Advocacy Statement

Prevalence of Domestic Abuse Among Women

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Prevalence of Domestic Abuse Among Women

Description of the Population

One of the major issues that is faced by women in the United States is the prevalence of the domestic violence. Despite the fact that there is sufficient awareness about the issue, the problem is that the women are reluctant to come forward and discuss about the issues. They tend to stay in the abusive relationships (Hegarty & Roberts, 2018). The definition of the domestic violence is

“The inflicting of physical injury by one family or household member on another; also: a repeated or habitual pattern of such behaviour”

Despite the fact that there is considerable legislation that is being carried out in this regard, the fact is that the instances of the domestic violence and abuse is increasing (García-Moreno et al. 2018). The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 goes to show that the law-making is being done on the part of the government when it comes to the resolution of the issues, but the cases of the domestic violence are not brought to the fore (Hegarty & Roberts, 2018). The other major problem is the fact that women themselves do not report such incidents and thus the law making, and regulatory agencies cannot do a lot about it (García-Moreno et al. 2018).

Health Burden and Prevalence

Even if one looks at the domestic violence incidents that are reported, there are about 960,000 to 3 million cases of domestic abuse (Hegarty & Roberts, 2018). Their are many cases reported but the estimates are that the actual incidence of the instances of the domestic violence and abuse are on much higher side.

There are many states where the prevalence of the domestic abuse is on the higher side. States such as Nevada, South Carolina and Georgia are the top three states in terms of the instances of the domestic violence (Sokoloff & Dupont, 2017). The major problem is that how the instances of the homicide are increasing gradually and in most of the cases, these are the male partners in any relationship that tend to perpetuate the crime (García-Moreno et al. 2018). The murder victims and their profile go to show that in 95 % of the cases, women who were murdered were done by the male person in their family or their partner or their general acquaintance (Ellsberg et al. 2016). The other alarming aspect of the whole incident is that the prevalence of such incidents are witnessed quite frequently and the marriages among law enforcers which paints the grim situation of the way things are heading at the moment in the United States. The other major issue is how the violence is being carried out by the IPV and about 65 % women who are involved in any relationship have claimed that they have faced Intimate Partner Violence during one time in their life (Ellsberg et al. 2016).

Specific Solutions of the Issue

At the moment, there are many things that can be done to make sure that the incidents and the prevalence of the domestic violence is brought down (Ellsberg et al. 2016). The short-term solution is that women need to know better about the laws and legislations when it comes to the domestic violence and what are some of the options that they have their disposal when it comes to bringing about the control in the issues of the domestic violence (Ellsberg et al. 2016) There is gun ban laws as well that are in place to make sure that the degree of control is brought in terms of the way incidents pertaining to the domestic violence are being managed at the given point of time (Sokoloff & Dupont, 2017). So clear perspective is needed to be developed in terms of the way these things are needed to be managed (Sokoloff & Dupont, 2017). There are legislations as well in terms of the federal probation that are guiding light for the victims of the domestic abuse (Ellsberg et al. 2016). But all these measures are for the short term, the key thing that is needed to be changed is to make sure that the societal changes are brought in and education of women in terms of how to make sure that they protect themselves from the domestic violence are needed to be done (Ellsberg et al. 2016).

Specific Course of Action and Its Implementation

The history and precedence have showed to us that it is very important for women themselves to realize that until they do not retaliate and report such instances, no matter how much the legislation is supposedly carried out, things are not going to change. The idea is to make sure that effort must be made towards the long-term societal change so that there must be improvement in the attitude of people (Ellsberg et al. 2016). The other major thing that has to be kept in mind is to ensure that media should be playing much more active role. The depiction has to be made that no matter what the circumstances are, it is not right to stay in the abusive relationship. If women keep on bearing the domestic abuse, then male partners and relatives would be more than happy to keep dishing them out this treatment (Ellsberg et al. 2016). A mitigating system must be developed so that such instances are brought down in the future.

References

Ellsberg, M., Heise, L., Pena, R., Agurto, S., & Winkvist, A. (2016). Researching domestic violence against women: methodological and ethical considerations. Studies in family planning, 32(1), 1-16.

García-Moreno, C., Jansen, H. A. F. M., Ellsberg, M., Heise, L., & Watts, C. (2018). WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence against women. Geneva: World Health Organization, 204, 1-18.

Hegarty, K., & Roberts, G. (2018). How common is domestic violence against women? The definition of partner abuse in prevalence studies. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 22(1), 49-54.

Sokoloff, N. J., & Dupont, I. (2017). Domestic violence at the intersections of race, class, and gender: Challenges and contributions to understanding violence against marginalized women in diverse communities. Violence against women, 11(1), 38-64.