Understanding Violence to understand the social change that occurred because of the Violence Against Women Movement

Violence is a very complex issue. It stems from values and standards within a culture. To understand how the Violence Against Women Movement caused social change, people have to know which cultural values and standards the movement was challenging.

Before bringing the the human rights issue of violence against women into the spotlight, violence in the home was considered a private matter. By private matter, violence against women was not considered a societal issue and therefore did not require societal intervention (Burelomova, Gulina, & Tikhomandritskaya, 2018). The issue of violence against women was in essence “out of sight and out of mind”. That is until the femminst groups in western cultures began to speak up. They spoke against those who actively chose to degrade women with violence (Rose, 2015). This was speaking against the cultural standard that men held a higher position in society, in the family, and over women. The Violence Against Women movement challenged the cultural value that men should be in a higher position. It also challenged the standard that if a woman goes against her male companion, she should expect and accept physical violence as punishment.

Unfortunately, even with the criminalization of violence against women, the violence against women has not been eradicated. Research has revealed that young and poor women are at the greatest risk for experiencing violence (Richie, 2012). Other research reports that a major barrier to reporting of abuse and prevention of abuse is lack of punishment to the perpetrator (Potter, 2008). These are the new cultural standards that the movement must seek to challenge. It's challenging the cultural standard that those in poverty do not deserve protection. It is also still challenging that cultural standard that men hold a higher place in society, because after committing a criminal offence of violence against women, the perpetrators are still not being held accountable to their criminal actions. Violence against women is still an issue of sexism, but is now also an issue of classism (Deborah & Joanne, 2003).

References

Burelomova, A. S., Gulina, M. A., & Tikhomandritskaya, O. A. (2018). Intimate partner violence: An overview of the existing theories, conceptual frameworks, and definitions. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 11(3), 128–144. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.11621/pir.2018.0309

Deborah, B., & Joanne, D. (2003). Poverty, Inequality, and Discrimination as Sources of Depression among U.S. Women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 27(2), 101–113.

Potter, H. ( 2008 ). Battle cries: Black women and intimate partner abuse. New York : New York University Press.

Richie, B. E. ( 2012 ). Arrested justice: Black women, violence, and America’s prison nation. New York, NY : New York University Press.

Rose, E. (2015). A feminist reconceptualisation of intimate partner violence against women: A crime against humanity and a state crime. Women’s Studies International Forum, 53, 31–42. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2015.08.004

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