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Domestic Violence towards women has become a major problem in Canada which is often over looked by society today. Violence is defined by Websters Dictionary as: 1. Physical force employed so as to damage or injure and 2. As an instance of violent action. So many women are beaten by loved ones each year and why is there little or nothing is done to correct this violent and hostile situation? In this paper I will attempt to answer this question along with many others which plague women in these war zones each day.
The battered women is pictured by most people as a small, fragile, haggard person who might once have been pretty. She has several small children, no job skills, and is economically dependent on her husband. It is frequently assumed that she is poor and from a minority group. She has grown accustomed to living in a violent environment, and her fearfulness and passivity are emphasized.
Although some battered women do fit this description, research proves it to be false stereotype. In fact most battered women have highly lucrative jobs such as doctors or lawyers, Corporation executives and nurses. Most are heavyset women whose assets are controlled by their husbands and who cannot defend themselves physically. Battered women are found in all racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds as well as age groups and educational levels. Who are battered women? If you are a woman, there is a 50 percent chance it could be you!
Statistical data on battered women is difficult to find because most records are buried in medical records, domestic disturbance calls to the police or the records of social service agencies. During my research I found that characteristics in numerous categories for both the batterer and battered were the same. Commonly shared characteristics between the battered and the batterer. 1. low self-esteem. 2. Belief in all myths about battering relationships. 3. strong belief in family unity and his or her role in the family unit.
Batterers typically deny that they have a problem, although they are often aware of it; and they become enraged if their spouses should reveal the true situation. Researchers Eisenberg and Micklow found in their study that 90 percent of the batterers had been in a military institution. Twenty five percent received dishonorable discharges. These are some alarming facts and characteristics about men who beat women. Because the military is a place where recruits learn about violence, this could be a serious and detrimental link to female assault. Some of these traits they learn in the military environment are transferred to their private lives.
Some of the reasoning behind these acts of physical and mental neglect may be societies acceptance of such violence. We as a society are condoning violence on television in the movie and in sports. We pay for this type of entertainment, support the government when they apply force on other nations and as the saying goes sex and violence sell. It is glorified in all forms of the media.
Why do battered women stay with their significant others? The answer has many different angles. Some stay for financial reasons others for the traditional reasons. The fact is that they stay, but when is enough? After you live so many years, and you wake up one day, and your body has just about had it, you say, My God, I just cant take another punch. Thats what happened to me.
I just reached a point where I said, No more. Nothing is worth it. I decided I would rather struggle and see if I couldnt make it, so I just up and left, and thats been it. (Langley and Levy p. 111) These are the words of a victim of spousal abuse for seventeen years. In another case a women from Maryland described her experience. Being beaten up is the most degrading, humiliating, crushing kind of thing that could happen to a person. (Langley and Levy p. 116) in most cases the women feel that they are the ones to blame for their battering and also apologize for being beaten.
A womans decision to stay in the relationship or to seek help, or suffer in silence is often determined by the frequency of her beatings. When a women does come to the end of the line and has finally worked up enough courage to leave the one she loves so dearly, where does she go? Well the proper response would be that she calls for help via the police or local authorities and receives the compassion and understanding that she so deserves and needs in this time of uncertainty and doubt. But, all too often she experiences hostility and cynicism. Usually, the police, attorneys, prosecutors, public defenders, and even judges feel they should not get involved in so called family problems One Detroit police officer is even quoted as saying, there are no rewards for refereeing a family fight. One of the problems is that this type of offence can be viewed as both criminal and civil.
There are in fact only three states in the United States that have laws that deal directly with spousal abuse, California, Hawaii, and Texas where it is considered an automatic felony for a husband to physically abuse his wife. The court system however seems to defend the rights of the batterer rather than the battered. Assault is a crime in every state. Since wife beating is a form of assault, then wife beating is a crime in every state. In practice, however, wife beating is not treated as a crime but as a civil matter. Prosecutors deliberately look the other way even when a man admits to wife beating.
When the judicial system fails to help the abused, the abused must turn elsewhere to places such as crisis centers, churches, or shelters. But in many communities there are no such places or organizations to help the abused. Then the abused must depend on the community as well as family and friends for assistance. The government should establish support groups in all communities to assist the victims of spousal abuse.
One example of this disappointment in the system was found in the Detroit Free Press, in an article headlined Emergency Number Still Has Kinks reported which told the story of a near-breathless women, beaten by her husband, dialed 911 to ask for police assistance. Does he have a weapon? the operator asked. No She answered he did not. Then I am sorry.
We wont be able to help you, the operator said to the dismayed women. This lack of confidence in the judicial system in return sends women a message of desperation, fear, hopelessness and frustration. Many women in turn take the law into their own hands. In a study done by the U. S Department of Justice between 1987 and 1991.
Approximately one in four attacks involved the use of a gun or knife, according to the study. Young, black and Hispanic women were especially vulnerable, as were poor single women with low education levels who lived in inner cities. The findings were drawn from more than 400, 000 interviews. The Acting Bureau Director, Lawrence A.
Greenfield stated that the number of women attacked by spouses, former spouses, boyfriends, parents or children is more than 10 times higher than the number of males attacked by such people. It is clear to me that all of us living in this great nation need to join hands in the fight against Domestic Violence in the home, not just against women but also children and men as well. But for the purpose of this paper I have focused mainly on the women of the North American household. We as a society should take action and force our government to compose social as well as political laws to rectify this situation.
There are no set standards; in fact police officers are encouraged not to make arrests in cases of domestic violence calls. The reasoning is once again the civil matter of domestic violence being a family problem. In conclusion this simply alarming and terrifyingly eye opening subject matter I would like to suggest four areas in which we as a society and human beings could help in curbing the violence, not just on women but on children as well. 1. Develop stringent policies to deal with personal violence. 2. The court system should impose stiffer penalties against offenders. 3. Counseling must be made available to batterers to assist them and to prevent repeat offences 4.
Educating enforcement authorities in dealing with spousal abuse situations. I strongly believe that if these four recommendations are implemented, society should experience a decrease in the incidents of spousal abuse and our communities would be a much happier environment.
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Research essay sample on Spousal Abuse Wife Beating
