The Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls - Essay Example

Summary Paper Summary Paper [The name of the writer appears here] [The name of institution appears here] INTRODUCTION The purpose of this thesis is to discuss in detail the domestic violence against women and girls and devise strategies and interventions in order to combat this epidemic in the society of almost every nation. The thesis starts of with the introduction of domestic violence against women and girls. The scope of the problem is defined illustrating that women can face domestic violence in many forms throughout their lives. The section on magnitude of the problem discusses physical abuse, sexual abuse and rape, psychological and emotional abuse, femicide, sexual abuse of children and adolescents, forced prostitution etc. The thesis then in details explains the causes of domestic violence; its consequences such as denial of rights, impact on health, impact on children, critical issue of child survival. The paper also mentions the obligations of the state towards dealing with this issue. The entire discussion leads us to the results of designing strategies and interventions in order to combat domestic violence against women and girls and reduce their overall impact as well. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) defines domestic violence as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” (General Assembly Resolution, 1993) PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY The reason why I want to conduct this study is because in the past years there was this general concept that domestic violence is on the rise only in the third world nations but now when we consider the magnitude of this problem we come to realize that this is becoming an epidemic for almost every nation now for example, according to a survey conducted in United States, 28% of women reported at least one episode of physical violence from their partner. Similarly in Japan, 59% of 796 women surveyed in 1993 reported being physically abused by their partner. So through this paper I intend to highlight some major areas regarding this issue and devise strategies and interventions that will help to combat this epidemic. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This thesis will be based on both the qualitative and quantitative research. In the qualitative section of the thesis the section on magnitude of the problem discusses physical abuse, sexual abuse and rape, psychological and emotional abuse, femicide, sexual abuse of children and adolescents, forced prostitution etc. The thesis then in details explains the causes of domestic violence; its consequences such as denial of rights, impact on health, impact on children, critical issue of child survival. The paper also mentions the obligations of the state towards dealing with this issue. The entire discussion leads us to the results of designing strategies and interventions in order to combat domestic violence against women and girls and reduce their overall impact as well. The quantitative section is based on questionnaire based on which a survey is conducted from a small group of women and girls that have faced domestic violence and graphs are designed based on the fact that which form of domestic violence is more prevalent in them. LITERATURE REVIEW Violence against women and children is a growing problem in almost every society of the world today. There is no country in this world that is 100% save from this epidemic that kills, tortures, and injure physically, psychologically, sexually and economically the innocent women and children. It is one of the most omnipresent violations of human right which in many society denies the women and young girls’ security, equality to live, self-respect, their own values and dignity as well. We say that this world is a global village in good terms but we turn to the epidemic of violence against women we tend to realize that it is also global as it is present in every corner of the world, no matter how good the laws, rules and regulations governing authorities are. It makes no difference if you belong to which country even if its world super world, which culture, class, income group, race, religion, education level and age. victim Even though most societies forbid violence against women, the reality is that violations against women’s human rights are often sanctioned under the garb of cultural practices and norms, or through misinterpretation of religious tenets. In many societies women are denied their rights and when the violence occurs at home, (which in may cases does) the family, law and society usually ignore it and keep the matters in complete silence in order to keep themselves safe from the abuse of their family and other relatives. When we check the global dimensions of domestic violence against women and girls we come across alarming studies on its incidence and prevalence. As I have previously mentioned that no country can claim 100% of eradication of domestic violence, but, the only difference is in its trends, figures, method and patterns of occurrence in countries and different regions. There are certain classes of society and certain groups of women and children that are more prone to domestic violence such as the minority groups, indigenous and migrant women, refugee women and those in situations of armed conflict, women in institutions and detention, women with disabilities, female children, and elderly women. The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) defines domestic violence as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” (General Assembly Resolution, 1993) Domestic violence is committed by the those men who are in the position of trust, closeness and plays a leading role in the life of women and children such as husbands, fathers, father-in-law, stepfathers, brothers, uncles, sons, and boyfriends. In almost every case domestic violence is committed by men against women. Its not that women are not reported to be violent but only a small percentage of this has been reported. Violence against women is often a cycle of abuse that manifests itself in many forms throughout their lives. (WHO, 1996) Table 1: Examples of Violence against women throughout the life cycle Source: WHO 1996 During childhood domestic violence against girls may include, providing them with little food in order to feed the male members of the house, early marriage, lack of access to medical care, lack of access to education, female genital mutilation, early marriage and forced prostitution or bonded labour. When she gets married she may become the target of sex-selective abortion or female infanticide in cultures where son preference is prevalent. Debate regarding the magnitude of the problem is also clouded by the fact that domestic violence is a crime that is under-recorded and under-reported. PHYSICAL ABUSE: A growing body of research studies confirms the prevalence of physical violence in all parts of the globe, including the estimates of 20 to 50 per cent of women from country to country who have experienced domestic violence. Physical violence is usually accompanied by psychological abuse and in many cases by sexual assault. (Heise et al, 1994) SEXUAL ABUSE AND RAPE IN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS: Sexual abuse and rape by an intimate partner is not considered a crime in many societies, because they have this horrifying concept that once a girl is married, her husband can have sex with her (no matter she wants it or not) any number of times, in any way he would like to have it because it is considered his right to do anything with his wife. Surveys in many countries reveal that approximately 10 to 15 per cent of women report being forced to have sex with their intimate partner. (Heise et al, 1994) PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL ABUSE: There are many victims that report that they have been going through psychological and emotional torture throughout their life or for example after marriage which they consider more terrorizing and disturbing than physical viciousness, with mental stress leading to a high incidence of suicide and suicide attempts. A close correlation between domestic violence and suicide has been established based on studies in the United States, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Peru, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Suicide is 12 times as likely to have been attempted by a woman who has been abused than by one who has not. (United Nations, 1989) In the United States, as many as 35 to 40 per cent of battered women attempt suicide. (Back et al, 1982) In Sri Lanka, the number of suicides by girls and women 15-24 years old is 55 times greater than the number of deaths due to pregnancy and childbirth. (Hayward, 2000) FEMICIDE: Femicide is also another issue that is considered under domestic violence and it is known as the murder of women by their batterers. According to Watts “In Southern Africa, women’s groups have begun to document the increasing incidence of femicide, and data on this issue are available from Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.” (Watts et al, 1995) According to UNICEF “A comparative analysis of spousal homicide, based on 1991 data, concluded that Russian women are 2.5 times more likely to be murdered by their partners than American women. However, American women are already twice more likely to be killed by their partners than women in Western European countries.” (UNICEF, 1995) SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: This is one of the most common and inevitable form of domestic violence which is hardly reported and is considered a taboo in many societies. As I have mentioned before that domestic violence is usually committed by the father, husband, stepfather, grandfather, brother, uncle, the crime is not reported in order to protect the name and reputation of the family. However, studies have shown that from 40 to 60 per cent of known sexual assaults within the family are committed against girls aged 15 years and younger, regardless of region or culture. (The World’s Women, 1995) A recent study in the Netherlands showed that 45 per cent of the victims of sexual violence within the domestic sphere are under the age of 18. Of these, girls are far more likely to be victims of incest than boys. (The Netherlands Department of Justice, 1997) FORCED PROSTITUTION: Forced prostitution or other kinds of commercial exploitation by male partners or parents is another form of violence against women and children reported worldwide. In West Africa from Senegal to Nigeria tens of thousands of children of destitute families are reportedly sent to the Middle East each year, many of them ending up as prostitutes. (La Situation de la Femme Malienne, 2000) APPENDIX Table 1: Examples of Violence against women throughout the life cycle Source: WHO 1996 Read More