The Truth about Domestic Violence. What it actually means.
What is domestic violence? According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, domestic violence is, “the inflicting of physical injury by one family or household member on another; also : a repeated or habitual pattern of such behavior”. When one thinks of domestic violence, one tends to think that it can only be physical pain. Thus, the definition that this dictionary gives says the injury has to be “physical”. However, domestic violence comes in various forms and types. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence states that domestic violence is, “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. It includes physical violence, sexual violence, threats, and emotional abuse”. This organization states that it can be all those types of abuses. It does not necessarily have to be physical for it to be considered domestic violence. Physical abuse is a type of domestic violence, but it can also mean emotional abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. None of these should be seen as less. All of these types are important. A lot of people do not realize these categories fall under domestic abuse, but they do. Statistically speaking, in 2017, there were 174,649 calls that were related to domestic violence(Domestic Violence in California). They also state that there were more unreported incidents. What does this say? This says that people are suffering from abuse in their relationships. It indicates that one partner is inflicting pain to the person that they are suppose to love.The same organization said the domestic violence hotline receive at least 21,000 calls a day. Those are 21,000 individuals who are in a dooming relationship. Most off the time, women are the victims in situations like these.
The different type of domestic violence generate from physical to emotional to physiological. The most known type of domestic violence is “physical violence”. This type of abuse is the one that is known the best, “It involves the use of force against the victim, causing injury (e.g. a punch or a kick, stabbing, shooting, choking, slapping, forcing you to use drugs, etc.)”(“Types of Domestic Violence”). This type of abuse includes physically hitting or hurting a person. The injury can be as small as a bruise, yet this is still considered abuse. The moment one partner lays hands or aims a weapon at you, it is abuse. In “Domestic Violence: Nearly Three U.S.Women Killed Every Day by Intimate Partners”, Mary Emily Chara tells the story of Karen Smith, who is now dead. Her husband, Cedric Anderson, shot her and killed her. It is said by family members that she had noticed his strange behavior and she wanted to leave him, “ ‘“Those closest to her said that she had mentioned that his behavior was odd and that she was concerned about his behavior and that he had made some threats towards her,’ “(Chara). Smith never reported anything against him; however, he did have a criminal record of domestic violence. She also did not take his threats seriously; therefore, she was not expecting him to shoot and kill her. In “5 tips to identify emotional abuse” states that threats are,indeed, signs of emotional abuse. Threats made to manipulate or force someone to do something is abuse.
Emotional abuse is one of the hardest types of domestic violence to understand. Many people experience this and they do not know they are being abused. This means, “Emotional abuse involves the destruction of the victim’s self-worth, and is brought about by persistent insult, humiliation, or criticism”(“Types of Domestic Abuse”). In a marriage or within couples, partners are suppose to be the ones who make you feel good about yourself. They are the ones who are suppose to compliment you and make you feel unique. Partners are not supposed to make you feel less and much less are they suppose to make you feel anything but happy. People do not get together because they enjoy or life how the other person criticizes and judges them. Victims that suffer emotional abuse can be very unhappy, but they do not realize it is a serious issue; therefore, they continue to do nothing about it.
Sexual abuse is one of the most common types of domestic violence. This type of abuse is defined as, “ It includes not only sexual assault and rape, but also harassment, such as unwelcome touching and other demeaning behaviors”(“Types of Domestic Violence”). In this article, it also mentioned how sometimes people do not realize they are being sexually abused. For instance, it says that if a partner forces you to have sexual intercource without contraceptions, it is considered abuse, “if you’ve ever been coerced into not using contraception (the pill, a condom, an IUD, etc.) or having an abortion, then you may have actually been sexually abused”(“Types of Domestic Violence”). The fact that these things can fall under sexual abuse can be eye-opening for people who are not aware of this. People need to realize that sexual abuse is not only rape, it can be harassment and something; such as, being forced to abort.
Domestic violence has gotten better. However, people agree that much more could be done to eliminate this problem. For instance, in “Domestic violence response has improved, but more work to do”, Claire Lowe states that statistically there has been an improvement in cases like these, “Statistics show an improvement, but law-enforcement officials and advocates agree much more could be done to shine a light on domestic violence and sexual assault”(Claire). Crimes in domestic violence have declined. There are less reports and less calls on the hotlines. In “ “Public Imprisonment and Private Violence: Reflections on the Hidden Punishment of Women” Angela Y. Davis says that violent against women has decreased over the past 25 years because feminists and activists have brought attention to domestic violence, “Over the last twenty-five years, feminist research and activism on sexual assault and domestic violence have generated campaigns and services on local, national, and international levels and an increasingly popular culture of resistance, which has helped unveil the global epidemic of violence against women”(Davis 2). Davis does agree that domestic violence was worse 25 years ago. There have been changes. Maybe they have been small changes, but the statistics are decreasing instead of increasing, which is better than before. There have been some advances in domestic violence. It, however, still seems like a lot when looking at the statistics. There can definitely be more improvement. Activists and feminists will not stop going for a more drastic change. Everyone should work together to decrease the statistics even more.
