Domestic Violence - The Reasons and Alleviations

Domestic violence is considered as the act of physicalbroke, like dishes or a glass, they would tell me they
injury, psychological abuse or emotional harassmentwould take the money out of my pay and they beat
by one family or a member of the family, directedme. They used an electrical cord . . . Both the
towards another member of the family or a househusband and the wife were mean to me." When
member, and usually it's by a male targeting a female.fifteen-year-old Putri in Indonesia was unable to
And in this case it is about the men abducting theremove the dirt trapped between the bathroom tiles,
women.her employer poured a cleanser containing
That is something I believe when committed onehydrochloric acid on her right hand and arm, resulting
should be ashamed of one self when beingin discoloration of the skin, burns, and permanent
considered as a human being, which is as the mostscarring.
intelligent and intellectual creation of God. AfterAnother case of In Morocco, Najat Z., eleven, told
committing such crimes how can one self even thinkHuman Rights Watch, "I ate lentils or loubia [bean
of being a human being, because as far as I knowstew], and the family ate meat." In Indonesia, girls
that is the major difference between animals andreported being given food only once a day or stale
humans. Animals which are usually looked upon asand leftover food.
violent towards each other because they don't haveDomestic violence against women consists of lot of
the intelligence of thinking about what they do or theother means of violence such as Battering, Murder,
outcomes, than is their any other major differenceAcid-throwing and Mugging, Abduction, Rape, Forced
left over between humans and animals.Labor, Psychological Abuse, etc.
Domestic violence is considered to be a veryIt is found through a research that in a number of
complex problem, and many abducted to such actscountries the attitudes of the law enforcement
do not conceal the facts to others or the authorities.officials frequently serve the interests of the abuser,
The reason behind it is because of being a marriednot those of the women who is his victim. Laws
woman or having a male partner, they are perceivedagainst rape frequently exempt marital rape from
to have a higher status in the society, or for thecriminal sanction; police refuse to take action against
sake of their children, due to religious convictions, ormen who beat their wives and, in some cases, force
by the reason of emotional attachment.women to withdraw complaints, or refuse to charge
The first example of domestic violence in front ofmen with domestic assault, and women who seek
me is about my neighbours. They are from Mianwalirestraining or protection orders are turned away by
which is somewhere in Punjab. Their family consistsjudicial authorities. Police and judicial authorities also
of a tall and strong husband and a wife who has liveddismiss domestic violence as a "private" matter rather
her entire life in the village, but after marriage camethan a crime that demands urgent state action.
to the city. They have three kids. The male in thisWomen often experience severe violence in their
family is just careless about his family, he doesn'thomes, including rape, murder, assault, and
even provides them with any means ofbattery-crimes that are prohibited by the criminal laws
entertainment such as taking the family for outing,of virtually all countries. Yet when committed against
and the women is not allowed to go for shopping asa woman in an intimate relationship, these attacks are
well. Till now I've come across a plenty of suchmore often tolerated by law enforcement authorities
incidents in which either she has a bandage on heras the norm than prosecuted as crimes, even when
head, or her face is swollen, or she has bruises allthere are laws that specifically penalize domestic
over her body. That's because she was beaten upviolence.
by her husband sometimes for going out of HisProtecting the rights and responding to the needs of
house for bringing some household stuff, or just fordomestic violence victims requires a very serious
asking for some money so that she could pay theapproach. All domestic violence victims should be
expenses of His house, or sometimes just for arguingentitled to report abuse to the authorities and to
on a point. That's one small example of the currenthave those authorities conduct a vigorous
violence towards women in my country. These areinvestigation and prosecution of their complaints.
some examples from other countries which includesWomen abused by a spouse or intimate partner
plenty of Islamic countries as well.confront unique difficulties in bringing their attackers
Another report published by HRW on November 16,to justice and seeking safety for themselves and
2007, a court in Saudi Arabia doubled its sentence ofother family members. For example they maybe
lashings for a rape victim who had spoken out infinancially dependent on their abuser, which makes
public about her case and her efforts to seek justice.them reluctant to have their partner jailed or have
The court also harassed her lawyer, banning him fromtheir families break up, or they face fearful
the case and confiscating his professional license.condemnations from their families or communities. It
Hundreds of women die each year in Pakistan as ais therefore, important to provide the victims with
result of honour killings, according to a report fromcomplimentary measures of support as mediation and
Amnesty International. Women, for example, seekingcounseling community elders, family or friends.
to make their own decision about who they willThese does not present a solution to all of the
marry, can be accused of undermining family honour.complexities surrounding the issue of domestic
Women seeking divorce or women who have beenviolence, but it seeks to identify important forms of
raped are also at risk. September 21, 1999ways and intervention strategies that the people and
Employers often use physical violence in response togovernments should adopt when responding to
mistakes, minor accidents, or minor infractions suchdomestic violence.
as cleaning poorly or responding slowly to an order.This is one problem which should be looked upon
Najat Z., an eleven-year-old domestic worker inseriously by us, to make this world a better place to
Morocco, told Human Rights Watch, "If somethinglive.