Janalys A.

Cortes

Ms. Desjardins

English 4

December 6th, 2019

Senior Project: ​Domestic Violence & How It Affects People

In school I tend to hear students say “my boyfriend/ girlfriend is crazy” almost all the

time but in retrospect it may not be healthy or a ‘joke’ because domestic violence is a real issue

and can affect people mentally and physically. Domestic violence directly affects people’s health

and mental state. Such violent experiences and relationships cause both mental and physical

trauma. In order to eliminate domestic violence schools and society need to talk about it more

openly. Understanding the approach to take in domestic violence education is a matter of

understanding the difference between prevention and intervention. The difference is prevention

happens before being exposed to domestic violence, while intervention helps to address existing

cases of domestic violence in the students relationships either at school or at home.

The reason I chose this topic was because it’s a deep topic that needs to continue to be

brought to light. And this specific topic affects both genders and sometimes including their

offspring. In my research I would like to find the answers to several questions. For example,

what groups of people does domestic violence affect the most? Why does domestic violence

victimize women more than men? Eventually I hope to answer the question: how can we prevent

and intervene in domestic violence situations until they are no longer an issue in society?
 According to the United States Department of Justice Office on Violence Against

Women, the definition of domestic violence is “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship

that is used by one partner to gain or maintain control over another intimate partner.” There are

many types of abuse such as the following physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse,

economic abuse, psychological abuse, threats, stalking, and cyberstalking. Physical abuse is any

type of violent behavior that is inflicted on the victim this includes hitting, biting, slapping,

cutting, and shoving, etc. Sexual abuse is any action forced upon the victim to construct any type

of sexual act which is also considered as rape. Emotional abuse involves belittling the victim and

their self worth by attacking them with rude comments. Economic abuse is when the victim is

heavily reliant on their abuser, the abuser also controls the victims finances and their funds. Also

economic abuse is the practice of keeping the victim from attending work or school by simply

manipulating the victim. Psychological abuse is when the abuser mentally manipulates the victim

by intimidating them or invoking fear.

I was particularly curious about which groups were affected by domestic violence. I

found that with “females ages 18 to 24, and 25 to 34 generally experienced the highest rates of

intimate partner violence.” Women tend to experience higher rates of domestic violence because

they are easier to control and place fear into, at least stereotypically. According to the Women

Said organization from the article Domestic Abuse is a Gendered Crime it states that “From

April 2014 to March 2017, 73% of victims of domestic homicides were women.” Not only was I

curious about the great scale difference between men and women experiencing domestic

violence I also wanted to research domestic violence experiences in different races.

 It is not only just one race experiencing domestic violence that is nearly nothing but a

stigma. According to the Women of Color Network & Statistics “African American females are

more likely to experience domestic abuse at a rate of 35% higher than white females and about

2.5 times the rate of any other race.” However they are less likely than white women to reach out

to any programs or social services or even visit the hospital due to being a victim of domestic

abuse. It was also found that 60% of immigrant Korean women were getting battered by their

husbands. More information that was found about victims of Asian and Pacific Island

backgrounds as well are pretty disturbing. Due to it being a luring or common practice over there

for abusers there are such things that exist over there such as “ honor killings, contract killings,

and or being driven by one’s husband and or in-laws to commiting suicide.” ”According to the

National Violence Against Women Survey, 23.4% Hispanic/Latino females are victimized by

intimate partner violence in a lifetime, defined by rape, physical assault or stalking.” Domestic

violence doesn't affect only one race. It is multiple races that experience domestic violence in a

lifetime that are affected as well. Also domestic violence can also be experienced not only by

women but men as well. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline 1 in 7 men age

18 and up approximately 13.8% of men in the U.S. are victims of severe physical and intimate

violence. This issue does not show favorites.

While trying to find more information about domestic abuse and why it’s not really being

talked about I came across some interesting information. In the article “Even Though Domestic

Violence Is Incredibly Widespread, Most Americans Don’t Talk About It” it states that “too

often, rape survivors who decide to speak out are simply told that it was their fault. And if
victims are dissuaded from talking about their assaults with family and friends, they are perhaps

less likely to tell law enforcement about them, either.” Most sexual assault cases go

under-reported and most victims who decide to go through with the reports end up with

additional tramua as they attempt to navigate through the criminal justice system. Most domestic

violence goes unreported because of fear. More reasons as to why else they might not speak up is

because they believe that no one will believe them, or are afraid to lose custody of their child,

and some feel like they cannot financially support themselves without​ their partners help.

Many victims tend to experience ongoing and different effects dealing with domestic

abuse whether it’s physical, mental, or emotional abuse. It takes a while for survivors to adjust to

a safe environment especially if the victims abuser was severely violent and committed repeated

abuse for long periods of time. Some common physical effects of domestic violence are bruises,

sprained or broken wrists, chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle tension, involuntary

shaking, changes in eating and sleeping patterns, sexual dysfunction, menstrual or fertility issues.

Other common effects are ones that affect your mental state such as Post Traumatic Stress

Disorder (PTSD), including flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, depression, low self-esteem,

suicidal thoughts or attempts, and alcohol or substance abuse. Finally victims of domestic abuse

can also experience emotional trauma such as hopelessness, feeling unworthy, apprehensive and

discouraged about their future, inability to trust others, questioning or doubting spiritual faith,

and also being unmotivated.

Domestic abuse does not only affect someones physical but also their mental health.

Domestic abuse can play into so many things but if it is not presentented as an okay topic to talk

about no one will talk about it. By talking about this global problem it can help shed light on the
whole situation. This cannot simply be fixed overnight but it is a process and if I've learned

anything about researching this topic, it's that we need to be able to push the issue in a safe calm

manner to address this problem whether it’s broadcasting more ads, speaking about in school to

help spread awareness to the youth and future generations, or even just by providing a person

with information like numbers and websites, also talking about it at home if possible, and

encouraging others to speak out and tell their own truths without being judged or thinking it’s

their own fault.

“Women of Color Network Facts & Stats : Domestic Violence in Communities of Color.”

Women of Color Network​, June 2006,

www.doj.state.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/women_of_color_network_facts_domesti

c_violence_2006.pdf.

“Domestic Violence Education in Schools .” ​Study.com​, Study.com, 0AD,

study.com/academy/lesson/domestic-violence-education-in-schools.html.

“What Is Domestic Abuse: Domestic Violence Definition.” ​Center for Family Justice,​
centerforfamilyjustice.org/faq/domestic-violence/.

“Domestic Violence.” ​The United States Department of Justice​, 16 May 2019,

www.justice.gov/ovw/domestic-violence.

“What Is the Definition of Domestic Violence?” Edited by FindLaw's Team, ​Findlaw,​ 3

Oct. 2018, family.findlaw.com/domestic-violence/what-is-domestic-violence.html.

“Statistics.” ​The National Domestic Violence Hotline​,

www.thehotline.org/resources/statistics/.

“What Is Domestic Abuse?” ​Womens Aid​,

www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/.

Twitter, Tara Culp-Ressler. “Even Though Domestic Violence Is Incredibly Widespread,

Most Americans Don't Talk About It.” ​ThinkProgress​, 24 Sept. 2013,
thinkprogress.org/even-though-domestic-violence-is-incredibly-widespread-most-american
s-dont-talk-about-it-24c9b5233a81/.

“Why Domestic Violence Goes Unreported.” ​Talking Parents,​

talkingparents.com/blog/july-2019/why-domestic-violence-goes-unreported.