International prevalence figures
Identify the population most affected by domestic violence based on the prevalence rates of domestic violence against the identified population, analyzing the social determinants of domestic violence against women and identifying the various potential stakeholders that could be used to address this issue of domestic violence in the society.
Domestic violence refers to any abusive behaviour or intimidation in a relationship. Domestic violence is a major problem in the society today that affects millions of people across the world, with the most affected being women (Feder, 2013). According to Pandey (2008), “a sizeable number of research findings evidence that domestic violence is witnessed across both men and women of all religion, caste and education lines, the most widespread violence being reported among women”. This paper aims to identify the population most affected by domestic violence based on the prevalence rates of domestic violence against the identified population, analyzing the social determinants of domestic violence against women and identifying the various potential stakeholders that could be used to address this issue of domestic violence in the society.
From the various research findings on domestic violence carried out worldwide, it is tabled that girls and women between the ages of 15-44 years, experience the highest risk of being affected by domestic violence, with at least one in five of these girls and women having undergone domestic abuse in their lifetime (Fitzpatrick, Kwon, Manning, Midgley & Pascall, 2013). The International prevalence rates of violence against women enable us to make the justifications that domestic violence affects women the most, in relation to the rest of the population.
According to a multi-country study carried out by the World Health Organization in 15 sites across ten countries, findings indicate that between 15% and 71% of women experience physical or sexual abuse caused by their intimate partners. Moreover, 70% of female murder victims worldwide result from their male partners (Allen, 2012). Additionally, World Bank reports also indicate that intimate partners commit 38% of women murders, genital mutilation has affected 200 million women; intimate partner and non-partner sexual violence have been experienced by 35% of women worldwide. Renzetti, Edleson & Bergen, (2011) show that more than half of all women in the world have faced domestic violence in one way or the other when sexual harassment and all forms of gender based violence are considered. These figures reveal and justify that women are the most affected by domestic violence in the society. These revelations, therefore, trigger the need to identify the effects and causal factors of domestic violence against women.
Effects of domestic violence on women
Violence has far-reaching negative impacts on the affected person’s life, regardless of the gender, economic status, political or social status. The traditional community provided a strong root for domestic violence against women to thrive. With the traditional community’s biased views and perceptions of women, domestic violence against women has grown to reach its high levels in the current societies. Research shows that intimate partners are the most perpetrators of violence against women. But the unfortunate fact remains that domestic violence has no advantage, either to the man or the woman, instead, it only affects these people either directly or indirectly negatively. And these effects, if not managed, can impact the well-being of the whole community. More still, violence against women causes unending suffering, reduces the concerned women’s full participation as loyal country’s citizens and generates gender equality in the society (Bywaters, McLeod & Napier, 2009).
Violence against women is an interpersonal experience that has been denied, tolerated, criminalized and in turn condoned for a long time and across different cultures (Allen, 2012). It comes in different forms that include: physical abuse, sexual abuse, social and emotional abuse. Domestic violence has far-reaching effects on women. These include; physical injury, illness, death, social isolation, emotional and psychological scars that lower the affected woman’s self-esteem and identity.
Emotional and psychological scars of domestic violence, according to (Allen, 2012), is frequently described by women as harder to deal with and recover from due to its continuous effects. That is, it can take women many years to recover from in case appropriate support is not provided to them. These emotional consequences include depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders and other disorders (Smith, 2014). The most prominent psychological consequence of domestic violence is a posttraumatic disorder. Posttraumatic disorder it is characterized by exposure to a series of traumatic events, or dreams that the victim gets after the trauma event has happened. Posttraumatic disorder results in the battered woman syndrome. The battered woman syndrome has symptoms like; avoidance of any stimuli associated with the traumatic experience, dreams, re-experiencing of the trauma, increased arousal and emotional numbing of the victim (Huss, 2009).
Additionally, physical abuse inflicts pain and physical injuries on the abused body parts. This can, in turn, lead to illness as a result of infections such as tetanus in cases where an object was used that caused wounds on the woman’s body.in some cases, physical injuries can lead to the woman becoming physically disabled, a condition that negatively affects the woman’s life forever. Extreme cases of physical abuse may finally lead to the death of the woman abused when she sustains the severe injuries from the abuse that in one way or the other has caused complications to the normal health of the woman, or the woman committing suicide as a result of depression and stress caused by repeated cases of violence.
Social determinants of Domestic Violence
Furthermore, violence against women in the family may cause breaking up of the family, when the concerned woman can no longer tolerate the violent acts against her leading to the woman and the children suffering most.
Several social or contextual factors contribute to domestic violence against women. These factors may include:
Patriarchy and Power Hierarchy
In most families, the man enjoys absolute authority, privileges and power. He is in charge of making every decision, as the undisputed family head. The woman is perceived to be inferior and should submit to her husband in every possible sense. According to findings from most field studies carried out on domestic violence, women often do not perceive themselves abused unless they have suffered severe physical assault. This is due to the submissive nature instilled in them by the patriarchy in the society. Loads of women continue to persevere in violent marriages, even with the information that domestic abuse is a crime, because the community gives the man the ultimate powers of control over women and it, therefore, lacks community support structures to fight against domestic violence (Pandey, 2008). Moreover, such communities perceive women to be a weaker group that they have no say even to what happens to them, or affects them.
Introduction/ societal perception of women
Despite feminists cherishing women’s collectivity, and advocating for women empowerment and gender equality, the nature of the traditional family discourages women being placed in similar positions as men, within the society or in the family (Pandey, 2008). Traditional marriages bring about rigid ideas of conjugality and patriarchal traditions of family structure, without considering the concerns of women and children. Men are considered to have authority over women in every sense, including conjugal rights and final decisions. The man decides everything typically in the family. Therefore, the man is given a sense of seeing women as inferior and at their mercy. Thus, they will tend to mistreat women through violence and other forms of abuse. This explains why most women develop the feeling of fear and isolation, even in non-nuclear, with other women members, when they are abused. Despite the efforts to empower women not to keep silent to domestic violence, the societal perception of women to be under women continue to render these efforts fruitless through their perceptions of women that promote gender imbalance between men and women.
Family Structure
There is an association between family structure and the probability of domestic violence, according to a study of domestic violence in the Indian context. Joint or nuclear family structure gives the man the ultimate power and authority over the family, leaving women powerless in relation to family matters (Johnson, Ollus & Nevala, 2007). On the other hand, the fight against domestic violence requires coordination between the man and woman in a family, in every matter relating to the family. This perpetuates social inequality between men and women, through discrimination against women, deprivation of women rights, and denial of women access to resources, exploitation, and intimidation of women, which are all aspects of violence against women.
Socio-Economic Status
Incidences of domestic violence are higher among the poor, disadvantaged and low strata members of the society. Research shows that women from low-income families have higher ability to adjust to violence cases due to the association of their families’ strata to negative influences, especially, harassment and increased exposure to stressful conditions brought about by poverty.
In the society, more often than not, the man is the breadwinner of the family. All the matters relating to the economic welfare of the family is always in his hands. This creates an impression of being helpless without the man, for the woman. This, together with poverty in the family explains why women from low-income families will always keep to themselves their violence experiences within their families. On the contrary, women from upper and middle classes will suffer from isolation and shame when they are exposed to domestic violence since they not often prepared for the trauma associated with domestic violence. This will lead to them going through domestic violence for a very long period but try to hide it that their husbands are abusive (Johnson, Ollus & Nevala, 2007).
Social Isolation
Perpetrators of domestic violence will always try to cover their actions through some strategies that prevent the women from exposing their acts. Social isolation is part of the male strategy to control and dominate their female partners. The male may employ conditions to prevent the women from seeking or accessing support, either emotionally, through threats or physically (Squire, 2009). This situation exposes women to domestic violence for a longer period or even in some instances for the rest of their lives in intimate relationships because of lack of access to support or to report systems.
In Pandey (2008), one of the commonly notable features of abusive families is social isolation. Coupled with such stressful factors as lack of adequate daycare, close friends, low self-esteem or lack of peer groups to share their experiences with, women continue being in violent families for years, without seeking help over their situations.
Education
Lack of education is a cause of low self-esteem in the family, especially in cases where the man is literate and the woman not. The man will tend to take advantage of the woman’s education status, presumed to be lack of exposure, and have full authority and control over the woman, a situation that creates an environment for domestic violence. Education is a major determinant of exposure to information. Levels of domestic violence are high among illiterate families. As women acquire education, they are exposed to different information with regards to handling domestic violence and reporting mechanisms, as well as courses of action to take when exposed to domestic violence.
Family background
The family background of a woman also determines her tolerance and way of coping up with domestic violence. Those women were exposed to domestic violence at tender ages or who come from families where they were exposed to domestic violence are likely to tolerate domestic violence in their marriages. Children who have witnessed violence often presume that it is an acceptable problem-solving method. This tolerance will see them suffer from cases of abuse, but never try to tell anyone. On the other hand, women who experience domestic violence for the first time in their marriages are often traumatized so much out of fear and social isolation; they may try not to expose their abusive husbands.
Acceptance of violence as a way to resolve conflict
In most traditional marriages, where men had authority over women’s behaviour, men tend to use violence as a means to correct their wives when they do wrong. Moreover, violence, in these communities, was considered as a way to gain a woman’s respect and submission to her husband. Moreover, men consider battling their wives as a means to obtain respect and obedience of the women. In most traditional societies, no actions are often taken against men who battle their wives, even at the reports made by the affected women to the necessary authorities. This encourages the men to take advantage of the women to perpetuate domestic violence, in the name of resolving family conflicts. This explains the reason for increased domestic violence cases against women.
Lack of a strong disciplinary process within the community
For most cases of domestic violence against women that occur within the villages or local community settings, the perpetrators often go scot-free. This is due to lack of strong and active disciplinary settings or processes to handle such cases. Moreover, the very people in charge of community leadership are the ones who strongly hold patriarchy views and other biased judgments against women. Therefore violence against women continues to thrive in such settings.
Addressing social determinants of domestic violence against women
The magnitude of domestic violence against women is strongly tied to the cultural context and the existing societal gender biases. Therefore, a coordinated effort is required involving different stakeholders to ensure effective campaigns on this health problem. Stakeholders in addressing social determinants of domestic violence against women include public and private service providers, the criminal justice system, the government, religious leaders and the community at large (men, women and adolescents), (Satia, Kumar & Liow, 2014).
Community (men, women and adolescents)
Societal views over women that promote domestic violence against women originate from the various ethnic communities. This is where the traditions of gender equality, ultimate authority and power over women are granted to men. Therefore, through the local community leadership, the community could be mobilized to change gender based attitudes and practices that perpetuate violence against women. Community empowerment through such practices as raising awareness campaigns; creating community watch groups, support networks and peer groups; training community leaders and organizations, men and women on how to deal with domestic violence; and community outreach activities such as counseling, hotline and education activities, would help is addressing this issue (Satia, Kumar & Liow, 2014).
The men need to know the legal rights that women have with respect to domestic violence and the need to respect women. The women should be enlightened on the various steps and actions that they can take to avoid domestic violence or report such cases for the affected women. Further, the adolescents are informed of the importance to respect women rights and uphold their dignities, at a younger age so that they grow into responsible men in the society. This would help in creating a community that strongly discourages domestic violence.
Religious Institutions and Leaders
Religious beliefs have historically been used as justification grounds for violence against women. Some church clergies have also been complicit in violence against women on the grounds of women being submissive to their husbands. Religious institutions and leaders have a potentially powerful role to play in encouraging nonviolence against women (Stark & Buzawa, 2009).
Through the theological understandings of various religious groups, domestic violence could be lessened. These religious leaders could act as ambassadors for fighting to reduce domestic violence against women. Addressing social determinants of domestic violence could involve encouraging spiritual and religious leaders to challenge violence against women and gender inequality through public statements, sermons and teachings and other religious materials providing training to these leaders on responding appropriately to domestic or sexual violence within faith communities could also help in addressing domestic violence. This would help in eliminating the religious views or writings that promulgate domestic violence.
Public and Private service providers
Public and private sectors offer a good platform for addressing domestic violence in the society. Women empowerment should begin with these sectors. Equal gender rights should be observed in these sectors, as means to fight against domestic violence against women.
The most appropriate stakeholders to include here are schools’ management, those in charge of the private sector, relevant non-governmental organizations and professional associations that could be involved in addressing social factors perpetuating domestic violence against women. Addressing the societal issues that cause domestic violence through the public and private sectors would involve a series of activities that include: urging both the public and private sectors to: establish relevant and effective public awareness and education programs, school programs and curricula that prohibit violence against women; develop multi-disciplinary and gender-sensitive approaches than aim to prevent violence against women in their entities; ensure women empowerment by setting up community outreach programs and give relevant information about gender roles, women’s human rights and legal aspects of violence against women; and to set up offenders outreach programs so as to promote non-violent behaviors, attitudes and equality of women and men rights in the society (Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, 2010).
Government
The government is the key regulator in any society. Through initiation and funding of government intervention policies and programs such as Violence against Women Act and Women Empowerment programs, the government is able to promote gender equality and respect for women rights, thus assisting in fighting the causal social factors of violence against women. For instance, the Scottish government, as explained by (Great Britain, 2008), has adopted an overarching Violence against Women strategy, containing a core commitment to funding specialized support services. Thus, the government would be an appropriate stakeholder in addressing social factors relating to domestic violence against women.
Criminal Justice System
The criminal justice is charged with the role of ensuring respect and obedience to laws and human rights. There are various laws relating to human rights that, if observed, would help reduce incidences of domestic violence against women or even eliminate these cases in totality. The criminal justice thus needs to develop a suitable framework towards ensuring women rights and dignities are highly respected.
Developing such a theoretical framework for thinking about domestic violence entails focusing on challenging patriarchy and demanding legal parity within the criminal justice system. Current legal policies developed focus primarily on police arrest practices and prosecutorial protocols. New terms are required to move domestic violence from the margins of social concerns into the mainstream of criminal justice policy (Stark & Buzawa, 2009). Despite the different views about the criminal justice system’s ability to solve domestic violence between the indigenous and non-indigenous women, with indigenous women holding the view that criminal justice system results in more, not less violence, and the non-indigenous women that only the criminal justice system can achieve an end to domestic violence, they both agree that stopping violence should be the top priority for a justice response to domestic and family violence, (Ptacek, 2009). Therefore the inclusion of the criminal justice system in addressing social determinants of domestic violence would be of great importance.
Conclusion
Domestic violence against women, despite violating human rights, it affects women’s health and well-being. Various factors in the society’s setting, beliefs, development and leadership determine the prevalence of domestic violence against women. Therefore, given the complex nature of domestic violence, its roots in the society and the different forms through which it is exhibited, the criminal justice system alone cannot produce an effective solution to this problem. Instead, it requires a coordinated effort of various stakeholders within the society to address the social determinants of domestic violence against women. These stakeholders, working together and focusing on preventing initial violence acts and recognizing the complex nature of domestic violence in terms of societal determinants, could help find a lasting and efficient solution to this health problem.
References
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