Many people believe that women are the only victims of this horrendous crime, but there have been reports indicating that men have also been abused by their female counterparts. Domestic violence can happen to any person, of any race, age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, or culture. Although any one person can become a victim of domestic violence, women are still more likely to be the ultimate victim. According to the domestic violence website, it is stated that “about 1 in 3 American women have been physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives” (Commonwealth Fund, Health Concerns Across a Woman's Lifespan: the Commonwealth Fund 1998 Survey of Women's Health, 1999). This is an issue that we cannot take a backseat on. The statistic indicates that out of fifty women, approximately seventeen of them will be physically or sexually abused by their loved one.
Although domestic violence is a problem in our society, why do so many victims continue to stay with their abusers? Last week, I conducted a “ride along” with a Davis police officer and asked him this exact question. He responded by telling me that victims are often afraid to leave their abuser because they are afraid of the consequences that could come from reporting a domestic violence incidence. Another reason why victims do not report abuse to officers is because the victims believe that they are deeply in love with their abusive partners. The night of this ride along the police officer had to follow up with a victim that had been abused the night before. When we arrived at the victim’s apartment the officer knocked on her door and proceeded to ask some questions to her brother who answered. Like the victim, the brother acted as if he had no idea of any domestic violence abuse and was unaware of any physical violence that had taken place the night before. When we left the crime scene, the officer was suspicious that the victim and her family members were not completely truthful. He said that it was unfortunate that the victim was not willing to help herself as the officer had no reason to arrest her abuser. This is apparently very common in accordance with domestic violence cases. Victims are too attached and in love with their abuser that when they are abused they deny it. According to an article published on the BBC website, police officers respond to up to eighty incidents of domestic abuse per day. The officers believe that it is their duty to protect the victims, but they are unable to help victims unless the victims want to help themselves.
We can sit here and say that it is up to the victim to come forward to law enforcement and report their incidence of domestic abuse, but it is not that easy for those who are victimized. Abusers often build up their tension and abuse their victims. According to the domestic violence website, after the abuse has been conducted, the abuser goes through a period known as the “making-up” phase. This phase includes the abuser apologizing, or promising to never abuse again. Victims may be reassured by this phase and believe that their abuser feels bad for the wrongdoing. The last phase is the calming phase. This phase includes the abuser acting like nothing ever happened. Once the calming phase has worn off, the cycle often starts over. It is clearly a cycle that is hard for the victim to escape. As a society, what we can do for these individuals is encourage them to receive help in order to make a better life for themselves.
References
Violence Wheel photo: Presented on: http://www.domesticviolence.org/violence-wheel/
Lanschire news article: Lanschire Police’s plea to domestic violence victims: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/lancashire/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8866000/8866498.stm
Book - Domestic Violence: The Criminal Justice Response: http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9jCJXOxKXoUC&oi=fnd&pg=PP10&dq=Domestic+Violence&ots=ZWVxczxCdX&sig=NkuJVKDxg2B-72flgMewUWe-hwM%23v=onepage&q&f=false
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