Domestic Violence – a menace of high proportion
The Problem Statement
Domestic violence is a major public health problem in that it affects millions of people and often results in physical and emotional injuries, and even deaths. For violence to be ‘domestic’, it doesn’t have to occur within your home, only within a relationship (with family or an intimate partner). A World Health Organization study estimates that 35 percent of women around the world, at some point in their lives, have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner, or sexual violence by a non-partner. While both men and women can be victims or perpetrators of violence, women are more likely to be physically assaulted or murdered by someone they know; women are also at a much greater risk of being sexually assaulted or exploited in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood.
It affects people of all economic statuses; however, several studies1 have shown that lower socioeconomic status (such as unemployment and low income) are significant risk factors for higher levels of domestic violence.
The Causality
Globally, the victims of domestic violence are overwhelmingly women, and women tend to experience more severe forms of violence. A causalist view of domestic violence is that it is a strategy to gain or maintain power and control over the victim. There tends to be a cycle of behaviour, known as the cycle of violence, in abusive relationships. That cycle includes the tension-building, explosive, and tranquillity or honeymoon stages.
The Effect
Domestic violence physically, psychologically and socially affects women, men and their families. Initially, the abuse is usually an attempt by one partner to exert control through intimidation, fear, verbal abuse or threats of violence. Victims of domestic violence may be isolated from friends, family and neighbours and lose their network of social support. With time, the abusive partner, or batterer, may use increasingly severe methods to maintain control. Eventually the violence may lead to serious injuries and can result in hospitalization, or death. Domestic violence robs victims of their fundamental right to maintain control over their own lives. Individuals who are abused live in fear and isolation in the place they should always feel safe, their home. With tremendous courage and strength, they struggle each day to keep themselves and their children safe.
The Solutions
There exist several strategies that are being used to attempt to prevent or reduce it. Reforming the legislation in order to ensure that domestic violence falls under the scope of the law is important. Socially, having a strong support system has been found to be helpful in decreasing the likelihood for a person to become a perpetrator or a victim of domestic violence.
There are lessons from high-income countries that could inform piloting and testing in low-resource settings. The bulk of trials that took place in high-income countries have focused on two types of secondary prevention approaches—batterer interventions and survivor services.
Batterer interventions or primary prevention refer to reducing the number of new instances of violence by intervening at different levels of the ecosystem to develop and enhance acceptance towards gender equitable norms. These interventions do not target individuals on the basis of violence that has already occurred.
Similarly, survivor services or secondary prevention refers to both mitigating the immediate consequences of already happened abuse (through psychosocial support, emergency contraception, post-exposure prophylactic-PEP and counseling) & prevention from recurrence or repeat abuse (through timely protection and safety for domestic violence survivors, removal of perpetrators from the household, and orders of protection).
The reviews generally find batterer interventions to lack positive effects on VAWG repeat perpetration. Women-centered survivor services have achieved more mixed results, but some models—especially those including intensive advocacy services and psychosocial support—have shown positive effects in reducing re-victimization.
The preventive approaches should include a comprehensive sexual health education for adolescents, which will not only help promote their health but also go a long way in making them gender sensitive. The changes need to be advocated for in the legal structures to create a power balance in marriages, families, workplaces and in society in general. Most importantly, awareness has to be created on the issue and brought on the table for everyone to understand, discuss and share.