Domestic Violence in America Essay -- Violence Against Women Essays

Domestic horror in the United States is a large and complex social and health problem. The home is the most violent setting in America today (Lay, 1994). Sadly enough, the majority of people who are remove are not likely killed by a stranger during a hold-up or similar crime but are killed by someone they know. non surprisingly, the Center for Disease Control and prevention has identified interpersonal violence as a major public health problem (Velson-Friedrich, 1994). Current estimates draw out that three to four million women are the victims of physical abuse by their intimate partners (Harris & Cook, 1994). According to the FBI, some form of domestic violence occurs in fractional of the homes in the United States at least once a year (Dickstein, 1988). In reality one out of every six marriages the married woman is physically abused. Every fifteen seconds a women is battered in the United States. Daily, four American women lose their lives to their husbands or boyfriends, eq ualing more than one-third of all female homicide victims (WAC, 1994). These come report that too much violence is directed toward women. Historically, domestic violence has been a downplayed and, oftentimes, culturally condoned, American tradition. In the colonial period, laws derived from English common-law permitted a man to beat his married woman when she acted in a manner that he believed to be inappropriate. For example, the so-called Rule of Thumb law, which permitted a husband to beat his wife with a stick that could be no larger than the circumference of his thumb, was in effect until the end of the nineteenth century (Dickstein, 1988). The issue of domestic violence, especially wife abuse, first gained national attention in 1974 with the publishing of Scream Quietly or the Neighbors Will Hear by Erin Pizzey, the founder of Chiswicks Womens Aid, a shelter in England for battered women. Pizzeys work helped to stimulate feminist concern and outrage over wife beating, verbal abuse, financial restrictions and social isolation of women by their husbands (Utech, 1994). Shortly thereafter, the womens liberation movement, through the National Organization for Women ( today), advocated for the end of violence against women and sought improved social services for battered wives. NOW also was actively engaged in promoting shelter homes and lobbying congressional leaders for legislation that would... ...t? Because they dont have the protection they need. The criminal justice ashes needs to start a victim relocation program for domestic abuse victims. This would ensure their safety and allow them enough courage to leave a horrible situation. In a nation that detests racism and protests animal cruelty then why are women and children still subject to torture and violence in their own homes at the hands of their husbands and fathers? In a politically correct world too many of us still view women and children as inferior, as property. The media portrays women as s ex symbols and often with a very noticeable lack of intelligence. Often doctors turn their backs on damage left as the result of abuse because of the fear of embarrassing their patients (WAC, 1994). It is time to declare war on domestic violence. Domestic violence will always be a part of our culture. Women are still not considered equal and historically it was acceptable to beat your wife if she was out of line. With todays broken marriages and extensive abuse of alcohol and drugs, the offspring will only get worse. If strong initiatives are not instilled now, there will be many unnecessary deaths due to the rise in abuse.