Domestic Violence in America and Around the World

Unit 2 Assignment

CJ 333: Family and Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence in America and Around the World

Domestic violence is prevalent not just in America, but around the world. Domestic violence has many different types depending on your culture, background, and country. I will discuss the four major categories that we as Americans face and discuss them for other countries as well. The four areas of domestic violence are physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, and neglect. After discussing domestic violence in America and four other countries you will see the similarities and differences between the areas of the world.

America:

Issue 1: Physical abuse is defined as any force that is against a person that may result in bodily injury, physical pain, and/or impairment. Physical abuse can be external as well as internal and, in some cases, both depending on the severity of the abuse. An estimated 10 million people will be affected by family or domestic violence in the United States each year. Physical abuse is a national public health problem and at some point, in their career they will evaluate a family or domestic violence patient (Huecker, M., Smock, W., 2019.)

Issue 2: Sexual abuse is defined as nonsexual contact or an act that an individual cannot consent to sex. Minors cannot consent to sex, so that would also be considered sexual abuse. Sexual abuse can be unwanted touching, rape, sodomy, coerced nudity, and sexually explicit photographing (Gosselin, 2018.) The act of sexual abuse can be against a child, your spouse or partner, or any family member. Sexual abuse is sometimes hard to see in victims, due to the fact the areas of concern are covered. In some situations, sexual assault is hidden very well and can go undetected for years if not lifetimes.

Issue 3: Psychological or emotional abuse is when the victim is controlled mentally, and the subject intentionally inflicts mental pain or distress. Psychological or emotional abuse can be name calling, verbal arguments, threats, humiliation, and harassment. Psychological abuse can be present with physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Psychological abuse can be more damaging sometimes than actual physical abuse.

Issue 4: Neglect is defined as failure to provide the basic necessities to your children, partner, or family members. Neglect in some cases are early signs of other abuse that is happening or can take place. Neglect has many signs and, in some cases, very easy to tell. Some of the signs of neglect are malnutrition, soiled clothes, untreated health problems, and ab abandonment.

Country 1: Afghanistan

Issue 1: Physical abuse in Afghanistan is more extreme than in America, I have seen first-hand where woman and children are abused for no reason in my eyes or the culture, I was raised in. In the Middle East men are superior to woman and children and being abused in some families is a norm for that culture. In 2009, then-President Hamid Karzai signed Afghanistan’s Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Barr, H., 2019.) This was a major step in the right direction, but unfortunately the new Afghanistan President is not enforcing the law to the standard.

Issue 2: Sexual “abuse against women in Afghanistan is a dramatic problem that includes forced child marriages, physical and sexual abuse, public execution, and girls burning themselves to death out of despair due to impunity for abusers” (Gosselin, 2018.) When I was in Afghanistan in 2009 sexual abuse was not commonly talked about by the Afghans. On some occasions is was heard that children were being sexually abused by inmates, since, there was not a juvenile facility in the country all the men and young boys were housed together.

Issue 3: Psychological or emotional abuse is the same in Afghanistan as it is in America. Afghanistan has a strong hold over their children and wives. Psychological abuse was always belittling the children and the woman always had to were head scarfs at all times. The head scarfs are part of their culture, but if they were caught by their husbands or any male for that reason the emotional abuse was going to happen with physical abuse to follow once they were alone.

Issue 4: Neglect is an issue Afghanistan has been facing for as long as they have been a country. The country is poor unless you are a high ranking of the military, law enforcement, or politician. To the citizens of Afghanistan not having running water, waring soiled clothes, and sleeping on dirt floors is a norm. We as Americans see that as neglect, but Afghans see that as their culture and nothing wrong with it.

Country 2: India

Issue 1: Physical abuse in India is one of the most crimes committed in the country, but the least reported. The United Nations defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence” related to “physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” (Bajwa P., Foreman, K., and Sall, C., 2019).

Issue 2: Sexual abuse is India can be related to woman being given “away” by their fathers at young ages. It is normal for a 15-year-old girl to be married by someone her father deemed appropriate. India is notably on the rise for rape, kidnapping, dowry deaths, and torture by husband and relatives.

Issue 3: Psychological or emotional abuse in India is significant, 58 percent are less likely to who experienced emotional violence less likely to report than those who did not likely to report that violence. Women who experience emotional violence before other types of violence may be less inclined to report because they may grow accustomed to violence that gradually increases in severity (Bajwa P., Foreman, K., and Sall, C., 2019)

Issue 4: Neglect in India is home to the largest child population in the world, with almost 41 % of the total population under 18 years of age. Doctors and health care professionals are often the first point of contact for abused and neglected children. (Pediatr, I., 2015.) The issue with neglect is that doctors and healthcare professionals are unaware on how to protect the young children and reporting the neglect and actually having it taken care of.

Country 3: Philippines

Issue 1: Physical abuse in the Philippines is not considered a high priority and there are reports where woman have been abused while in custody. Also, men can avoid prosecution of domestic violence crimes with proper connection to the law (Gosselin, 2018.) Physical abuse in this country is hard to report due to the corruption and police wanting paid off to report or prosecute a subject.

Issue 2: Sexual abuse in the Philippines criminalizes violence against any woman with whom a man has an intimate relationship, not only a wife. The law is gender-specific and applies only to women and their children (Refworld, 2010.) Sexual abuse is also a big problem when woman and children are being used as sex slaves and sold on the black market.

Issue 3: Psychological or emotional abuse like all the other countries is the husband or abuser is seen as the “boss” the abuser will ensure to intimidate the victim so they will not report the abuse. In the Philippines they have protective orders as does America and in the protective orders the subject can be ordered not to speak to the victim. The issue with protective orders in this country is that it is a slow process and takes time to get a protective order in acted.

Issue 4: Neglect is very active in the Philippines, there is legislation to help prevent neglect in this country. The issue is the limited understanding of the law and resources that children and woman can need in neglect cases. If the Philippines can enact a prompter approach and stop the corruption woman and children will be able to get the help they need.

Country 4: Malaysia

Issue 1: Physical abuse is a way of corporal punishment in Malaysia parents, teachers, and spouses take it too far when they start using objects to “discipline” they leave scars, bruises, marks or any other type of injury.

Issue 2: Sexual abuse in Malaysia is currently a big issue due to child marriages. Rape has shown to be more prevalent in children under the age of 16 years old and molestation is more prevalent in 18 year and older categories. Sexual abuse can be contributed to the believing that protecting their citizens right to marry children will reduces casual sex and in some cases remove the child that is being married of any financial burden.

Issue 3: Psychological or emotional abuse in Malaysia can be contributed to the social and culture factors. Malaysia has seen an increase in men being emotionally abused by their partner. In 2017, the Malaysian Domestic Violence Act, was amended to expand the definition of domestic violence to include emotional injury and psychological abuse, as well as provide equal protection for both men and women (My Government, 2019).

Issue 4: Neglect in Malaysia is the parent or “dominant” partner spending more time away from the home to earn more money so they can give a better life to everyone at home. In Malaysia they consider this neglect, because the parent or partner is not giving enough emotional support.

Summary: All five countries have a seriously problem with domestic violence and in this case the four categories of physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, and neglect. All the countries except Afghanistan and the Philippines are trying to make changes or have enacted laws to protect victims of these crimes. America and Malaysia have done the most to ensure that victims are taken care of. India is trying to make strides to better their laws and prevent domestic violence. All the countries are having cultural norms that some governments want to enforce, but do not because of the past culture that has been present for decades.

.

Conclusion

Domestic violence is prevalent not just in America, but around the world. Domestic violence has many different types like I have stated in this paper. Your culture, background, and country play very important roles in how domestic violence is viewed and enforced. The four major categories that were discussed in domestic violence was physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, and neglect.

.

References

Bajwa P., Foreman, K., and Sall, C., (2019). Exploring the Low Rates of Reporting Domestic Violence in Bihar, India. Retrieved from. http://ssa.uchicago.edu/domestic-violence-india

Barr, H. (2019) Afghan Government Ignoring Violence Against Women Retrieved from. https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/30/afghan-government-ignoring-violence-against-women

Gosselin, D. K. (2018). Family and Intimate Partner Violence. [Purdue University Global Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/#/bookshttps://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/#/books /9780134870304/

Huecker, M., Smock, W. (2019), Domestic Violence. Retrieved from. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499891/

My Government, (2019). Domestic Violence. Retrieved from. https://www.malaysia.gov.my/ portal/content/28911

Pediatr, I. (2015). Child Abuse and Neglect in India. Retrieved from. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/pubmed/25465678

Refworld. (2010) Philippines: Domestic violence, including legislation, availability of state protection and support services for victims. Retrieved from. https://www.refworld. org/docid/4e438d2c2.html