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Domestic Violence Definition
Despite the frequent use of the term domestic violence, there is still no single definition developed and agreed upon by all researchers. What are we talking about when we use this term?
Domestic violence, like an epidemic, does not target its victims in any specific social or ethnic group; it is present in families of different segments of the population.
One of the signs of domestic violence is that it's a recurring pattern of a few types of violence (sexual, physical, psychological, and economic). The pattern is an important indicator of the difference between domestic violence and a simple conflict situation in the family. The American researcher, psychologist, and prominent specialist who writes about Domestic Violence, Linor Walker, in her studies for the first time emphasized that in order to qualify family conflict into the domestic violence category, it is necessary that the situation associated with the use of violent methods by one of the partners must repeat itself twice at least.
If the conflict had an isolated character, then the violence has a systemic basis and consists of incidents that follow one after the other. The abuser can give various reasons to justify the violent act, but they all have nothing to do with reality. The main force driving the offender is the desire to establish complete power over the partner. Conflict is usually based on some specific problem that can be resolved. In a such situation, one person constantly monitors or attempts to control the other and manage their behavior and feelings, as a result of which the abused person can suffer psychological, social, economic, sexual, or physical harm, damage or trauma.
The next difference between domestic violence and other acts lies in the quirks of the connection between the two heroes of the relationship. The difference between abuse on the city streets and family is that abusive behavior lies in people's relationships.
With this in mind, we can formulate a basic definition: domestic violence is a recurring cycle of physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and economic abuse against loved ones in order to gain power and control over them with increasing frequency.
Here we should also note the third fundamental feature of domestic violence. It lies in the fact that, as shown by studies conducted in different countries, violence has a clear outline of a gender problem. Women often are the victims of this crime. Thus, statistics from the USA and Canada compiled based on surveys of women and men, information from court databases, and from police reports, show that women are victims of aggression in 90 - 96% of cases. For example, studies conducted in Scotland have shown that, according to statistics of offenses related to crimes against their loved ones, women are victims in 94% of cases, and offenders - 3%.
Features of Domestic Violence
However, some features of domestic violence are:
- if there is one type of abuse in a relationship, then it’s very likely that other forms of it will also develop;
- domestic violence in all its forms of manifestation includes elements of control and power on the part of the perpetrator;
- psychological and socio-cultural factors leading to the perpetuation of violence and maintaining the abusive cycle;
- psychological trauma resulting from abuse and the symptoms experienced by victims.
Conclusion
It should be borne in mind that, of course, not only women suffer. Speaking about the danger posed by domestic violence and the scale of its impact, it should be borne in mind that even if violent actions are directed at only one person, all other family members are also exposed to what researchers call “secondary victimization”, which consists in experiencing the same psychological consequences that the victim experiences. Especially difficult experiences fall on a lot of children watching how their father abuses their mother.