According to the Center for Disease
Control and Prevention, nearly 5.3 million intimate partner violence
victimization occur among US women who are 18 years and older each year with
approximately 2 million injuries wherein 550,000 of them require medical attention
(https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/ipvbook-a.pdf). These numbers are
extremely shameful for the country, and for everyone as a society. Domestic
violence can occur in any relationship: husband-wife, mother-daughter, or
father-son and many more possible ways in any household; this affects the
victim to unimaginable extents. Domestic violence in the US is not spoken about
a lot and while there initiatives taken by the government to help reduce this
injustice, the numbers tend to increase every year. Hence, the future of many
such victims and people currently in an abusive relationship is dependent on
future generations who chose to stand up against abusers who commit domestic
violence and many non-profit organizations that take the initiative in an
effort to put an end to this injustice by raising awareness about the
consequences of this abuse and by aiding those who have already unfortunately
experienced this.
40 to 45% of the women in
physically abusive relationships are raped or sexually assaulted in their
lifetime by their current or ex male partner (https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/ipvbook-a.pdf). Domestic violence is not
only limited to women in relationships, men also experience violence in their
relationships. 2 in 5 bisexual or gay men experience domestic violence in their
relationships(https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/23/domestic-violence-statistics_n_5959776.html). The victim is the
submissive partner in their relationship who is often so because of some factor
of their identity: sexual orientation, beliefs, race, or even appearance.
Domestic violence does not only happen in partners involved in a sexual
relationship; most cases of domestic violence occur in common households
wherein the victim is a child and the predator is the parent. Ten million
children are exposed to domestic violence each year. As the victim is usually
the submissive partner in the household relationship, the victim tends to be
the one who is blamed for the act. Not only do judgemental opinions about the
victim’s role in the act often hurt the victim deeply, but also encourage the
constant use of domestic violence in households to exhibit power, and
superiority. Frequently, not only does domestic violence affect the victim’s
approach towards life: freedom and their relationship with the predator, but
also the loved ones of the victims remain shattered after learning about the
sad treatment of their family member, and understanding that they had no
control over this injustice.
In an attempt to prevent this
violence from constantly rising, the government and many non-profit
organizations launch initiatives to help these victims either recover from such
attacks or speak out against their abusive partners. To illustrate this point,
government organizations such as the National Center on Domestic and Sexual
Violence, and the National Coalition for Homelessness provide opportunities for
women, men, children, and homeless victims to speak up against any kind of
domestic violence they would have ever faced. These organizations help them
lawfully fight against their partner and also provide some rehab that is needed
by the victim to recover from the trauma of this violence they faced. Other
than government organizations, certain NGOs are also directed to help these
victims, NGOs such as Equality Now and Battered Women’s Justice Project help
victims of domestic violence recover from the trauma of the attack and in turn
spread awareness about this injustice. Organizations such as the CWLA (Child
Welfare League of America) is an organization created for children who are
either directly victims of domestic violence or children who need refuge after
witnessing domestic violence in their household. While this organizations try
their best to represent as many victims as they can and help them recover,
there are also more race-centered organizations such as Jewish Women
International, Manavi, and National Latina Alliance for Elimination of Domestic
Violence that work to represent people of color: Jewish, South-Asian, and Latina
victims of domestic violence, those who are generally silenced or not given
enough representation in the society after being abused due to their ethnicity
or background. These organizations and many more help the victims of domestic
violence in family households and in work environments speak up against their
predator as it is generally morally difficult to speak up against a predator
who is your family or superior to you in a work setting. These organizations
make it possible to serve some level of justice to these victims and survivors.
All in all, domestic violence is a
generally tabooed topic in America and not spoken about to a large extent.
There are several victims of domestic violence who find it extremely difficult
to raise their voice especially when the abuser is their family. Fortunately,
there are several organizations that help these victims speak up against their
predator and lawfully fight through these hard situations. These organizations
work to not only provide comfort and rehab to the victim, but also work to
represent them on a larger scale to make awareness about this ‘hushed’ topic.
While this organizations do exist to constantly support several victims of
domestic violence, it is also the responsibility of all people of the country as
a society to not just sympathize or blame the victims of such relationships,
but strengthen and support them. Frequently, the society around the victim is
judgemental and unintentionally or intentionally favors the abuser and causes
further trauma to the victim. A social issue such as domestic violence will
only ever be put to an end if the majority stands up to speak up against it,
and only then will justice ever be served.
