Domestic Violence: A Social Justice Issue

Strategies to Achieve Social Justice

Violence against women in the United States of America

Violence against women is prevalent all across the U.S., in various strata of society. There are various forms of domestic violence, including but not limited to:

• Domestic violence – About a fourth of the total female population in the U.S. suffers from one or the other form of domestic violence from their partners. Older women, living in rural regions, incapacitated women, and immigrants are at a greater risk of being victims of domestic and sexual abuse.
• Rape – the rate of rape cases in the U.S. has been at an all-time high. A lot of cases remain underreported. The justice process also in these cases is extremely slow.
• Sexual assault – there is a stark difference between sexual assault and other crimes of assault. In cases of sexual assault, the brutality of the crime is typically determined by establishing the victim's moral character, behavior, signs of confrontation, and verbal expressions of non-consensual acts. Another type of assault is battery, which is determined by the perpetrators’ actions and intent. The victim, in such cases, is not required to establish resistance, consent, or have a history of being physically assaulted.

A personal account of events

During the early days of college, I rented a small apartment located close to my college. The apartment owner, Ben, along with his wife, Rosa, was staying at the ground level while I had been renting the floor above them. Over time, I learned that Rosa was born in Germany, and was in the U.S. on her student visa when she met Ben. She was self-reliant and worked at a neighborhood deli to support herself and pay for her tuition. She was also taking an English-speaking course as English was not her native language. On the other hand, Ben had a full-time job with handsome pay. He had neither been married nor been in a long-term relationship. They soon started living together as a couple, and Rosa applied for a partner visa with Ben as her sponsor. They even registered their de facto relationship registered with the concerned authorities.

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It was early days in the relationship and Ben was not too happy about Rosa’s work hours, which involved night shifts and even weekend shifts at times. He urged Rosa to look for another job that did not have such taxing work hours and would allow her to take care of their home, perform daily household chores and allow her to take short vacations with him. Rosa, however, liked her job and was happy to work hard for good remuneration.

Ben kept insisting until one day when Rosa was leaving for work, he hid her car keys. Eventually, he gave the keys back but told her it was he would ‘allow’ it. At his end, Ben also tried to find Rosa a full-time weekday job for better pay, but in vain. Finally, Rosa was forced to quit her job and become a ‘housewife’ to Ben. During the day, she would look for countless open job positions, though, without any success.

It was then that Ben started taking excessive control of their daily routines. He would schedule weekend getaways according to a strict timetable that was not convenient to Rosa; he took her on long drives that Rosa found unpleasant and would not even allow her to play the music of her choice; and he chose destinations that she did not enjoy. Rosa had had enough of being dictated and that led to frequent fights, arguments, and disagreements between them. Ben would often threaten her that he would write to the immigration authorities for withdrawing his sponsorship and have even kept all of Rosa’s immigration documents and details in his possession.

In the meantime, Rosa found herself another job and was reasonably content with it. Ben had issues with her new job too, as the pay was too less and her English was deteriorating day by day. He demanded that Rosa transfer her entire salary to him, and he would make weekly transfers to their joint account for her to pay for groceries and other household expenses. She tried to question him about this demand and tried to explain that she was rather content with her new job and that she was entitled to her own earnings. However, she had to eventually give in to Ben’s demands. Ben acted miserly in terms of depositing money and would spend his salary, as well as Rosa’s salary as he fancied.

Meanwhile, Rosa’s role in the relationship was reduced to cooking for him and performing household duties, while also working and studying. He would often criticize and belittle her efforts around the house. He would bring her clothes that were way too uncomfortable and inappropriate. They engaged in sexual intercourse only on Ben’s terms, without any regard for Rosa’s wishes. He would even force her to sleep with him, failing which, he would report her to the immigration authorities and withdraw his sponsorship.

The only family member allowed in their home was Ben’s mother. He had forced her to cut ties with all her friends in the city and would even refuse to meet Rosa’s relatives residing nearby. He started to monitor her phone and internet activity. He even objected to her speaking in her native language. One time when she was on the phone with a family member from Germany, Ben wielded a knife demanding that she end the conversation and cook dinner. He even kept a handgun at home.

Ben’s hostile behavior towards Rosa was starting to adversely impact her and she was becoming increasingly isolated, demeaned, and depressed. She started working long hours just to get away from him. The last straw was when Ben set up a whiteboard in the kitchen, marking her duty roaster; he would often call her at work and repeatedly text her in order to know her shift timings. During one of my conversations with her, Rosa confessed that she had started feeling like a slave, being constantly monitored, and relinquishing her salary. The situation became intolerable for Rosa and she left Ben’s house to stay with a friend.

My role in trying to achieve social change

On learning that Rosa had left Ben’s house, I tried and get in touch with her. I wanted to help her and started researching on ways and/ or legal recourse to get her out of this muddle. I got in touch with some support services in the area who advised me to approach the local Magistrates’ Court for help. I told Rosa this and she agreed to let me help her. I also put her in touch with the immigration services that helped her with her visa application and recommended she apply for a protection order. Seeing her physical and mental health, I recommended her to see a psychologist as her emotional health and confidence had deteriorated noticeably.

Soon after their separation, I learned that Ben visited Rosa’s workplace and spoke with her employer several times, ending up embarrassing Rosa. He even went to the extent of stalking her and breaking into her relatives’ home and stealing certain goods. Ben then went to Rosa’s home and took with him, photos of her and her car license plate. It was at that point that she called me over and we decided to get help from the local police department, and then obtain a protection order for her. The Police were rather helpful in the situation. On the date of the Court hearing, Ben’s lawyer tried to convince her to withdraw her demand for a protection order and take an undertaking from Ben for good behavior for the next two years. She accepted the undertaking, which Ben signed, and the case was dismissed, only after getting Rosa’s passport back from Ben’s possession. Soon after, Rosa and I went to the immigration office, where we initiated the process for her travel to her home country.

As per my recent conversation with her, Ben has made no contact with her since the court hearing. Rosa left for Germany with only some of her basic possessions. Even though she was entitled to her salary that Ben had confiscated, she chose to forgo the same and then have any further involvement with Ben. Rosa is currently on medication to cope with the depression she has suffered because of Ben’s abuse. She is trying hard to re-establish a bond with her family and friends and to complete her studies.

Status of domestic abuse in America

Domestic violence in the U.S. has been regarded as of the many reasons for the deteriorating public health. Violence (fatal or non-fatal) against women often leads to physical injuries and everlasting mental health imbalance. In addition to this, domestic violence can adversely impact life at work, home, and/ or school. In the more severe cases, domestic violence has also led to the death of the victim. Women are not the only victims of domestic abuse. Children can also be subject to extreme forms of domestic violence, directly or indirectly, leading to adverse physical and mental health.

There are plenty of organizations, and online forums, which take swift action by assisting potential domestic abuse victims with legal remedies. There are also 24-hour helpline numbers such as the National Domestic Violence Hotline etc., which immediately connects the caller/ potential victim with the service provider in his/ her area.

There are also designated buildings, apartments called Domestic violence shelters, where domestic violence victims can seek shelter from their abusers. These locations are usually kept confidential for the purpose of protecting the victim from the perpetrator.

Owing to the intensity and frequency of domestic abuse cases, President Bill Clinton even passed legislation – Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994. The Act granted funds to state authorities and specialized agencies to investigate violent crimes against women and prosecute the perpetrators. One of the noted accomplishments of VAWA is the development of the concept of a harmonized community response. VAWA-funded projects have an impact that goes well beyond the number of victims served, professionals trained, or arrests made. VAWA encourages jurisdictions to not only bring together stakeholders from diverse backgrounds but to also share information and to use their distinct roles to improve community responses to violence against women. This mechanism allows these programs to serve as models for other agencies in their jurisdictions. This not only improves the quality of victim services and the criminal and civil justice response, it often changes the attitudes of the community as a whole.

Conclusion

In a society with inequitable distribution of social and economic resources and power are unevenly distributed, working towards the elimination of domestic violence involves social change and strict political action. Elimination of domestic violence requires a robust criminal justice system in place. However, it also necessitates a variety of interventions that may differ from traditional approaches to crime and prosecution. For example, where domestic violence is concerned, it can be difficult for its victims to leave the relationship or charge the offender, as such interventions have the potential to cause an escalation in the violence. In addition, victims of violence often remain connected to the abuser, through children and other family members. For these reasons, a single response to the violence, such as arrest, the laying of criminal charges, or leaving the perpetrator, will not necessarily end the violence or intimidation. Victims of violence have the right to use the legal system in ways that they consider will best improve their safety.

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