Violence Against Women 's Violence

The topic this policy analysis assignment will focus on is violence against women in the United States. Seven in ten women experience some form of violence in their lifetime (Unite, n.d.). To curtail violence against women, the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 created the first U.S. federal legislation acknowledging domestic violence and sexual assault as crimes, and provided federal resources to encourage community-coordinated responses to combat violence (nnedv.org, n.d.). A question to be pursued for this project is how much has violence against women improved over the last decade? According to CBS News in 2013, “Rates (of rapes and sexual assaults) declined from a peak of 5 per 1,000 women in 1995 to 1.8 per

In America, 1 out of 6 women fall victim to rape at some point in their lives—completed or not (“Victims of Sexual Violence” 1). However, this is only one form of sexual assault that women are forced to face. Groping and other non-consensual, sexual acts are also examples of sexual assault (“Sexual Assault” 1).. Many perpetrators of sexual assault roam free, practically unaffected and likely to commit another similar act, while the woman could feel the effects of this event for her entire life. This problem affects women from around the globe—and it’s time that we put an end to it, because if we don’t, who will? If boys were to be taught how and how not to treat women in their early years, sexual assault would not be as prevalent, thus, women, including us, would not have to worry as much about enduring this kind of torment.

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.

Millions of adults each year in the USA are affected by intimate partner violence (IPV). “The National Violence Against Women (NVAW) survey conducted from November, 1995 to May, 1996 indicates that each year an estimated 8.5 million intimate partner victimizations occur among the US population ages 18 and older” (Fang & Corso, 2008, p. 303). “As recognition of IPV as a serious societal problem increases, more attention has been directed to risk and protective factors for IPV perpetration, especially the link between child maltreatment, victimization and future perpetration of IPV” (Fang & Corso, 2008, p. 303). More than 80 percent of all victims are maltreated by one or both parents. Several studies have found that children who have experienced child maltreatment (neglect, physical abuse, or sexual abuse) are more likely as adults to conduct IPV. Of these children, 54 percent suffered neglect, while almost a quarter, 23 percent, suffered physical abuse and nearly 12 percent of the victims were sexually abused (Fang & Corso, 2008).

There are several reasons why women fail to report an assault to formal support agencies and check some of the ways in which social agencies reaches them by themselves. This paper further explains many other ways to prevent rape or sexual assault, including some education programs for the college students, educating them to respect and value both genders which can bring a great change in reducing these attempts (Littleton, 2011). This will not only prevent sexual assault or harassment but also will educate them the other values of the

Women all over the world are constantly living in fear of sexual assault or abuse. Catherine Thorbecke from abc NEWS proclaimed that “One in three women will experience some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime.” This striking statistic exclaims how many women have to experience such a repulsive violation that affects their physical condition. The victim feel violated and can not go through their lives the same. After a victim gets sexually assaulted or abused they do not feel comfortable in their own bodies anymore.

“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.

Sexual violence is a significant social and cultural problem within America and all over the world. Within the United States nearly 1 in 5 women – or nearly 22 million – have been raped in their lifetimes. Arrest rates for sexual assault cases are low as they are hard to investigate because of the effects of the trauma itself. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, approximately 12% of the 283,200 annual rape or sexual assault victimizations from year 2005-2010 resulted in an arrest at the scene or during a follow-up investigation. Findings from the same survey revealed that more than one-third of women reported experiencing a sexual assault at some point during their lifetime. Within American society, rape constitutes an experience

The Violence against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 marked a turning point in our national response to the problems of both sexual assault and domestic violence. For the first time it considered the ways in which sexual assault and domestic violence were similar: they are both crimes of violence against women, rooted in historical and cultural traditions and attitudes. VAWA also addressed the ways our laws failed to prosecute and punish perpetrators of these crimes of violence, while often increasing the trauma experienced by victims. The act included measures designed to protect crime victims' rights and provide crime victims with compensation, establish hotlines for sexual assault and family violence victims, establish sex offender registration and community notification, protect women from "date rape," and coordinate law enforcement and social services to deal with crime in a unified manner.

“Only approximately one-quarter of all physical assaults, one-fifth of all rapes, and one-half of all stalkings perpetuated against females by intimate partners are reported to the police” (Tjaden). How does this happen? Anyone who sees this statistic is firstly appalled, and secondly unable to comprehend how such blatant abuse occurs without reprimand. And furthermore, someone who has studied sexuality would look at this statistic and wonder about how many men or transgender people are affected by physical assaults, rapes, and stalkings. But regardless of your response to this statistic, there is one thing that we all can agree on: domestic violence must stop now. And for us to move

sexual violence is a violation of human rights and a serious public health problem. It has a profound impact on physical and mental health, both immediately and many years after the assault. To date, sexual violence has received insufficient attention from researchers, policy-makers and program designers and it has been a long struggle to have it recognize as a legitimate public

In America, family violence such as child abuse and spousal abuse which is mostly against women has been known to be a silent crime. There has been a high percentage of cases against women and an estimated one half of all child abuse cases have been unreported (Pepler, 1989). In the late twentieth century, feminist groups began a campaign to accomplish a goal to eliminate family violence by changing people’s realization to conclude that no victim should leave a crime unsaid .in addition, twenty-eight percent of women reported one incident of violence from their partners which shows the decrease in unreported cases. ​​​​Most physical abuse victims in the United States proves that women have a higher rate. In states, such as Nicaragua and

“Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life." While women are not the only victims of sexual violence, Perreault & Brennan (2010) state “of the sexual assaults reported by respondents to the GSS, 70% involved a female victim” (p. 11). Women between the ages of 18-24 have a higher rate of self-reported sexual violence (Perreault & Brennan, 2010) and it is identified that “in over half (51%) of sexual assault incidents, the perpetrator was a friend, acquaintance,

In 1994, Bill Clinton signed the Violence Against Women Act. The VAWA Act improves criminal justice and community based on responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking in the United States (“Dating Violence”). This shows that we, as Americans, are moving in the right direction, but because women are not properly informed on the consequences and warnings of dating violence, it will remain

Takyiwaa Manuh and Adolf Awuku Bekoe 's essay “Confronting Violence” gives many startling statistics on the rate of violence against women in the U.S.