Domestic Violence Background Essay
Domestic Violence Background/History Domestic violence is a serious crime and a an immense social issue all over the world. Domestic violence is a very critical social issue because it has a negative affect on the victims who are are being abused. “Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another” (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence [NCADV]). It can have many affects on the victims including; physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, and economic abuse. The impact that domestic violence leaves on the victims
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can result in physical injuries, mental health issues, and in some cases when it is severe, victims can die. In most instances, women are the victims and men are the abusers. However, domestic violence can be caused by either men or women. According to statistics, “1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been physically abused by an intimate partner (NCADV). This demonstrates that domestic violence is a huge problem in the world and affects all people regardless of gender. Victims that are involved in domestic violence are faced everyday with overcoming obstacles, that are very difficult to leave in the past, because of the negative repercussions that are left with the individual. The history of domestic violence laws and punishments have developed and designed circumstances for the abusers, since the early 1800’s. The reason most domestic assaults are denied or go unreported is a result of society's refusal to recognize such assaults. In the past, the American criminal justice system did not believe domestic violence was a crime or even a problem. In the early 1800s, men would beat their wives to show they have control over her and it was considered socially acceptable.“Physical cruelty, including murder of a wife or a serf, was allowed as long as it was inflicted for disciplinary purposes. In early Roman society, a woman was deemed the property of the husband and was therefore subject to his control.
According to early Roman law, “a man could beat, divorce, or murder his wife for offenses committed by her, which besmirched his honor or threatened his property rights” (Erez).
These were considered private matters within families and were not publicly investigated. “Women were killed by their husbands for reasons such as talking back, scolding and nagging, and miscarrying children” (Erez). Women in particular have had no protection in law against violence in the home. In 1800 BC, “The Code of Hammurabi decreed that a wife was subservient to her husband and that he could inflict punishment on any member of his household for any transgression (Duquette-Hoffman). This demonstrates that men had every right to abuse his wife and therefore, women were taken advantage of since men are dominant in society. By the 1920’s all states made wife beating illegal. “Family violence became an issue with the influence of the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1960's and 1970's. As the years progressed, domestic violence in American society began to be seen as a violent criminal act. As the attitude toward family violence began changing so did the criminal justice system.” Finally, by 1994 the Violence Against Women Act was created, as the first U.S. federal legislation that acknowledged domestic violence as a crime.”VAWA creates and supports comprehensive, cost-effective responses to the pervasive and insidious crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.
Since its enactment in 1994, VAWA programs, administered by the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS), have dramatically improved federal, tribal, state, and local responses to these crimes” () This law finally recognized domestic violence as a serious issue and passed a bill to protect and create new programs to meet the needs to prevent violence. Since its enactment, “the number of individuals killed by an intimate partner has decreased by 34% for women and 57% for men, and the rate of non-fatal intimate partner violence against women has decreased by 67%” ().
can result in physical injuries, mental health issues, and in some cases when it is severe, victims can die. In most instances, women are the victims and men are the abusers. However, domestic violence can be caused by either men or women. According to statistics, “1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been physically abused by an intimate partner (NCADV). This demonstrates that domestic violence is a huge problem in the world and affects all people regardless of gender. Victims that are involved in domestic violence are faced everyday with overcoming obstacles, that are very difficult to leave in the past, because of the negative repercussions that are left with the individual. The history of domestic violence laws and punishments have developed and designed circumstances for the abusers, since the early 1800’s. The reason most domestic assaults are denied or go unreported is a result of society's refusal to recognize such assaults. In the past, the American criminal justice system did not believe domestic violence was a crime or even a problem. In the early 1800s, men would beat their wives to show they have control over her and it was considered socially acceptable.“Physical cruelty, including murder of a wife or a serf, was allowed as long as it was inflicted for disciplinary purposes. In early Roman society, a woman was deemed the property of the husband and was therefore subject to his control.
According to early Roman law, “a man could beat, divorce, or murder his wife for offenses committed by her, which besmirched his honor or threatened his property rights” (Erez).
These were considered private matters within families and were not publicly investigated. “Women were killed by their husbands for reasons such as talking back, scolding and nagging, and miscarrying children” (Erez). Women in particular have had no protection in law against violence in the home. In 1800 BC, “The Code of Hammurabi decreed that a wife was subservient to her husband and that he could inflict punishment on any member of his household for any transgression (Duquette-Hoffman). This demonstrates that men had every right to abuse his wife and therefore, women were taken advantage of since men are dominant in society. By the 1920’s all states made wife beating illegal. “Family violence became an issue with the influence of the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1960's and 1970's. As the years progressed, domestic violence in American society began to be seen as a violent criminal act. As the attitude toward family violence began changing so did the criminal justice system.” Finally, by 1994 the Violence Against Women Act was created, as the first U.S. federal legislation that acknowledged domestic violence as a crime.”VAWA creates and supports comprehensive, cost-effective responses to the pervasive and insidious crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.
Since its enactment in 1994, VAWA programs, administered by the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS), have dramatically improved federal, tribal, state, and local responses to these crimes” () This law finally recognized domestic violence as a serious issue and passed a bill to protect and create new programs to meet the needs to prevent violence. Since its enactment, “the number of individuals killed by an intimate partner has decreased by 34% for women and 57% for men, and the rate of non-fatal intimate partner violence against women has decreased by 67%” ().