Introduction
Violent acts committed against society occur for various reasons but are never justified. Finding a problem in a nonviolent way goes a long way toward developing and changing the collective consciousness about issues. More than 10 million people in the U.S. are believed to experience domestic violence –the mistreatment of one person by another in marriage, cohabitation, and family. According to a 2020 NCADV report, abusive behavior occurs every three seconds (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence). The problem extends to the entire population and includes crimes such as rape, murder, intimate and other physical injuries. Silencing the topic leads to stigmatizing domestic violence and accepting it as an inevitable part of life. It leads to a deterioration of people’s quality of life: an increase in disease, an increase in teenage mortality and homicide rates, and deterioration in the economic situation (Weil, et al. 35). Encouragement of violence is found in several countries, and in the U.S., it remains dependent on religion and other factors. Justifying domestic violence and silencing such a massive problem lead to negative consequences for all population segments.
Causes
It is worth focusing on the causes of the violence first. Justifying the reasons reduces the seriousness of the problem and whitewashes the perpetrator. One of the most critical factors in domestic violence is the belief that physical or verbal violence is acceptable. Other factors include substance abuse, unemployment, mental health problems, and lack of coping skills, isolation, and overdependence on the abuser. According to insubordination theory, none of these excuses because violence is a form of submission. Violence by the abuser is committed in various ways (including manipulation and other elaborate tactics), so one cannot speak only of physical violence. Thus, in justifying some causes of abuse, no attention is paid to different reasons, and therefore the problems of victimization and justification of crime only grow stronger.
Intimate violence against women
Statistics on domestic violence are collected annually in reports from support charities and the police. One in five women in the United States has been raped during her lifetime. Over 90% of murder-suicide victims were women killed by their intimate partners (NCADV). Every woman who survives rape experiences varying degrees of post-traumatic stress syndrome. Due to the high degree of victimization, victims experience shame and confusion (Duggan, 160). The difficulty of legal definition makes rape an issue of distrust by the police (Bradley, 132). Marital rape is a massive family law problem, and despite the diligent work of the DELTA program, victims are still unable to seek help.
Although marital rape is not unconditionally femicide (a crime based on a woman’s gender), researchers note that excluding the gender aspect worsens the situation. It is reflected in mutilation practices (female circumcision), corrective rape (to change orientation), and rape to control women in marriage (Weil, et al. 40). As a result, women remain the most susceptible group of society to “domestic” rape. These statistics show that if left unchecked, the rate of violence and murder will increase even more. There will be a threat to the nation: sexual violence leads to trauma, PTSD, suicide, infertility, HIV, and other STDs (Bradley, 135). Thus, if the problem is silenced and domestic violence is approved, women will experience physical and psychological issues that are not compatible with a good life.
Child abuse
Domestic violence affects children: child abuse often stems from the problem of violence between parents. Moreover, the problem of intimate violence affects children and adolescents in the family predominantly by the father, with a clear difference between heterosexual and homosexual families. As of 2021, corporal punishment by parents and private schools and seminaries is still allowed in the many United States (End Violence Against Children). As a result, children have great difficulty adjusting to society and cannot solve problems or succeed in their studies. It has been noted that children who have been abused will also have problems with anger control in adulthood and treat their children similarly.
Violence against children is expressed in all forms, but the focus is only on sexual and physical violence. Emotional violence remains in question due to the difficulty of assessing the legitimacy of encouraging and punishing children’s behavior (Bradley, 123). Nevertheless, one cannot focus only on corporal violence, because in many ways, it is the lack of care and support that affects a child’s future. According to the WHO, domestic violence leads to a child’s STDs (attention-seeking) and cardiovascular disease, unequal school, and college placement, increased depression, and risk of suicide (WHO). For preventing domestic violence, child protection provisions need to be revised. At the very least, the government should tighten the family code. It is likely that without action and a solution, domestic violence will remain a global problem that will lead to a shrinking child population and an aging country.
Economic consequences
The state needs to maintain economic stability and increase the effectiveness of the monetary policy. If the state does not pay attention to domestic violence, there will be significant losses in the productivity of many industries. More than $10 billion is spent to provide support after intimate partner violence in the home (NCADV). On average, 40% of domestic violence victims lose their jobs, predominantly women. Problems also lie in providing proper medical care: the amount spent on standard insurance is exceeded tenfold due to domestic violence. The costs of hospitalization, treatment of mental and infectious diseases, and treatment of children are rising along with the disappointing statistics of violent cases. As long as domestic violence continues at this rate, the gross domestic product of the United States will suffer greatly. Thus, domestic violence affects the economy, so making it public and supporting victims will solve the problem of overspending.
Counterargument
Despite the seriousness of domestic violence, many people question it for several reasons. Among them are substance intoxication, blaming the victim, and choosing child abuse to rise. Absolutely all of the reasons are wrong as it adds to the stigma. According to research about men’s mental disorders, there is a high absolute risk of perpetrating intimate violence among the male population (Rongqin, et al). This indicates that intoxication only provokes violence and does not remove blame from the abuser. Victims (especially women) are blamed for slandering the rape, leading to increased depression and suicidal tendencies (Duggan, 163). Blaming the victims leads to removing guilt from the abuser and their support; after that, the number of crimes will increase. Parenting is complex but encouraging child abuse leads to increased illness and injury (End Violence Against Children; WHO). Thus, using counterarguments to support or justify violence is impossible as it only increases the incidence of violence and decreases the standard of living.
Conclusion
Domestic violence affects all segments of society, but women and children. In the absence of law enforcement oversight, domestic violence continues to increase. The existing problem of blaming the victim with the support of the abuser leads to stigma and significant harm. Society must stop turning a blind eye to domestic violence because the consequences will manifest in the economy, medicine, and jobs. As a result, life expectancy and quality of life will decrease, and the recovery process will take longer.
Works Cited
Bradley, Samantha. “Domestic and Family Violence in Post-Conflict Communities: International Human Rights Law and the State’s Obligation to Protect Women and Children.” Health and Human Rights, vol. 20, no. 2, 2018, pp. 123-136.
Duggan, Marian. “‘Idealising’ Domestic Violence Victims.” Revisiting the “Ideal Victim”: Developments in Critical Victimology, edited by Marian Duggan, 1st ed., Bristol University Press, 2018, pp. 159-174.
End Violence Against Children. Prohibiting All Corporal Punishment of Children: Laying the Foundations for Non-Violent Childhoods. Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, 2021.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Domestic Violence. 2020. Web.
Rongqin, Yu. et al. “Mental Disorders and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrated by Men Towards Women: A Swedish Population-Based Longitudinal Study.” PLos Med, vol. 16, no. 12, 2019. Web.
Weil, Shalva, et al., editors. Femicide across Europe: Theory, Research and Prevention. Bristol University Press, 2018.
WHO. “Child Maltreatment.” 2020. Web.