Domestic Violence Background Essay
Domestic Violence Background/History Domestic violence is a serious crime and a an immense social issue all over the world. Domestic violence is a very critical social issue because it has a negative affect on the victims who are are being abused. “Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another” (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence [NCADV]). It can have many affects on the victims including; physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, and economic abuse. The impact that domestic violence leaves on the victims
…show more content…
These were considered private matters within families and were not publicly investigated. “Women were killed by their husbands for reasons such as talking back, scolding and nagging, and miscarrying children” (Erez). Women in particular have had no protection in law against violence in the home. In 1800 BC, “The Code of Hammurabi decreed that a wife was subservient to her husband and that he could inflict punishment on any member of his household for any transgression (Duquette-Hoffman). This demonstrates that men had every right to abuse his wife and therefore, women were taken advantage of since men are dominant in society. By the 1920’s all states made wife beating illegal. “Family violence became an issue with the influence of the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1960's and 1970's. As the years progressed, domestic violence in American society began to be seen as a violent criminal act. As the attitude toward family violence began changing so did the criminal justice system.” Finally, by 1994 the Violence Against Women Act was created, as the first U.S. federal legislation that acknowledged domestic violence as a crime.”VAWA creates and supports comprehensive, cost-effective responses to the pervasive and insidious crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.
These were considered private matters within families and were not publicly investigated. “Women were killed by their husbands for reasons such as talking back, scolding and nagging, and miscarrying children” (Erez). Women in particular have had no protection in law against violence in the home. In 1800 BC, “The Code of Hammurabi decreed that a wife was subservient to her husband and that he could inflict punishment on any member of his household for any transgression (Duquette-Hoffman). This demonstrates that men had every right to abuse his wife and therefore, women were taken advantage of since men are dominant in society. By the 1920’s all states made wife beating illegal. “Family violence became an issue with the influence of the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1960's and 1970's. As the years progressed, domestic violence in American society began to be seen as a violent criminal act. As the attitude toward family violence began changing so did the criminal justice system.” Finally, by 1994 the Violence Against Women Act was created, as the first U.S. federal legislation that acknowledged domestic violence as a crime.”VAWA creates and supports comprehensive, cost-effective responses to the pervasive and insidious crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.