Domestic Violence

Introduction Domestic Violence Against Women is a global issue

reaching across national boundaries as well as socio-economic, cultural,

racial and class distinctions. It is a problem without frontiers. Not

only is the problem widely dispersed geographically, but its incidence is

also extensive, making it a typical and accepted behavior. Only recently,

within the past twenty-five years, has the issue been “brought into the

open as a field of concern and study” (Violence Against Women in the

Family, page 38). Domestic violence is not an isolated, individual

event but rather a pattern of repeated behaviors that the abuser uses to

gain power and control over the victim. Unlike stranger-to-stranger

violence, in domestic violence situations the same perpetrator repeatedly

assaults the same victim. These assaults are often in the form of physical

injury, but may also be in the form of sexual assault. However the abuse

is not only physical and sexual, but also psychological. Psychological

abuse means intense and repetitive humiliation, creating isolation, and

controlling the actions of the victim through intimidation or

manipulation. Domestic violence tends to become more frequent and severe

over time. Oftentimes the abuser is physically violent sporadically, but

uses other controlling tactics on a daily basis. All tactics have profound

effects on the victim. Perpetrators of domestic violence can be found in

all age, racial, ethnic, cultural, socio-economic, linguistic,

educational, occupational and religious groups. Domestic violence is found

in all types of intimate relationships whether the individuals are of the

same or opposite sex, are married or dating, or are in a current or past

intimate relationship. There are two essential elements in every domestic

violence situation: the victim and abuser have been intimately involved at

some point in time, and the abuser consciously chooses to use violence and

other abusive tactics to gain control over the victim. In some instances,

the abuser may be female while the victim is male; domestic violence also

occurs in gay and lesbian relationships. However, 95% of reported

assaults on spouses or ex-spouses are committed by men against women

(MTCAWA e-mail interview) “It is a terrible and recognizable fact that

for many people, home is the least safe place” (Battered Dreams, 9).

Domestic violence is real violence, often resulting in permanent injuries

or death. Battering is a widespread societal problem with consequences

reaching far beyond individual families. It is conduct that has

devastating effects for individual victims, their children and their

communities. In addition to these immediate effects, there is growing

evidence that violence within the “family becomes the breeding ground for

other social problems such as substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, and

violent crimes of all types” (MTCAWA e-mail interview). Domestic

violence against women is not merely a domestic issue; but, rather a

complex socio-economical crisis that threatens the interconnected

equilibrium of the entire social structure. Causes & Effects

“Within the family there is a historical tradition condoning

violence” (Violence Against Women: The Missing Agenda, 29). Domestic

violence against women accounts for approximately 40 to 70% of all violent

crime in North America. However, the figures don’t tell the entire story;

less than 10% of such instances are actually reported to police (The

Living Family, 204). The causes of domestic violence against women are

numerous. Many claim stress is the substantial cause of domestic conflict

resulting in violence. Though stress in the workplace is a contributing

factor, it is by no means the substantial one. Many people suffer from

stress disorders, but most don’t resort to violence as a means of release.

It is apparent that the substantial causes have more to do with the

conditioning of males culturally, and within the family of orientation

than anything else. Historically, women have been treated more as

belongings than human beings; Old English Common Law permitted a man to

abuse his wife and kids, as long as he didn’t use a stick thicker than the

width of his thumb–“Rule of Thumb” (The Living Family, 201). Culturally,

men have been conditioned to repress their feelings of emotion–always

acting like the tough guy, the linebacker, the cowboy. But, when

confronted with an emotionally difficult conflict, one which is impossible

to shove down deep, they irrupt in volcanic proportions, often taking out

years of repressed rage on those closest to them, in particular their own

family. However, what seems to be the most significant cause of the male

tactic of violent conflict resolution is violence within the family of

orientation. Statistics show that 73% of male abusers had grown up in a

family where they saw their mother beaten, or experienced abuse themselves

(MTCAWA e-mail interview). Using the (relatively accepted) Freudian

model, which claims that all mental illness stems from traumatic childhood

trauma, one can see how there is a direct correlation between violence in

the family of orientation and violence within the family of procreation.

And, indeed, abusers are mentally ill, though the illness tends to be more

subtle than others: many abusers display a Jekyll&Hyde personality, where

they are nothing like their domestic selves outside the home. In most

cases the cycle of violence starts slowly; it usually consists of a slap

in the face or a hard shove. But the frequency and degree of violence

escalates with time. The abuser will justify the abuse by pointing out

his wife’s inadequacies and faults. But, no matter how wrong the wife is,

there is little, if no, justification for spousal abuse within a civil

society. The real issue at hand is the neurosis within the male psyche.

Just as in rape, the key issue is control. Male abusers are laden with

fear about losing power. They inflict physical abuse on their spouse to

prove that they have, still have, and will have control over their spouses

(and/or children.) They won’t stop there either. The pattern of abuse

involves severe mental torture and humiliation–blaming, threatening,

ignoring, isolating, forcing sex, monitoring phone calls, and restricting

any form of social life. It is a vicious cycle of abuse, where the wife

is almost literally chained to the husband. Her self-esteem has been

obliterated. She is financially, emotionally, and functionally helpless.

She is incapable of reaching out for help for herself or for her children.

At this point the abuse gets more routine; the abuser sites his partner’s

pathetic state as more reason to beat her. And the victim sinks deeper,

and more beatings ensue. She has been infected with psychological-AIDS;

she has no defense (“immune system”) to combat the disease of abuse. For

women, escaping an abusive relationship is VERY difficult. And the abuse

usually doesn’t stop at the discretion of the male. An in-depth study of

all one-on-one murder and non-negligent manslaughter cases in Canada from

1980 to 1984 found that 62% of female victims were killed by a male

partner (Violence Against Women Homepage). It is painfully clear that

victims have little but two choices: leave or die. Sadly, the latter is

the easier one. Domestic Violence as a Health Issue The World

Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical,

mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or

infirmity” (In the Health of Women: A Global Perspective, 78). Based on

this, domestic violence against women is clearly a health problem. In

1984, the U.S. Surgeon General declared domestic violence against women as

the number ONE health problem (Violence Against Women Homepage

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