Who Is Intimate Partner Violence?

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, 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

Walter (1969) gave a comprehensive definition of violence as “destructive harm including not only physical assaults that damage the body, but also techniques of inflicting harm by mental or emotional means” (p. 24). However, in the context of intimate relationships, the definition of violence requires more aspects to be determined. The basic questions to be asked when defining domestic violence proposed by Hegarty, Sheehan, and Schonfeld (1999) in their article A Multidimensional Definition of Partner Abuse are 1) which relationships should be included as domestic? And 2) how should violence in domestic life be defined? To answer these questions, Hegarty et al. said that it is important to choose the appropriate definition that is most relevant to the purpose of the studies. Dutton (2006) defined domestic violence in his book Rethinking Domestic Violence as “any violence occurring between intimate partners (same sex or other sex, married or unmarried) and against children” (p. 3), but further said that he will only focus on intimate

Domestic violence is present across America, but the role it has taken in the lives of Native American women is most troubling as it can be harder to track. Tribal sovereignty can at times act as a shield for violence. The independent nature of tribes as nations can impede systems established to prevent reoccurring actions of violence within a society. However, as domestic violence is largely a result of societal systems, it is easiest and most thoroughly examined through narratives.

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.

Before taking this course on family violence, I had an idea what was Intimate Partner Violence. I have always believed that Intimate partner violence involves only married couples. I had also thought that violence between a married couple consider the only force of using physical abuse only. Fortunately after reading about partner violence, I have learned that there was more than just one type of abuses. For example, I never thought that sexual abuse could happen between a couple. In addition, I learned that intimate partner violence does not consider only married partners but also partners who have same sex genders, and are unmarried.

This section will discuss the topic intimate partner violence against women as discussed by other scholars and authors. Various books will be analyzed to understand the topic better. The section will also explain the main issues independently analyzing different literature and will also discuss the similarities and differences. The issue has emanated a lot of public concern as more young women continue to suffer in silence with the fear of speaking out against their partners. Some women, however, are courageous and have opted to speak about the issue in public without fear of being judged or criticized. Careful analysis of the different books will help to determine the different perspectives that different authors understand

Violence against women is a substantial public health problem in the United States. According to data from the criminal justice system, hospital, and medical records, mental health records, social services, and surveys, thousands of women are injured or killed each year as a result of violence, many by someone they are involved with or were involved with intimately. Nearly one-third of female homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2001). Throughout this, many will read about intimate partner violence also called

What is intimate partner violence? Intimate partner violence is when a partner is physical and sexually abused. Intimate violence can occur among heterosexual or same-sex couples. Twenty seven percent of women and nearly 12% of men in the United States have experienced contact sexual, violence, physical, or stalking by an intimate partner (Prevent Domestic Violence in Your Community, 2014). 85% of women are victims of domestic violence.1/3 of American women and ¼ of women worldwide will experience domestic/dating violence in their lifetime. (11 Facts About Domestic And Dating Violence, 2014)

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a topic that is frequently unspoken of however; it affects thousands of individuals on a daily basis and is especially important in the field of Social Work. In order to best discuss IPV, a mutual definition is needed. According to the CDC, “The term “intimate partner violence” describes physical violence, sexual violence, stalking and psychological aggression (including coercive acts) by a current or former intimate partner (Intimate Partner Violence: Definitions, 2017). Even though this definition broadly identifies the behaviors that can be categorized under this form of violence, the etiology of IPV is much more complicated. Some of the complexities of IPV are displayed through out the movie Tyler Perry's Madea's

“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.

Most studies on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) have focused specifically on its physical, psychological and sexual manifestations. Economic abuse is highly correlated with the mainstream forms of violence and it is seen as another commonly tactic used by an abuser. Although the role of financial issues and economic circumstances constitute a crucial dimension in women’s experiences of IPV, it is receiving lesser empirical attention when compared to the other forms of violence. The study seeks to present an integrative account of existing literature regarding the issues of economic abuse and describe its influence on quality of life on victims, with the objective of discussing the methodological and conceptual differences between studies

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.

This study combines phenomenology and minority stress theory to examine the lived experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) among lesbian women in Columbia, South Carolina. Using qualitative methods, including genograms and semi-structured interviews, the research explores the commonalities among participants in relation to their experiences with intimate partner violence and contextualizes and analyzes such experiences, describing patterns and themes of violence, obstacles to seeking help, and interactions with mental health professionals. The author believes that via genograms, the true extent of violence within family systems can be made known. By shedding more light on the human experience of lesbian intimate partner violence, the

Domestic violence refers to abusive behavior in any relationship that is inflicted on a partner to gain or maintain power and control over another partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological. Domestic violence includes behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone. Domestic violence can happen to anyone, regardless of their race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender; and it also occurs in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships; domestic violence also affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels (Justice, The United States Department of, 2017). This topic has attracted a lot of discussion and research because of its dominance and complexity. This essay, therefore seeks to look at the causes and effects of domestic violence.