1.1 Introduction
Throughout history women have been faced discrimination and paid disparities due to their gender. There was a time when they did not have equal rights as men had. There were no chances for them to get an education, to hold any high position within one’s country, to participate in any decision-making of nation and so on. After the centuries of protesting and fighting for the equal rights, the world has accepted standards and perceptions of women. In 1948 The United Nations drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration states that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…” regardless of “… race, colour, sex, language, religion… social origin, property or any other status…” (Commission on Human Rights). Now women have the same rights as men to access and have opportunities in the spheres such as education, medicine, law, finance and banking and so on. Unfortunately the words on paper are far from reality. Women might have same rights with man on paper, but in reality you will realize that women still are not treated equally. I would say that they have more rights comparing to past decades in many aspects of life, but it is undeniable that women are still exposed to violence.
Almost every day I heard a voice of women crying, shouting through the wall of our house. The family often had quarrels. Her husband beat his wife for any minor mistakes. She was suffering physically and emotionally. Sometimes she was put out of home without anything: money, cloth, food and she usually come to our house. Regrettably she is not only, this is happening to millions of women and girls across the globe. They are beaten, raped, mutilated, and killed with impunity. This kind of violence called domestic violence or family violence. In order to control, dominate or instil fear intimate partner or family member frighten, intimidate, terrorize, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injure or wound women or girl.
1.2 Problem definition
Domestic violence can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion or gender. Mostly it is committed by intimate partner or family member. Women become a slavery who doesn’t have freedom of speech, do all the works and girls are forced to get married in their early ages. Nowadays millions of women are becoming victims of the domestic violence. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS) about 1.5 million women are raped and/or physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually ( Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief, which measured only physical assaults, “there were 691,710 nonfatal violent victimizations committed by current or former spouses, boyfriends, or girlfriends of the victims during 2001 (Rennison, 2003). Of these, 85% were against women (Rennison, 2003). Most cases of domestic violence are never reported to the police.
Moreover in many nations the oppression of women is not viewed as hostility, but rather as a way or maintaining traditional values. The husband is considered as the head of the family and some think it is normal to use violence against their wife. According to religious, social and other perspectives, we can say that no one deserves mistreatment and abuse this world. Everyone have their natural rights such as to be valued, respected, and safe. The issue of the women’s being oppressed, abused, unequally treated and educated is not only one or two countries or societies concern, it is also an international issue that needs to be addressed by the global community.
1.4 Argument and citations
Domestic violence have serious short- and long-term physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health problems for women and for their children, and lead to high social and economic costs.
Health consequences
Health effects can include headaches, back pain, abdominal pain, fibromyalgia, gastrointestinal disorders, limited mobility and poor overall health. In some cases, both fatal and non-fatal injuries can result.
· Impact on children
Children who grow up in families where there is violence may suffer a range of behavioural and emotional disturbances. These can also be associated with perpetrating or experiencing violence later in life.
Intimate partner violence has also been associated with higher rates of infant and child mortality and morbidity (e.g. diarrhoeal disease, malnutrition).
· Social and economic costs
The social and economic costs of intimate partner and sexual violence are enormous and have ripple effects throughout society. Women may suffer isolation, inability to work, loss of wages, lack of participation in regular activities and limited ability to care for themselves and their children.
Violence and abuse can cause terrible physical and emotional pain as I mentioned above. It is also important to know the causes of one individual to act violently towards an intimate partner or family member to prevent the problem. Alcohol and drugs, stress, mental illness, anger are the major root reasons to this violent actions. Moreover in recent years some countries have taken significant steps towards reducing/eliminating violence against women. For example: in terms of laws, challenging traditional attitudes and education.
Argument 1
The women being abused by husband could not complain to police station and protect themselves. Because there was no laws on women’s rights. Therefore majority women are suffering. In order to reduce or stop this violence to happen the government should take an action. Especially the federal Justice Department should develop strategies and policies related to gender-based violence. Laws should be created to promote women’s rights and strengthen their role in economic, social, political and cultural life. For example when the women are mistreated, the police station should help victims and stop offenders. There should be punishments to criminals, so that they could not attempt again. Besides community should provide services such as housing for abused women and children in order to help until they could find a work and earn money to take care of them by their own.
Argument 2
In many countries women have a low status according to culture and traditions. They are considered as a person who stays and does all the works at house, take care of children and husband. I agree that the role of wife in the family is this. Yet in my point of view this believes in particular cases should be changed. The men do not own women. They are in relationship and they should respect each other. Changing people’s attitude and mentality towards women will take a long time, at least a generation, and perhaps longer. Nevertheless, raising awareness of the issue of violence against women, and educating boys and men to view women as valuable partners in life, in the development of a society and in the attainment of peace are just as important as taking legal steps to protect women’s human rights.
Argument 3
We’ve come a long way from the days of police taking not as an important crime or even rejecting family violence to establishing a court of justice on domestic violence. But we have to do more than just arrest and jail perpetrators, or order them into battered intervention programs. We have to begin educating elementary school boys and girls about respect in relationships before their ideas about gender solidify. Men also must become part of violence prevention and intervention efforts in far more significant ways. Some groups like Violence Prevention, which can prepare males to speak as non-violent role models to boys. These efforts speak to boys and men not as potential perpetrators but as allies in an effort to make the world safe for women and children. It will help to educate them to build happy family as well.
Besides we need to involve media to increase people awareness. We must expand access to services and the number and types of sites where meaningful help is available. Advocacies are ready to help to identify victims of domestic violence with the equally clear goal of offering supports and services to families.
1.5 Conclusion
Everyone has a right to be safe and free from violence, and children have a right to grow up in a violence-free household. But women are being abused in every part of the world and we need to stop it. People who are committed cruelty towards women should be judged and punished. The society should deeply understand the issue and prevent or eliminate it. Now is the time to act, when public support is strong for domestic violence services. Today, community-based domestic violence programs throughout the country are providing services, like: shelter and safe houses for women who are left without a job and houses, national, state, and local emergency hotlines to call for help immediately, legal advocacy, medical and mental health services, support groups and so on. People all over the world should contribute to this action in order to gain prosperity in future.
References
Domestic violence(n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 April, 2013 from
Facts in domestic violence (n.d.). Domestic violence. Retrieved 7 April, 2013 from http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/domviol/facts.htm
Solutions for Domestic Violence and Poverty: What battered women with abused children need from their advocates. ( 2011).VAWnet.org: National resource center on Domestic violence expanding. Retrieved 7 April, 2013 from
http://www.vawnet.org/print-ocument.php?doc_id=229&find_type=web_sum_NRCDV
Virtual knowledge center to end violation against women and girls: Causes, protective and risk factors. (2012). UN Women. Retrieved 7 April, 2013 from http://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/300-causes-protective-and-risk-factors-.html
Violence against women online resources: The facts about domestic violence (1998-2010). Vawor. Retrieved 7 April, 2013 from http://www.vaw.umn.edu/documents/inbriefs/domesticviolence/domesticviolence.html