Kiara Hayes

Mrs. Kenly

British Literature-2A

21 April 2019

How Does Domestic Violence Affect Everyone?

Domestic violence is one of the biggest issues happening in the world right now. It affects

everything and everyone around us. Domestic violence is a term used to portray offenses

submitted against a spouse , other intimate partners, a relative, or different people inside the family

household. These offenses could be physical, emotional, sexual, and psychological attacks. Over

4 million cases are brought up every year. People may think that only women are involved in these

situations dealing with domestic violence, but men and children have been involved also and we

have to figure out how to put an end to it.

What is Domestic Violence?

The dictionary definition of domestic violence is violent or aggressive behavior within the home,

typically involving the violent abuse of a spouse or partner. It is not just physical violence.Abusive

behavior at home exists inside all societies, ethnicities, beliefs, age gatherings, instruction levels,

salary levels, and sexual introductions. Domestic violence at home can happen between a wide

range of sorts of couples: wedded or unmarried couples, couples who live in country territories

and urban zones, those that cohabitate or live independently, couples that had been earlier hitched
or had dated, and between hetero or same-sex couples. Moreover, sexual closeness isn't required

to be available in a relationship all together for aggressive behavior at home to happen. The abuser

tries to gain power over their spouse, family member, etc. This is a learned behavior because

people reenact the things that they see, whether it’s in the household, school, the community, or

many other places. Domestic violence is not caused by mental disorders, drugs, or alcohol.

What are the types of the domestic violence?

The sole purpose of domestic violence is to gain power and control. The main type of domestic

violence is physical. Physical violence includes the utilization of power, conceivably bringing

about physical mischief, handicap, or demise. Instances of physical maltreatment incorporate

hitting, scratching, pushing, snatching, gnawing, tossing, stifling, shaking, kicking, consuming,

physical limitation, utilization of a weapon, or generally making purposeful physical damage the

person in question. Aside from physical abuse there are plenty other types of domestic violence

like sexual, psychological, and others.Sexual violence happens when one forces or constrains an

individual to participate in a sexual act or encounters sexual contact without wanting to. On the

off chance that a member can't impart a comprehension of and ability to take part in a sexual

represent any reason, including disability, illness, and alcohol or drug inebriation. Also, sexual

violence once in a while happens while in physically or emotionally harsh relationships where the

unfortunate casualty consents to sexual action exclusively as a way to maintain a strategic distance

from extra maltreatment or terrorizing. Instances of sexual violence incorporate rape (including

date rape and marital), attempted rape,inappropriate touching, undesirable voyeurism or

exhibitionism, inappropriate behavior, or some other kind of sexual movement to which one

doesn't eagerly concur. Psychological violence is additionally generally called emotional violence
and alludes to practices of terrorizing, control, or pressure bringing about emotional trauma. While

a relationship does not have to incorporate physical or sexual violence to be damaging, any earlier

demonstrations or dangers of physical or sexual brutality do establish mental savagery. Extra

instances of mental viciousness incorporate stalking; restricting or controlling the unfortunate

casualty's exercises or practices; separating the injured individual from contact with companions

or family; constraining or denying the unfortunate casualty's entrance to essential or money related

assets; wrecking the unfortunate casualty's close to home property; harsh conduct toward an

unfortunate casualty's friends and family; verbal dangers; mortification; put-downs; and some

other practices proposed to cause enthusiastic torment, shame, diminishment, or weakness. Dating

violence could be a type of violence too. This type occurs differently within adolescent and young

adult relationships, and older relationships. Numerous young people who are engaged with dating

connections experience undesirable and harsh practices, however the issue is regularly ignored in

light of the fact that the relationship is less inclined to be seen as long haul or ward in nature.

Young people seeing someone today don't really see their connections as long haul, as connections

were once thought to be. What's more, the two people see connections as being increasingly

easygoing when all is said in done today, contrasted with past ages. At long last, changing women’s

roles in society may have affected how female youths behave seeing someone today. These are a

couple of the types of domestic violence just to name a few. Isolation could also be a form of

domestic violence. The person may isolate themself connected to the controlling behaviors of the

abuser. It’s not that the victim is isolating themselves. This is because the abuser isolates the victim

from any type of resource that could help them leave or do anything else. It keeps them from doing

whatever they like to do like meeting up with their families or going out to the movies with friends

basically keeping them out of contact from the world around them. This just goes to show that just
because you aren’t being physically touched, doesn’t mean you aren’t being hurt in the

relationship. Domestic violence is all about the abuser having control over the victim.

What are the signs of domestic violence?

The signs of domestic violence may not be as obvious as someone may think. This is because this

type of abuse is about more than hurting your body. It is also about controlling your mind and your

body as well. This is why some people will believe that the abuser will “never hurt them again”,

or they do it because they “love them”, so that the victim will always come back to them constantly.

When the abuser tells them things like this, the victim would try to hide all the signs from the

people they love, whether there are bruises, cuts, bullet wounds, emotions, or even tears. They feel

that the abuser truly loves them and if they were to tell their loved ones about the situation, they

would make them leave the person alone. There have also been times where the victim has been

told if they leave, they will do something to hurt them, or even kill them. This makes the victim

scared and there is no place for fear in a healthy relationship. A couple of signs that you are in a

domestic violence relationship are if the abuser criticizes you, accuses you of cheating, and even

blaming you for the abuse. Being afraid of your intimate partner is a big red flag. It’s known to be

said that the physical abuse doesn’t always come first. It usually creeps up slowly. The abuse

would begin with jealousy, very controlling behavior, or the batterer trying to make the victim

move very fast into the relationship, like moving in together or getting engaged in a brief period

of time. Then comes the physical abuse along with the emotional abuse.They would also threaten

their intimate partner and also get very sensitive when being insulted because they perceive the

slightest insult as a personal attack. A couple of mean things would be said here and there or

maybe some things thrown around, but it could be very hard for you to see their actions for what

they truly are. Certain times the signs are a lot worse, like keeping tabs on everything you do or
attacking you with weapons. When the abuse starts, the victim may not always want their loved

ones to know about it, so they try to hide everything about it. Some people can see straight through

these things though. You should always look out for the person constantly having cuts, bruises, or

other injuries, personality changes, or the person constantly checking in with their partner. They

will try to cover up the damage with makeup or clothing. The victim will even try to cover the

bruises with clothing that is inappropriate for the weather like wearing long sleeves and turtlenecks

in the summer or sunglasses when there is no sun out just to cover up bruises. Most of the time, if

the victim has bruises on their arms, you can tell that they have tried to defend themselves. They

end up making up terrible excuses like they fell down the stairs or that it is a burn mark and their

loved ones will usually just leave it alone until the situation pops up once again. Often the reality

of the damage will appear to be more extreme than the reason the victim gives.

How does domestic violence affect all genders?

Though many domestic violence cases happen with women, most people forget that this occurs

with all genders, whether you are a man, woman, or even transgender. People only try to pay

attention to the female involved cases, but what about everyone else. They deserve a voice too.

How Domestic Violence Affects Women

Every year approximately 4 million women are physically abused. This includes permanent

injuries and even death due to their intimate partners or spouses. The abuse of women began early

on in colonial America. There was a law that allowed men to chastise their wives as long as there

would be no permanent damage. In the year 1824, the court case Bradley v. State of

Mississippi allowed men to abuse their wives if they were in danger. In the early 1850’s, only

nineteen states allowed women to divorce their abusive husbands. The Alabama Supreme Court
ruled that in the case Fulgham v. State of Alabama a man does not have the right to put their hands

on their spouse even if they are drunk or insolent, but no charges would be pressed for these acts

of abuse if they were to do so. Domestic violence against women can create long and short-term

physical and health problems. The short-term physical effects could include minor injuries and

major conditions. This includes cuts, scrapes, bruises, and injuries inside the body like damage to

the the organs or broken bones. There are some injuries that are hard to see without some tests

done by doctors. There are some short-term physical effects of sexual violence that would include

vaginal bleeding, unwanted pregnancy, pelvic pain, sexually transmitted diseases, and even

nightmares. If pregnant, the injury could hurt you and the unborn child. The long-term effects of

violence against women can include chronic pains, migraines, stress, heart problems, or pain

during sex. Most women will also have mental health problems after the abuse. This can lead to

post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, or anxiety. They end up shutting people out, not trusting

other people, and having very low self-esteem. They also tend to turn to alcohol or drugs to cope

with all these emotions because substance abuse makes them feel good in the moment, but in the

long run, it makes you feel worse. Even some of our favorite celebrity women have been in

domestic violence relationships. Most of us know about Ike and Tina Turner’s relationship, but

what about the ones we don’t know about. Of course we know about Aretha Franklin as being a

wonderful singer and the “Queen of Soul”, but she is also known as a survivor of domestic

violence. Aretha Franklin was a very private person, but it was said that when she was married to

her first husband and manager at the time, Ted White, that they were involved in physical

altercations that left Franklin with very visible bruises. There were even reports of a public

altercation in 1967 that resulted in Franklin being banned from the hotel it occurred at. Friend and

gospel singer Mahalia Jackson even told TIME in 1968, “I don’t think she’s happy. Somebody
else is making her sing the blues.” Other women like Amanda are apart of a few women that

actually find love after abuse. She was married to a man that was sexually, emotionally, and

physically abusive. She told The National Domestic Violence Hotline, “I was choked, beaten,

thrown into walls, raped and made to feel completely worthless.” In 2010, she began her “safety

plan” and finally left her husband after five years. After she left (still married), she stated that spent

time reading books about domestic violence and blogs by survivors and speaking to a therapist.

She was asked on a date, but was afraid to trust again and she said she knew from what she read

that he was a good man. We all have to understand that everyone isn’t as lucky as her. Some

women don’t have the will to leave and end up with permanent damage and even death.

How Domestic Violence Affects Men

When talking about abuse, the men get all the blame, but no one ever pays attention to the fact that

men can also be abused. As a kid, I was one of the people who only heard of women being abused

until I saw an episode of the Steve Wilkos Show about abusive and controlling boyfriends. Out of

everyone on the show, there was one man who claimed that his girlfriend, on several occasions,

has physically hurt him. At the time, I truly didn’t believe that she was doing these things to him

until she came from from backstage and began screaming at him and hitting him for telling the

whole world what she does to him on a daily basis. I feel as though men are more embarrassed or

they have too much pride to tell anyone, so that is probably why we hear mainly about women in

domestic violence cases. The men go through the same things as far as the controlling behavior

and the physical abuse. There was a man named Joshua Miller. His girlfriend smashed their child’s

guitar into his foredhead, but when police arrived, Miller was the one arrested. This just goes to

show you that people don’t believe that a woman can hurt you or that men can be victims. In an

article titled What Domestic Violence Against Men Looks Like by C. Brian Smith, he speaks on a
woman named Emily M. Douglas who said, “the need to be macho has resulted in men not even

considering themselves victims or realizing the violence they’re experiencing is a crime.” We

never think of a man a being capable of being a victim of this type of abuse. We normally associate

them with being the abusers, no matter what type of relationship they are in. Men feel as if they

go and seek help, they are less of a man. We think of them as being physically stronger, so it is a

lot harder to see them in that light.

How Domestic Violence Affects The LGBT Community

When talking about domestic violence, we often forget about the LGBT community because we

tend to focus on heterosexual relationships. A lot of times, they are not accepted by their loved

ones or their communities. The LGBT community consists of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and

transgenders. A study from 2015 shows that forty-six percent of people were verbally harassed by

people in their communities because of them being transgender. More than half experience some

type of violence from their intimate partners including controlling behavior and physical harm.

Being transgender often becomes hard on dating because of being discriminated from everyone

else, they tend to seek validation from their partner. In any case, ongoing examination

demonstrates that LGBTQ individuals succumb to abusive behavior at home at equivalent or

significantly higher rates contrasted with their heterosexual counterparts. Studies show that 43.8

percent of lesbian women and 61.1 percent of bisexual women have encountered sexual assault,

physical brutality, or potentially stalking by a close accomplice eventually in their lifetime,

opposed to 35 percent of heterosexual women. 26 percent of gay men and 37.3 percent of bisexual

men have encountered rape, physical violence, and additionally stalking by an intimate partner in

their lifetime, in contrast with 29 percent of heterosexual men. Only 26 percent of these males

have gotten the police involved in these near violent altercations. It was said in 2012 that only 5
percent of LGBT survivors decided to seek protection. Bisexual people are more at risk for sexual

violence than any other part of the LGBT community and transgender people are more at risk for

physical violence in public than any other part of the LGBT community. 20 percent of these people

experience some type of physical violence. They have encountered verbal harassment, threats and

intimidation, sexual violence, and reportedly 11 percent of these cases have involved using a

weapon. With domestic violence in the LGBT community, anything can be done. Their partner

could even use their sexuality to threaten them like telling their loved ones about their sexuality

out of spite knowing that they wouldn’t approve and that the victim didn’t want them to know.

Knowing that they receive so much backlash from others around the world, it may be hard for

them to seek help. Transgender people probably have it the hardest out of this entire community

when it comes to domestic violence. They are referred as “it’ or “thing” by the people around them

because everyone in this world isn’t as accepting as others. They are often made fun of by their

partner because of their physical appearance. They are constantly told that they can’t identify as

the gender they want to be and get ridiculed as being “trans”, “a femme”, “butch”, and many other

names. Bottom line is, anyone can be exposed to domestic violence and we should really put an

end to it.
Works Cited

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-domestic-abuse-signs#2-6

https://wwhttps://www.acesdv.org/domestic-violence-graphics/

w.verywellmind.com/signs-someone-is-being-abused-66535

http://www.newhopeforwomen.org/abuser-tricks

https://www.thehotline.org/2018/08/27/aretha-franklin-a-legacy-survivor-story/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/melmagazine.com/en-us/story/what-domestic-violence-against-

men-looks-like/amp

https://www.womenshealth.gov

https://www.thehotline.org/2013/09/30/amandas-story/
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