In Australia, in 2015, one women was killed every week as a result of domestic violence. What sociocultural reasons have led to the prevalence of these crimes and what can be done to reduce these figures in the future?
The Family Law Act describes the concept of domestic violence as a violent and coercive behaviour which is abusive and traumatising in nature. The violence occurs between people with a relationship within a domestic scenario. When one member of the family inflicts abuse and violence on others in the domestic settings, the violence is domestic in nature. In Australia the domestic violence term is tackled as a separate concept from other forms of violence, and it is referred to as family violence and abuse. Common victims of domestic abuse are generally women, while children and men are also victims. In 1996, the nationwide presence and extent of domestic violence against women was brought to light by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in a national Women’s Safety survey, which examined national data and information regarding all sorts of violence against women. (Roberson, and Wallace, 2016) The Act, while attempting to benefit the situation of victims, has issues as well. Firstly, there are lengthy delays in investigation, proceedings and justice. The Act cannot always prevent violence when it takes time to apply sanctions against the violent persons. Secondly, most court proceedings are quite costly. Many women are financially weak to bear the costs. Thirdly, after the cases are over, there are no follow ups to track whether the verdict is being respected or followed trough. Fourthly, the Act is just a legislation. The real effect lies in the community efforts and the law enforcement actions. At times people are not aware of the Act. Cases go unreported. Fifthly, in many cases the punishment is less. The abuser is often let go of. Abusers tend to take revenge by killing of the victims, and the Act loses its purpose.
The Australian Bureau observes that there is no fixed definition of domestic violence. Domestic violence is of several types- mental abuse, bullying, financial control, physical violence, psychological manipulation, emotional trapping are the most common types of violence especially in the domestic settings. (Stuckless et al 2015) The Violence against Women in Australia report, of the National research Organisation for Women’s Safety, states that one in every 4 women experience domestic violence or have experienced it at one point of time. One in every 11 falling victims to domestic violence have been found to be one in six women and one in twenty men. Women below 15 years of age have been abused as much as those above that age.
Violence against women is a serious widespread problem which is not easy to prevent. The OurWatch organisation of Australia gave out a series of statistics, showing how deep rooted the issue is. Following are the facts that were collated by OurWatch, and the perpetrators of the crimes are generally partners, spouses, family members, relatives, known people and friends. (Website of Our Watch Organisation) Averagely one woman succumbs to physical domestic violence every week. One in every five women has faced sexual abuse. One in four women has endured emotional abuse. Women are likely to be hospitalised more than men for domestic violence reasons alone.
The causes and the effects of domestic violence against women emerge generally from factors like social and economic factors, personality attributes, childhood experiences and so on.
The United Nations brought out a 2003 press release on the observations regarding the social and economic factors that result in all sorts of violence against women, especially the domestic violence. (Website of United Nations Organisation) Societal issues make women vulnerable as they try to survive in the male dominated society. Women coming from broken homes and low income background are likely to have less education, less resources like money and less opportunities to have a good lifestyle. Scarce opportunities lead to women falling prey to trafficking, violence, exploitation and even domestic violence. Domestic crimes are often observed as acts of subjugation, as are all forms of violent acts. The Australian government had set up the first National Summit on Domestic Violence and had created several Partnerships against Domestic Violence initiatives, in efforts to combat the domestic violence issues.
There are socio cultural, psychological and economic causes of domestic violence against women. Men are likely to be more abusive than women due to the following factors, according Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety and VicHealth- (Website of White Ribbon Organisation) Firstly, gender norms and inequalities. Due to attitude of the male dominated society, males tend to think of themselves as superior in all regards. They like being in the position of power and dislike being challenged by those whom they perceive as inferior, weak and vulnerable. Secondly, childhood experiences. Men coming from abusive families, if unchecked, repeat what they had observed as children. They tend to take the violence as normal practice. Most men become hardened and unsensitised to what is right and wrong. Thirdly economic situation. Economic situations like poverty, unemployment, general unhappiness socially and professionally can lead to men venting their frustrations on women. Many tend to blame the female members of the domestic settings for what they perceive to be their failures. Fourth, cultural practice. Many families follow practices and norms which are quite orthodox and culturally not liberal, especially from the perspective of women. Women are downtrodden in some families and for generations this attitude persists. Though Australia is a modernised country, there are communities which do not encourage women liberation, education or female professions. (Coates 2015) Fifth, instruments of subjugation. To keep power, control, force and leverage, men often like display their ego by subjecting women to subtle forms of control. If not physical, the abuse can become manipulative mentally and emotionally. Some men control finances and family situations, making rules for women while others resort to other forms of control like bullying, blame game, brainwashing and other psychological means. Sixthly, drug abuse and alcoholism- In many domestic scenarios, drug, substance and alcohol abuse leads to violence. When the man becomes a drug addict or an alcoholic, he starts getting out of control. He starts having delusions and negative misconceptions about his surroundings. He becomes violent if things do not turn out the way he wants. Lastly, aggression and disrespect- The attitude of men are often difficult to gauge until his behaviour at home is observed. An innately aggressive man with a sense of disregard for women tend to be abusive at home. What disrespect he cannot show outside home, he shows within the four walls. Men often feel they own, and have unchallenged rights over, their women are abusive. They are fearful of losing reputation as men with machoism, and hence like to show off their manhood skills.
These are the major causes of domestic violence against female partners and even mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers and other female members of the domestic setting, of all ages. The impact of domestic violence on women is severe. (Andrews. and Bonta, 2014) Effects are psychological, mental, physical, emotional, intellectual, economic, social, financial and so on. Physically, women have been on continuous visits to hospitals. In most cases out of fear, they lie to medical experts or law enforcement officials. Hence thousands of cases go unreported almost every year.
Psychologically the effect on women is severe and traumatic. Fear psychosis, Stockholm Syndrome, brainwashed acceptance and several other psychological features take over and the affected women become mentally different in personality, isolate themselves from well-wishers and families and practically become hostages. In most cases they do not report to authorities because they constantly hope things will become eventually better- thus giving men more sense of power. Economically, socially and financially women become dependent on men for their own survival. They have no place to go due to their feelings of shame. They become alone in the society due to their fear and situations. (Mulayim, et al 2016)
The female victims of domestic violence become traumatised and the level of the trauma depends on the extent of torture and violence they have tolerated. In most cases they end up dead. The trauma becomes deeply rooted, and to recover from it is a very long and hard process.
The Department of Social Services of the Australian Government has developed the National Plan to reduce violence against women and children, and the stipulated period is from 2010 to 2022. (Website of Australian Government Department of Social Services). The 12 year plan intends to achieve a significant and steady decrease in domestic violence. The Third Action Plan of 2016 to 2019, a part of the National Plan is an ongoing agenda that is making efforts to involve key stakeholders and community members in helping out in prevention of domestic abuse and protection of all victims. Various strategies have been planned and put into action, such as interventions, support systems, rehabilitation for both victims and perpetuators and so on and so forth.
The same department has also come up with the following schemes with objectives of reducing causes, effects and incidents of family violence among other forms of violence- (Website of Australian Government Department of Social Services). Women’s Safety Pack is an initiative against violence against women. Family Safety Pack is a pack for all families, informing them about laws, information and helplines. OurWatch is A national, legally mandated agency that keeps tracks of family violence and other forms of violence, and tries to resolve, protect and prevent. Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety is Australia’s first national research agency that develops plans, strategies and statistics with regard to violence against women.
Several safety programmes are also developed to promote safety of vulnerable sections of the society. The government also has developed investment initiatives for working with families, victims and experts. Local stakeholders like community members, businesses, organisations, individuals with power and position are encouraged to invest in safety programmes and schemes in order to increase support techniques for victims of violence. (Gilbert, 2016)
Solutions for domestic violence are complex and sensitive to handle. It is not only the governmental duty but also the duty of the society to combat the violence in general. (Lindsey, 2015) Domestic violence is a serious issue and women chiefly are victims due to the male ego and attitude. Family violence needs to be tackled vigorously and the perpetuators as well as victims should be counselled. In worst case scenarios, punishments should be severe. The causes of domestic violence should be reduced as much as possible.
References
Andrews, D.A. and Bonta, J., 2014. The psychology of criminal conduct. Routledge
Coates, J., 2015. Women, men and language: A sociolinguistic account of gender differences in language. Routledge
Gilbert, P., 2016. Depression: The evolution of powerlessness. Routledge
Lindsey, L.L., 2015. Gender roles: A sociological perspective. Routledge
Mulayim, S., Jackson, M. and Lai, M., 2016. 10 Domestic violence in Australia. Domestic Violence in International Context, 27, p.165
Roberson, C. and Wallace, P.H., 2016. Family violence: Legal, medical, and social perspectives. Routledge
Stuckless, N., Toner, B. and Butt, N., 2015. Perspectives on Violence Against Women: Social, Health, and Societal Consequences of Inter-partner Violence. In Women’s Mental Health (pp. 51-66). Springer, Cham
Website of Australian Government Department of Social Services (28th June 2007) https://www.dss.gov.au/women/programs-services/reducing-violence
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