Domestic Violence as Social Misogyny Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Domestic Violence as Social Misogyny - Essay Example Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone[they include] physical abuse (physical abuse also includes denying a partner medical care or forcing alcohol and/or drug use), sexual abuse, emotional abuse, economic abuse, and/or psychological abuse (ES 1)." As indicated, domestic abuse is not pick-pocketing. It is not a crime whose adverse effects can typically be righted by insurance payments or trials. Many domestic abuse victims suffer throughout their entire lives, and are severely compromised as human beings as a result of their abusive experiences. 11 percent of murder victims are said to have been killed by an intimate; additionally "Female murder victims are substantially more likely than male murder victims to have been killed by an intimate (ES 2)." The same calculations continue: "In recent years, Additionally, "it is very difficult to estimate the rate of domestic violence because the majority of victims never disclose that they are involved in partner violence. It is estimated that, regarding violent behavior toward females within the context of an intimate relationship, only 20% of all rapes, 25% of all physical assaults, and 50% of all stalking are ever reported to the policeThe following statisticsshed light on the prevalence of domestic violence (statistics are for the U.S. only): 20-30% of American women will be physically abused by a partner at least once in their lifetimes 1.3 million women and 834,732 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually 201,394 women are forcibly raped by an intimate partner annually 11% of women in homosexual relationships and 23% of men in homosexual relationships report being raped, physically assaulted, and/or stalked by an intimate partner 503,485 women and 185,496 men are stalked by an intimate partner annually 1-25% of all pregnant women are battered during pregnancy 30-40% of women's emergency room visits are for injuries due to domestic violence 30% of women killed in the U.S. are killed by their husbands or boyfriends 50% of men who assaulted their female partners also assaulted their children 3.3 million children witness domestic violence each year (ES 3)". As the data clearly shows, domestic violence is primarily a problem of violence against women. To ignore this problem is to ignore a problem whose primary impact is upon the women of this society, and as such, is a sexist and misogynistic action. The National Center for PTSD goes on to note "There are also many psychological effects of domestic violence. Depression remains the foremost response, with 60% of battered women reporting depression. In addition,