Essay On Native American Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence in the Native American Culture

When mentioning the term domestic violence, physical violence usually comes to mind for many people, including things such as a broken nose or a black eye. While these things are frightening and true forms of abuse, there is far more to domestic violence than what meets the eye. Domestic violence can present its self in several other forms including emotional, verbal, and even sexual abuse. 1Domestic violence can be a critical issue that has a negative impact on four out of five Native American women and men in the United States in their lifetime according to indianlaw.org ( Walker 1). Being a Native American woman who has observed domestic violence as a child and became a victim as a wife, later on, I feel that it has unfortunately given me a deeper perspective of what domestic violence victims endure.

Make no mistake, while Domestic Violence has

Many, men and women end up verbally abused longer than they may realize. Often recognized as name-calling, verbal abuse can end up being very serious. Verbal abuse also involves purposely ignoring another person and their needs of communication. Abusers will use varied ways to deflect accountability for their words and actions to their victims. In Native American culture verbal abuse is common. Verbal abuse in the Native American culture toward Native American women involves criticism of their dress, their behavior, parenting, and the most derogatory comments aimed at insulting the woman’s self-esteem. 3In 2008 a Center for Disease Control study showed 39% of Native American women identified as victims of intimate partner violence, a rate much higher than any other ethnicity surveyed (Maurer 113-117). Sexual abuse, another common form of domestic violence that can involve criticizing sexual performance, withholding sex or affection as punishment, and accusing the victim of cheating on the