Domestic Violence.
Did you know a woman is beaten every 15 seconds? Women of all cultures, races, occupations, income levels, and ages, are battered by husbands, boyfriends, lovers and partners. Domestic violence is not just a crime committed against women, it attacks men too. Domestic violence does not discriminate. Even though men may be victims of domestic violence it is less common than in women. According to Websters dictionary, domestic violence is a use of physical force so as to damage or injure those belonging to a house or home. The abusers in domestic violence have a learned pattern of abuse. Either they were abused themselves or they watched someone close to them be abused. The question that needs to be answered is why does society allow this to happen? Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of fifteen and forty-four in the United States, more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined.
There are several myths about domestic violence. People tend to think because of their class or status that they cannot be victims of domestic violence. That is not true, domestic violence does not just occur in poor, urban areas. Domestic violence happens everywhere even on this college campus. On any given day you can read an article in the Northern Star and find out someone was abused, or battered. But what about the cases that are not reported. Many women are afraid to report their lovers because they feel like it was their fault they were battered. They feel they provoked him because he was already having a bad day. If they had dinner late or refused to make they lovers a cup of tea, they were beaten. A lot of women think that battering is a temporary loss of temper. When in fact battering is establishment of control or fear in a relationship through violence and other forms of abuse. The batterers use acts of violence and a series of behaviors including intimidation, threats, psychological abuse, and isolation to coerce and to control the other person.