of "Til Death Do Us Part" I knew that domestic violence was a growing issue in the United states, but it was a surprise to find out that the state that we live in for more than fifteen has been place in the top ten nationally in the rate of women murder by men (Pardue, Smith, Hawes, & Hauff, 2014). The first part gave the statics on how many victims were turned away in 2012-2013 from shelters around South Carolina which was a total of 380. The reason why this was done because there was no rom they said (Pardue et al., 2014). Since this information was taken there should have a increase in the number of shelters in South Carolina, but there is only 18 domestic violence shelters. There is about 36,000 incidents of domestic abuse in our state. That number is shocking, many people wouldn 't have thought that there were that many incident. The national statistics on domestic violence given by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence states:

On July 29th, 2006, Rafael Dangond and Lissette Ochoa were invited to a wedding party in an exclusive Country Club in the city of Barranquilla, Columbia. Dangond soon became outraged and aggressive after seeing Ochoa was dancing with a young male, who is one of her friends traveled from Venezuela to attend the wedding party. He fiercely attacked Ochoa once she exited the event and the violence constantly continued for over two hours. This extreme brutal act is a product of Dangond’s desires to control and dominate his wife because of his low self-esteem and extreme jealousy. As a result of Dangond’s abusive act, Ochoa suffered multiple physical traumas mainly on her head. Although Dangond’s performance seem to be a case of direct violence stemming from jealousy and frustration, it is also important to recognize the cultural and structural aspects involved in the conflict. The culture of domestic violence in Columbia, which are usually considered as being part of normal married life in the society and the vertically hierarchical relationships between husband and wife in a family must also be examined in order to fully determine the complexity of the conflict. Because of the vertical social structures, Dangond’s action is likely to continue between he and his wife. However, in order to decrease the prospect of future violence, laws regarding violence against women must be enforced and the abolition of the vertical familial patriarchal social system in

It has been recorded that approximately “2,000,000 injuries, and 1,300 deaths are caused each year as a result of domestic violence” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). This harm to and loss of life is due to the negligence of all Americans, in regards to the monitoring and managing of domestic violence in the United States. In order to combat the blatant disregard for domestic violence victims, Americans must support, aid, and assist those who fall victim to this crime, as well as educate those who are oblivious to the matter at hand. These actions will be essential in the eradication of domestic violence, as well as the preservation of the health and overall safety of all American people.

Stuart F. Delery, Former Acting Associate Attorney General, (2015) states "The month of October is observed as Domestic Violence Awareness Month around the country by advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors, survivors and many others to raise public awareness about domestic violence." According to the United States Department of Justice (2016) domestic violence is defined 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." Domestic violence is one criminal justice issue frequently faced by law enforcement, attorneys, and especially victims of the crime. The United States Department of Justice (2016) asserts domestic violence can be any type of action or threat of action, such as physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological that influences another person; this includes behaviors in a way that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone. Regardless of age, sexual orientation, race, religion, socioeconomic background, education level, or gender, domestic violence can happen to any individual despite being in a opposite-sex or same-sex relationship and whether the intimate partners are married, cohabiting, or simply dating. Since domestic violence can occur at any time and place to anyone, initiatives taken

Taking a look into America’s work industry, society’s values reflect the meaning of domestic violence. In order to gain an understanding of how societies function, many professionals have observed various factors that contribute to the way societies work and the specific explanations of social problems, such as domestic violence. Domestic violence and emotional abuse are behaviors used by one person to control the other. Victims can be of any age, sex, race, culture, and religion. Although both men and women can be abused, most victims are women. Domestic violence against women has become a social issue discussed by many Americans and it has become unacceptable, this paper will focus on the causes, effects, and solutions to domestic violence against women in the United States, and provide examples of how it has been changing through the years of 1995 to present.

Domestic violence is a single act or a pattern of cruel acts in any relationship that a partner uses to get or keep power and control over another partner. The violence can be sexual, physical, economic, emotional, or psychological actions or threats of actions that impacts another person. Any actions that manipulate, intimidate, isolate, humiliate, terrorize, frighten, threaten, coerce, hurt, blame, wound, or injure someone can be domestic violence (The United States Department of Justice).

Knowledge of domestic violence is becoming prevalent in the United States and around the world. Family violence, teen dating violence and intimate partner violence are being talked about openly more; they are also becoming known as abuse and not something that is just “ok” or “just how a person is”. Beliefs and laws are changing toward nonviolence as discussed in this report.

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:

Domestic violence affects a large amount of relationships in the United States each year. As the times have changed, abuse has become less accepted as a normal occurrence, and society has begun working together to provide awareness towards violence in intimate partner relationships. “Problems of family violence are potentially the most destructive in our society” (Kurland 23). Domestic violence is a problem that begins in the home, and spreads to affect the world around it. Violence is present in relationships of all demographics, be it race, sexual orientation, or social class. No one is entirely safe from experiencing abuse, but if society is taught to recognize the signs it can save a life or even prevent abuse from happening.

Domestic violence can be describe as one of the most gruesome and misunderstood crime in our society. It can be as simple as verbal abuse and as complicated as a homicide where we walk a thin line between intentional harm and self-defence. There are two distinctive differences or stages of domestic violence. The first being some sort of “controlling behaviour explained as a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.” (Oonagh Gay, 2015). This controlling behaviour can either stay as such or excel as what is called a “coercive behaviour: an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.” (Oonagh, 2015).

In America most cases of Domestic Violence are never actually reported, many times these cases go unheard and the victims suffer in silence. The worn out cries of a battered woman as she lays on the ground clutching herself and begging her significant other to just stop. The bruises and cuts that remain unreported due to the victim claiming they accidentally fell yet again. The abusers tend to make the victim almost entirely dependable on them. An abuser will do this to gain control and to create a weaker victim, “behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control the other” (Par. 1, Definition). Control. The abuser seeks control over their victims. When their control is threatened they act out in ways harmful to others. Domestic

The girl heard in the 911 call recording seems to be in imminent danger from exposure of domestic violence. Throughout the recording she sounds terrified as she is hysterically screaming and crying. She tells the operator that her mother and father are fighting and later noted that “this has been going on forever and ever.” Both the girl and the mother could be heard screaming “stop it.” During the recording the the girl also screams out “stop it, you are going to hurt the baby” which indicates that there is a baby who is also at risk. The girl stated that her mother has red marks on her neck. Most disturbingly, the girl screams out at the top of her lungs “oh my God, mommy” just prior to the phone disconnecting, leaving the listener to wonder what has just happened and if the mother is OK.