Violence towards women can be defined as any gender-based violence that leads to or is likely to cause mental, sexual, physical harm and threats such as deprivation of liberty and coercion. Domestic violence in the contemporary era has escalated, with statistics showing more women subjected to physical violence. The causes of such violence can be from external stress, infidelity, and unfaithfulness of partner, or childhood trauma of violent parents haunting them. Australian statistics report violence where thousands of women report being subjected to violence. This report presents an analysis describing the physical violence intimate partners experience and some of the contributing factors.
Harm, Risk, and Protective Factors
Physical violence subjected to partners can be overwhelming, leading to low quality of life. Regarding harm, damage indicators include bruises, injuries, pressure marks, broken personal aids such as glasses, among others. In the scenario, harm is done to Anaya following the bruises on her cheek and the psychological damage from yelling. People cause injury to achieve their perceived justice from grievances, influence other people’s behavior or defend their ego and image under attack. Rajid employs violent acts to guard his heart against the assumptions that his wife is unfaithful. Again, hitting his wife due to no rice amplifies the grievances of specific needs in a family. Besides, the guilt from harm done follows from justifications for the violence. In this care, Rajid lays the blame for the pressure from work. According to Australian statistics, one in every six women experiences physical violence, specifically in rural and remote areas (Campo & Tayton, 2015). Therefore, harm depicts real-time and clarifies the extent of domestic violence.
With domestic violence comes risks pointing to the aftermath of domestic violence. Its indicators include low self-esteem, anger, hostility, emotional dependence, depression and suicidal thoughts, heavy alcohol and drug abuse, and hatred. In particular cases of pregnancy, there are risks of miscarriage and low birth weight of babies (Gartland et al., 2011). Anaya is at risk of complications with her baby in the scenario and even informs the midwife. Psychological mayhem is a risk that Anaya is exposed to with continued physical violence. Nowadays, intimate partners risk separation, divorce, and psychological torture of their kids in the event of domestic violence (Humphreys & Campo, 2017). In extreme cases, such children flee their homes, and in the long run, from such experiences, they may subject future partners to similar violence. Rajid claims a degree of his violence from his experiences at a young age. Therefore, domestic violence puts personal and communal peace and harmony at stake.
Every harm and risk is preventable with the proper measures. Such measures incorporate protective factors that promote peace and harmony in intimate partners. These factors include solid social support networks (Caruana & McDonald, 2011). Support networks lend a listening ear, share experiences, and offer advice to resolving disagreements. Again, create awareness and teach about healthy relationships in schools. If only Rajid could open up more about his fears, he would get social support from his wife and society, and violence would be a last resort if need be. Other protective measures include job security to prevent anxiety like Rajid is lushing out, afraid of losing his job. Besides, self-control is an option to curb increased domestic violence. People need to exercise control over their anger issues towards peace.
Complexities Heightening Risk
Acts of violence occurring in intimate relationships or any domestic setting are not new in society. Many issues might instigate or even fuel domestic violence since domestic violence is generally under an elaborate range of abuses.
Infidelity is one of the issues that can lead to domestic violence. When any of the partners feel that the other is unfaithful, it might lead to drastic steps, which are always distractive (Relationships Australia, 2018). Another issue that can heighten the risk of domestic violence is the heavy drinking of either partner (Scholes-Balog et al., 2013). When one or both partners are heavy drinkers, it prompts misleading judgment, resulting in violence. Witnessing family violence also can play a role in heightening the risk of domestic violence. When there is a history of a child being exposed to mistreatment, then this experience follows them into their old age, and they can emulate this at some point. Controlling the behavior of men is another issue; they want to manage every movement of their partners. External frustrations like work may be carried home, which may be directed to the rest of the family. This deflects anger from the real issues one is going through and redirects them to the wrong party. Low self-esteem among partners is also an issue that may raise the level of domestic violence.
Relevant Evidence, Theory, Research, And Literature
Alcoholism is one of the points stated above, leading to violence experienced in the scenario. Alcohol has been a factor in domestic violence throughout Australia (Scholes-Balog et al., 2013). Besides, as depicted in the scenario, infidelity is an aspect in question—Rajid hints of infidelity by his wife. In such cases, the concept of infidelity is angering; some men resort to violence as a cautionary or disciplinary measure to shun the behavior. Women seek emotional satisfaction as a reason for unfaithfulness. In a relationship with no emotional support, unfaithfulness is imminent and hence violence (Gilmore, 2018). Rajid fears that his wife is unfaithful, thereby violating her privacy and consequently being violent.
Men wanting to impose their dominating nature and any other harmful behaviors of masculinity, including being overcontrolling to their partners, is an issue stated above. According to our scenario, Rajid is portrayed as very controlling. Such control can result in rebellious wives, and physical violence arises without admitting their mistakes. The denial of freedom and invading of privacy involves anger, and most families are in constant disputes depriving them of peace. Freedom of movement without any form of stalking or monitoring should be normalized; husbands should be secure enough to know that their wives are not going behind their backs and vice versa.
Rajid was exposed to early domestic violence by his father, Virat, and this greatly affected him. In Australia one in every six women experience domestic violence (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2021). Such violence becoming traumatizing and grow with children to parenthood. If fathers treat their partners the right way, their young son learns these virtues and knows how to treat their family when it comes to age. Otherwise, all that they grow knowing is violence. The first time Rajid hits his wife, he blames the whole incident on the pressure he is going through at work. If not handled well, external frustrations may cause a lot of damage among partners.
Proposed Intervention
There is no reliable evidence as to what interventions may work to minimize domestic violence in the era of increased domestic violence. However, there are proposed interventions, among which include therapeutic intervention. Nowadays, especially during lockdown due to Covid-19 reports, many couples sort therapists to promote peace in the family (Amorin‐Woods et al., 2020). Therapy is a controlled platform where each partner airs out their grievances with minimal risks of violence. In Australia, the government designed a national plan that advocates for women’s and children’s safety (Phillips et al., 2015). The program aims to provide social and legal support to victims of domestic violence.
Furthermore, the government invested in health care for victims of violence. Such consideration includes physical and mental care to minimize the risks of domestic violence. Besides, women’s movements to protest domestic violence have effectively created awareness and scaring perpetrators from such atrocities. Interventions are many, but their effectiveness is still in question.
References
Amorin‐Woods, D., Fraenkel, P., Mosconi, A., Nisse, M., & Munoz, S. (2020). Family therapy and COVID‐19: International reflections during the pandemic from systemic therapists across the globe. Australian and New Zealand Journal of family therapy, 41(2), 114-132.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2021). Family, domestic and sexual violence – Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence
Campo, M., & Tayton, S. (2015). Domestic and family violence in regional, rural and remote communities. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Caruana, C., & McDonald, M. (2011). Social inclusion in the family support sector. Published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. Retrieved from https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/sites/default/files/publication-documents/b019.pdf
Gartland, D., Hemphill, S. A., Hegarty, K., & Brown, S. J. (2011). Intimate partner violence during pregnancy and the first year postpartum in an Australian pregnancy cohort study. Maternal and child health journal, 15(5), 570-578.
Gilmore, J. (2018). It’s OK to beat a woman if she’s unfaithful, according to survey. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/according-to-survey-it-s-ok-to-beat-a-woman-if-she-s-unfaithful-20180417-p4za71.html
Humphreys, C., & Campo, M. (2017). Fathers who use violence Options for a safe practice where there is ongoing contact with children. Published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. Retrieved from https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/sites/default/files/publication-documents/fatherswho_useviolence-final-v2_0.pdf
Phillips, J., Dunkley, A., Muller, D., & Lorimer, C. (2015). Domestic violence: Issues and policy challenges.
Relationships Australia. (2018). January 2018: Infidelity | Relationships Australia. Retrieved from https://relationships.org.au/document/january-2018-infidelity/
Scholes-Balog, K. E., Hemphill, S. A., Kremer, P., & Toumbourou, J. W. (2013). A longitudinal study of the reciprocal effects of alcohol use and interpersonal violence among Australian young people. Journal of youth and adolescence, 42(12), 1811-1823.
write