Domestic Violence And Gender

Abstract

Any evaluation of the status of an individual normally begins from the social structures, arrangements and moral systems which influences social perspectives as it pertains to the characteristics of both men and women roles and positions in society. Society continuously undergoes a criminal injustice towards women and men in intimate relationships. These criminal acts within relationship results in domestic violence. Domestic violence is one of the leading causes of death and homelessness of its victims. A large portion of the US population is currently dealing with the issue silently. Because a large portion of the population suffers from domestic violence incidents, many of the total number of victims go underreported. This supports

Domestic violence is a prevalent issue that is claiming grounds beyond national boarders, lives as well. This is an issue that does not discriminate against race, religion, education, and socioeconomic status. The criminal act of violence is a fragile but widespread issue that has become a typical and accepted behavior by some of its victims and perpetrators. The acts of domestic violence occur as traumatic incidents that are greatly influenced by socioeconomic status and complex psychological factors. This is an issue that is commonly referred to as violence taking place between intimate partners. The US Department of Justice further supports this definition by stating, “We define domestic violence as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner (0).” To further capture the entirety of domestic violence, Psychologist, and author Susan Forward, PhD, has describe abuse as, “any behavior that is intended to control and subjugate another human being through the use of fear, humiliation, and verbal or physical assaults, it is the systematic persecution of one partner by another.” Historically, domestic violence was measured as a whole, but recently researcher have divided the categories to distinctly measure every form of

“Economic abuse involves controlling a woman 's ability to acquire, use, and maintain economic resources, thus threatening her economic security and potential for self-sufficiency (Adams, Sullivan, Bybee, & Greeson, 2008) (1). Women who experience server aggression by men (i.e., not being allowed to go to work or school, or having their lives or their children’s lives threatened) are more likely to have been unemployed in the past, have health problems, and are receiving public assistance. While statistics show a high rate of women who suffer from this type of abuse, men are also at risk of being victimized. A study in Australia “revealed that 15.7 per cent of women and 7.1 per cent of men had experienced economic abuse in their lifetimes (2).” Considering that men are less likely to report abuse to officials this number could be ten times higher. Economic abuse is a tactic used to undermine the intelligence of the victim and to create a façade of superior and dominant behavior. Abusers hold their victim’s psychologically captives hindering them from moving up the economic ladder. The victims are often unable to hold financial independency and or unable to support themselves and their children without their abuser. Many of these victims have no bank account, no security, no work history, no credit or bad credit and no direction to escape. This entrapment very much leads to physical