A research paper Outline: Domestic Violence

A research paper Outline: Domestic Violence

• Introduction

Domestic violence refers to any behavior undertaken by the abuser to gain control and power over a partner, spouse, and or boyfriend/girlfriend. Domestic violence is an area of concern that requires immediate actions from the government all over the world. Women are a larger group affected by domestic violence. For instance, in the United States, three women are murdered each day by a male partner, a total of thirty-eight million, and twenty eighty thousand (38,028,000) have suffered from the domestic abuse from an intimate partner.  Most of the victims suffering from domestic abuse are afraid of exposing their partners to the people’s authority. Hence they continue to endure the situation, which sometimes leads to death. Domestic abuse affects most of the people in society, especially in the United States; hence there is a need for the victims to corporate with the government agencies to put the problem to an end. Domestic abuse occurs in the form of verbal, physical, and sexual assault.

• Verbal Abuse

Verbal abuse refers to the abusive statements made by the perpetrator that negatively affect his/her partner. Verbal abuse affects the confidence and self-esteem of the victim experiencing the abuse (DIOMEDE, p55). Some of the signs of verbal abuse include yelling, name-calling, and humiliation. Verbal abuse can cause serious harm to the victim; for instance, lower self-esteem can cause the victim to suicide.

• Physical Abuse

Physical abuse occurs when a person employs physical force against his or her spouse. Physical abuse results in bruises and causes significant harm to the body of the victim. Various forms of physical abuse include the following; kicking, slapping, strangling, or chocking, among others (Holley, p.44). Physical abuse grows gradually over time. It can lead to the death of the spouse or even cause severe injuries on the body of the victim.

• Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse refers to the sexual act forced upon man woman or even a child without their accord. Sexual abuse is an action committed deliberately by the abuser since he/she considers the victim to be weaker than them. Women are the most group of people affected by sexual abuse in relationships (Humphreys, p. 62). They often encounter marital rape, which occurs among married couples. Most of the women are afraid of disclosing their suffering to outside society since they are determined to keep their relationships going. Hence they end up suffering from the abuser, there is a need for an immediate intervention to help the victims of the sexual abuse by various agencies.

• Impacts of the Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse hurts the victims of the abuse. The pain (physical or emotional) experienced by the victims of domestic abuse can be overwhelming. However, with excellent help from appropriate agents, the victims can be able to regain inner strengths that can help them to lessen the pain and recover from the pain (Humphreys and Bradbury-Jones, p.36). Survivors and their supporters should understand that the process of curing takes time. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH), 29% of women and 10% have experienced physical violence by a spouse in the United States. The effect of the domestic abuse extends to the children too; for instance, NDVH indicated that 30% to 60% of domestic abuse by the spouses affects children negatively. Hence there is a greater need for the various agencies to establish initiatives necessary to mitigate the problem of domestic abuse.

• Stages of Domestic abuse

The “Cycle of Violence” constitutes four stages that occur in a continuous form. The four stages of the domestic abuse include the following; Incident stage, tension constructing stage, make-up stage, and the peaceful stage. The first stage (incident stage) refers to the stage in which the abuse happens. In the second stage (tension building stage), the spouse (abuser) begins to become angry; this might, in turn, make him/her start abusing the partner. The stage is characterized by infrequent communication between the victim and the abuser; this makes the victim develop a need to keep the abuser calm (Featherstone and Fraser, p.56). Hence the situation yields much tension on the victim. The other stage is referred to as a making-up stage; in this stage, the abuser may apologize for his/her actions and assure the victim never to repeat it. The other stage (calm stage) is where the abuser acts in a pretentious manner as if the abuse did not happen at all.

• Relief Organizations

Various organizations strive to mitigate the issue of domestic abuse in society, for instance, The Office on Women’s Health (OWH) in the United States. The National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) offers twenty-four crisis and support intervention to the survivor’s sufferers of Domestic abuse and violence. The NDVH provides help for domestic abuse victims through resources, advocacy, supportive ear, and planning. ABA (American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence help to bring justice to the victims of sexual assault and domestic violence through mobilizing the legal profession (Bennett et al., p47). The commission advocates for the establishment of supported attorneys and well-trained attorneys who will enhance the victims to attain justice.

National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) indicated that 24.3% of the women and 13.8% of men who are above eighteen years in the US have suffered from domestic violence. The NDVH noted that almost half the number of men and women in the US had suffered psychological aggression through intimate partners through their life (48.4% men and 48.8% women). Hence this indicates that the issue of domestic abuse is a severe problem in society and requires to be addressed urgently to mitigate the rate of suffering amongst the victims.

• Conclusion

In conclusion, Domestic violence is a vice in the society that causes more harm to the victims. The effect of domestic violence extends to the children of the families engaging in domestic violence. The problem of domestic violence poses a lot of dangers to the victims and their children, which, to some extent, leads to death. Hence the problem needs immediate action to stop it from spreading further.

Work Cited

‌ DIOMEDE, BARBARA. “VERBAL ABUSE.” AORN Journal, vol. 54, no. 2, Aug. 2016, p. 370, 10.1016/s0001-2092(07)69309-0. Accessed 3 Jan. 2020.

‌ Holley, Chris. “Counselling Survivors of Domestic Abuse Christiane Sanderson Counselling Survivors of Domestic Abuse Jessica Kingsley2008£252729781 84310 606 7184310606X.” Mental Health Practice, vol. 12, no. 5, 10 Feb. 2014, pp. 16–16, 10.7748/mhp.12.5.16.s19. Accessed 13 May 2019.

‌ Humphreys, Cathy, and Caroline Bradbury-Jones. “Domestic Abuse and Safeguarding Children: Focus, Response, and Intervention.” Child Abuse Review, vol. 24, no. 4, July 2015, pp. 231–234, 10.1002/car.2410. Accessed 13 Mar. 2019.

‌ Humphreys, Cathy. “Domestic Abuse Is Never Acceptable: A Manual for Working with Women Who Have Experienced, or Are Experiencing, Domestic Abuse.” Child & Family Social Work, vol. 15, no. 2, 12 Apr. 2015, pp. 260–261, 10.1111/j.1365-2206.2010.00693.x.

‌ Schaaf, Kristin K., and Thomas R. McCanne. “Relationship of Childhood Sexual, Physical, and Combined Sexual and Physical Abuse to Adult Victimization and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.” Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 22, no. 11, Nov. 2017, pp. 1119–1133, 10.1016/s0145-2134(98)00090-8. Accessed 6 Mar. 2019.

Bennett, Larry, et al. “Effectiveness of Hotline, Advocacy, Counseling, and Shelter Services for Victims of Domestic Violence.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 19, no. 7, July 2017, pp. 815–829, 10.1177/0886260504265687. Accessed 1 Aug. 2019.

Featherstone, Brid, and Claire Fraser. “Working with Fathers around Domestic Violence: Contemporary Debates.” Child Abuse Review, vol. 21, no. 4, July 2012, pp. 255–263, 10.1002/car.2221. Accessed 1 Feb. 2019.

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