“My husband hit me, and this is not the first time he physically and verbally abused me.”
“Seventy-seven celebrities have been charged with domestic abuse in the USA.”
“Emmy award winners, Oscar winners, and World Series MVPs have all been arrested for domestic violence.”
Savagely violent and brutal, domestic violence (DV), also termed intimate partner violence, does not discriminate against anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or socio economic status, or profession.” It is a universal problem.
The United Nations General Assembly, in 2006, defined domestic violence as “a range of sexually, psychologically, and physically coercive acts used against adult and adolescent women by a current or former intimate partner without her consent.”
While domestic abuse against women is widely publicized in all media, the violence also victimizes men. Illegal drugs and alcohol appear to be aggravating factors among perpetrators.
This sadistic practice goes grossly counter to our loving instinct of protecting our loved ones, even at the sacrifice of our own life. How someone could abuse and hurt their spouse, their partner, or their children is mind-boggling. Even animals do not deserve this barbaric act. And come to think of it, I have never observed domestic violence among animals. Have you?
Causes
What drives a person to be violent against his/her spouse or intimate partner is complex. The perpetrator’s personality, upbringing, family history for DV, education, career, financial security, health, sense of achievement in life and happiness, or lack thereof, use of drug and or alcohol, are all factors that could transform a person to a bitter, violent individual. Some of them are mentally warped. As for the victim, she/he may have lesser education, with no independent source of income, someone with a lower self-esteem, not assertive, overly patient and giving, and forgiving. But even a successful professional could be a victim of domestic violence.
Abuse, rape, and murder
Twenty five percent to seventy percent of women are statistically expected to fall victim to domestic violence in her lifetime, depending on which country they live in. Japan has the lowest rate of DV, while Ethiopia has the highest. Most (60 percent or higher) of this brutal abuse takes place at home, usually occurring between 6 in the evening and 6 in the morning. Most of those who were killed by their intimate partners were women. One in every 3 female victims of homicide is murdered by her present or former partner. Records show that women suffered more than 4 million physical assaults and rape by their partners, compared to the nearly 3 million physical assaults on men from their female partners. Women whose age ranged between 20 to 24 appear to have the greatest risk for domestic violence. More damaging than the physical abuse is the psychological trauma upon the victims and on the other members of the household.
Children exposure
Annually, more than 3 million children witness domestic violence in their homes, and 30 percent to 60 percent of them also experience abuse in various forms, and/or neglect.
“Domestic violence at home are more likely to have health problems, including becoming sick more often, having frequent headaches or stomachaches, and being more tired and lethargic,” according to a Michigan Study in 2005. An earlier report suggested that these children “are more likely to intervene when they witness severe violence against a parent, which can place a child at great risk for injury or even death.”
The impact of politics
Compared to a repressed society under a dictatorship of some kind, democracies appeared to more intolerant to domestic violence and tend to legislate more readily against this crime. Countries and cultures that value women less than men, those in the urban areas compared to those in the rural areas, have higher prevalence of domestic abuse. In some cultures, they are even tolerated.
The greater tragedy is the fact that victims of DV, without proper psychiatric treatment, have a greater tendency to be abusers themselves as teens and as adults, leading to the vicious cycle of domestic violence.
The implications
Domestic violence has devastating consequences and complications that are more brutal than the savage act itself. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that “domestic violence is the third leading cuse of homelessness among families.” In New York, for instance, “twenty five percent of homeless heads of household became homeless due to domestic violence,” according to safehorizon.
Health consequences
The victims of domestic violence have a greater risk for sleep disorder, anxiety, depression, insecurity, loss of self-respect and self-esteem, flashbacks, helplessness, hopelessness, and other emotional and psychological ailments. Some even have a sense of self-doubt and guilt. They generally have poorer health and even chronic conditions they may have (cardiovascular, metabolic or gastrointestinal) become mores serious or resistant to treatment. They tend to socialize less and feel “alone with their secret.”
The material cost
According to the UNICEF report in 2000 and the UN Women annual report for 2011-2012, both of which “examined the micro-economic causes of domestic violence, concluded that low levels of education and limited economic opportunities for women are correlated with higher rates of domestic violence.”
While the adverse economic effect on the victim and family is significant, domestic violence also costs society, the government, more than 37 billion dollars a year, as far as legal works, law enforcement, medical care, mental health treatment, and loss productivity at companies. According to one report, “decreasing domestic violence will increase the social, political and economic capacity of women, which will have long-term micro- and macro- level benefits.”
What can be done
The solution begins at home. Parents can start by being good examples for their children, showing love, respect, understanding, and patience with each other. There ought to be a clear caveat among family members in a household that abuse, physical, verbal, or psychological, are forbidden in their home. Since most of DV are not reported, it behooves all of us to report domestic violence we witness or encounter, and speak up and speak out to help minimize this brutal savagery. Schools must have a subject on domestic violence in their curriculum. The country’s legal system must enforce and implement laws on this violent crime, wherever it is committed, and perpetrators be penalized according to the letter of the law.
The tragic fact is that society, mankind as a whole, is adversely impacted by domestic violence even a world away from us, because this cruel and inhumane act impugn our honor and diminishes our self-respect as a civilized people.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. Email: [email protected]
