Issue Of Domestic Violence Research Articles

This Is the Story of … The Troubling Violence Performance Project

This essay employs performative writing to introduce the Troubling Violence Performance Project, a troupe that seeks to open lines of communication about issues of domestic violence through performance of personal narratives. Performative writing is a way of embodying the complexity of the issues. Experimental in nature, the paper attempts to demonstrate how story is used to educate audiences about social issues. Neither the stories of abuse nor the description of the troupe's work is polished or neat, and there are certainly no tidy endings. The women's stories and the work itself are a messy business, but through the power of story they are attempts to change lives.

Engendering a clinic: Lessons learned from a domestic violence clinical course in Qatar

Domestic violence, a serious problem around the world, remains a hidden concern among the Islamic Gulf States. Yet signs indicate the situation is changing. A team of American lawyers and professors, responding to student initiative and the Qatari development strategy, recently initiated Qatar's first law school clinic, focusing exclusively on domestic violence. By highlighting the students' experience, this article outlines the issues involved and the problems that were encountered, and resolved, during the development of this clinic. The students first studied the issue of domestic violence, then made presentations to the larger community to raise awareness of the topic. Subsequent to a review of international law, the Qatari criminal code and model domestic violence statutes from other jurisdictions, the students drafted legislation designed to criminalize domestic violence in Qatar. Finally, they developed what they called An Action Plan to Stop Domestic Violence in Qatar. This article also explores how the clinic's work was informed by the sex-segregated educational environment, by Islamic culture at large, and by feminist and traditional interpretations of the Qur'an. The authors offer reflections on the lessons they learned and propose suggestions about how such pedagogy might proceed in future. KEYWORDS: domestic violence, gender relations, clinical legal education, Qatari legal and educational systems, Islamic interpretation Language: en

Women's Human Rights—and Religion

Women's Human Rights—and Religion Stephanie Y. Mitchem I was invited to give a paper at the Women, Religion, and Human Rights conference held in Sweden June 2011. Women and men from around the world, scholars from a variety of fields, gathered to share experiences and ideas. Two questions occurred to me at that event. Near the end of the conference, some of the participants began to define “religion.” I knew that many of the scholars attending the conference were from history or sociology or political science, some field other than religious studies or theology. If religionists’ absence indicated that theologians had ceded the arguments about human rights, this was very disturbing to me. After all, most religious traditions claim an anthropological view that humans have meaning beyond apparent economic or social value. It would seem that such a human rights focus could also have the added benefit of engendering deeper interfaith dialogues. Following this line of thought, my question was: “Why aren't more religion scholars thinking through issues of human rights and women?” Second, I was struck by the fact that I was one of the few Americans present. My second question became: “In a global conversation, why were so few Americans involved?” I'm aware that there is a belief that United States’ women are secure in their human rights. However, this belief is a fiction that, in global comparisons, is consistently proven untrue. The number of women in political leadership; the social efforts to end domestic violence; achieving equal pay and economic strength as well as the leadership of various religious bodies—in such markers as these, women in the United States do not take the lead among nations, but fall far down the list. We've long needed to have substantive conversations about these women and human rights from the perspectives of religious scholars. During and following that 2011 conference, women's status and well‐being in the United States were brought into sharp relief. Throughout the presidential election cycle, birth control and contraception were challenged by some church groups, using proposed legislation to outlaw each as a form of abortion. Religious freedom has been a battle cry that has served to reinscribe male dominance over women's bodies, and in doing so, reinforce the subsequent economic inequalities. Beyond the U.S., a recent book and documentary by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl LeDun, Half the Sky, brought a painful focus to global issues of women and human rights. And yet, we've long needed to have substantive conversations from the perspectives of religions about women's human rights. It is my hope that this issue of Crosscurrents will hold the beginnings of a longer conversation. The authors are from the United States as well as Ghana and Canada/Azerbaijan. Some are Muslims, some Christians, and some are atheist. Issues of rape, economic abuse, and domestic violence arise. But some of the authors challenge definitions of women, leadership, and women's human rights that come from other women, with the hope to broaden the conversations to encompass their own perspectives on religions and on human rights. Feminist or womanist, different races or nationalities, of various ages, the authors in this issue bring a commitment to finding answers that account for complex relationships and situations. These women add a new, political, and battle‐tested savvy to their discussions. The authors highlight women's agency in bringing forth revised thinking and direct action. For some of the authors, their own religious traditions offer beliefs that become important to their growth as women. For others, moving from a religious structure does not mean giving up humanist, human‐centered ethics. For each essay, the complexities of contemporary thought about women, especially from women, are highlighted. Their words help us to think more deeply about women and human rights and religions’ roles. Not just a topic for fruitless theorizing in seminaries’ classes that replaces the old “how many angels dance on the head of pin?” question. Not simply answered through legislation but recognizing complex, global layers that surround any issue of women and human rights. And not just an occasional focus for the activist work of a “Peace and Justice...

Domestic Violence Shelter Partnerships and Veterinary Student Attitudes at North American Veterinary Schools and Colleges

Animal abuse and domestic violence are linked issues, and pet ownership is reported to play a crucial role in the choice to leave an abusive situation. Although veterinarians witness the effects of abuse and violence over the course of their careers, they have limited training regarding these issues. One mechanism for educating veterinary students while providing a service for victims of domestic violence is the creation of partnerships between domestic violence shelters and veterinary schools. These extracurricular programs can provide both care for pets belonging to victims of domestic violence and an educational platform for student participants. The goals of this study were to determine the prevalence and characteristics of domestic violence shelter partnerships (DVSPs) at North American veterinary teaching hospitals and to determine whether the presence of a DVSP was associated with increased awareness among veterinary students regarding animal abuse and domestic violence. Nine of 33 veterinary schools surveyed described a DVSP program. Students at schools with DVSPs associated with their veterinary teaching hospitals were significantly more likely to indicate that their awareness of the link between animal abuse and domestic violence had increased during veterinary school. Most veterinary students reported that they felt poorly prepared to handle domestic violence and animal abuse issues in the workplace. This study indicates that extracurricular DVSPs are a viable means of educating veterinary students regarding domestic violence and animal abuse. A need for improved education on these topics in veterinary schools across North America is identified.

General practitioners and managing domestic violence: Results of a qualitative study in Germany

A qualitative interview based study on ways of addressing and managing domestic violence (DV) by general practitioners (GPs) is presented. Problem centred semi-structured topic-guided interviews were conducted with 10 male and nine female GPs. Transcribed passages were analysed with the deductive approach of qualitative content analysis. Female doctors gave broader definitions of DV. Addressing of DV by a patient was perceived as a demand to act by all doctors. Documentation of injuries was considered to be important. Time constraints, feelings of being ashamed and helpless were described as barriers in addressing DV. Female doctors reported being anxious about losing their professional distance in cases of female victims. While female participants tend to take an ‘acting’ role in managing cases of DV by being responsible for treatment and finding a solution in collaboration with the patient, male doctors preferred an ‘organising’ role, assisting patients finding further help. Definitions of DV and differences in addressing the issue seemed to be strongly affected by personal professional experience. Definitions of DV, personal barriers in addressing the subject and understanding of the own role in management and treatment of DV cases differed between male and female doctors. Pre-existing definitions of DV, personal experience and gender aspects have to be taken into account when planning educational programmes for GPs on the issue of DV.

Using rapid assessment and response to operationalise physical activity strategic health communication campaigns in Tonga

The aim of the present study was to identify stakeholder and program beneficiary needs and wants in relation to a netball communication strategy in Tonga. In addition, the study aimed to more clearly identify audience segments for targeting of communication campaigns and to identify any barriers or benefits to engaging in the physical activity program. A rapid assessment and response (RAR) methodology was used. The elicitation research encompassed qualitative fieldwork approaches, including semistructured interviews with key informants and focus group discussions with program beneficiaries. Desk research of secondary data sources supported in-field findings. A number of potential barriers to behavioural compliance existed, including cultural factors, gender discrimination, socioeconomic factors, stigmatising attitudes, the threat of domestic violence, infrastructure and training issues. Factors contributing to participation in physical activity included the fun and social aspects of the sport, incentives (including career opportunities, highlighting the health benefits of the activity and the provision of religious and cultural sanctions by local leaders towards the increased physical activity of women. The consultative approach of RAR provided a more in-depth understanding of the need for greater levels of physical activity and opportunities for engagement by all stakeholders. The approach facilitated opportunities for the proposed health behaviours to be realised through the communication strategy. Essential insights for the strategy design were identified from key informants, as well as ensuring future engagement of these stakeholders into the strategy. So what? The expanded use of RAR to inform the design of social marketing interventions is a practical approach to data collection for non-communicable diseases and other health issues in developing countries. The approach allows for the rapid mobilisation of scarce resources for the implementation of more strategic, targeted communication campaigns to support behavioural changes.

Black revolutionary masculinity in Miriam Tlali's Amandla: Lessons for contemporary South Africa

abstract Miriam Tlali's 1980 novel, Amandla, offers one of South Africa's most detailed accounts of the 1976 Soweto uprising from the perspective of a number of young revolutionaries of the time. Based on events Tlali witnessed as a resident of Soweto during 1976, the novel offers a detailed portrayal of Black Consciousness ideology in the service of anti-apartheid activism, while explicating gender relations between men and women activists and members of the larger community. This essay focuses on the ways in which Amandla, Tlali's second novel, constructs black, revolutionary masculinity in ways that hold valuable lessons for democratic, post-apartheid South Africa as it grapples with high rates of gender-based violence. I argue that through the main character of Pholoso and a host of women characters with whom he interacts, Tlali offers a blueprint for a politically engaged masculinity which refuses to articulate itself through patriarchal hegemony, while accommodating and encouraging women's autonomy, equality, and leadership in political activity. The novel also engages with the issue of domestic violence, demonstrating a community response to violent masculinity that doesn't undermine black unity. Critically ignored upon publication and in both apartheid and post-apartheid literary canons, Amandla's militant depiction of the Soweto uprising is worth revisiting for its insights on masculinity, revolution and gender relationships within the cauldron of political upheaval.

¿De qué sirve preocuparse por si es bueno o malo?: "Carrusel" y la presentación de la violencia doméstica en los musicales.

The analysis of the 1956 film Carousel (Dir. Henry King), which was based on the 1945 play by Rodgers and Hammerstein, provides a suitable example of a musical with explicit allusions to male physical aggression over two women: the wife and the daughter. The issue of domestic violence appears, thus, in a film genre in which serious topics such as these are rarely present. The film provide an opportunity to study how the expectations and the conventions brought up by this genre are capable of shaping and transforming the presentation of Domestic Violence. Because the audience had to sympathise with the protagonists, the plot was arranged to fulfil the conventional pattern of a romantic story inducing audiences forget about the dark themes that are being portrayed on screen.

2754 – Title: a study to assess the stress, coping strategies and domestic violence in wives of alcohol dependent individuals

Divorce rates are high among wives of alcoholics and the most frequently identified cause is domestic strife in the form of harassment, torture or beating from the husband and or in-laws. However, there is only limited literature in this regard. To study the stress, various coping styles and domestic violence among the wives of alcohol dependent individuals, who are admitted to the de-addiction centre of a tertiary care psychiatric centre in India. An exploratory descriptive design was adopted. Wives of 75 alcohol dependent individuals, admitted in the deaddiction centre of National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore were selected. Data was collected by personal interviews with all 75 wives using socio-demographic information schedule, Perceived Stress Scale, Coping with Drinking Questionnaire, and Domestic Violence Questionnaire. Wives of alcohol dependent patients had high levels of perceived stress. Avoidance, discord, fearful withdrawal and sexual withdrawal were the most common coping components identified. Domestic violence was experienced by 90% women, mostly intellectual (69%), emotional (59%), social (58%), physical (47%), economic (42%) and sexual violence (27%). Domestic violence was found to increase the stress and influences the coping styles of these women. Domestic violence is a major problem in wives of alcoholics. Routine screening for domestic violence is needed during the intake of alcoholic for substance abuse treatment so that appropriate interventions can be planned. There is a need for substance abuse treatment providers to be trained on the issue of domestic violence.

Family Court Services: A Reflection on 50 Years of Contributions

In the fifty years between 1963 and today, the family court landscape has entirely changed. In many jurisdictions, family court judges have access to a range of court services to refer parents to, from mediation, to parent education, to parenting coordination. Courts are more aware of and sensitive to issues of domestic and family violence and the special needs of nontraditional families. Bound by precedence, courts are generally not considered to be institutions which change rapidly and, in court time, fifty years is quite brief. How can one explain these changes? Certainly societal changes (e.g., the role of women in the workforce changed significantly since 1963 as did the number of people seeking divorce), overburdened civil court dockets, and legal changes (e.g., abrogation of the tender years doctrine and adoption of joint custody presumptions) all contributed to the need for courts to develop new ways of providing services but one cannot ignore the major role that the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) played as a catalyst to support and expand the provision of innovate court services to litigants and their families. In fact, if one looks at the significant discussions at AFCC conferences, which then developed into articles or special issues of Family Court Review and ultimately led to the development of guidelines, standards, or best practices either led by AFCC or with AFCC as a major contributor. The author examines these contributions by reviewing them in the context of the major changes in family court services over the past five decades. The article will conclude with some speculation about the future.

Where Do You Think Domestic Abuse Hurts Most?

This personal essay provides readers with a view of an individual's journey through the cycle of abuse. This piece of writing uses a creative approach to discuss the issue of domestic violence. The pictorial representation depicts an individual's experience in the cycle of violence. This creative medium of expression covers the effects of violence on an individual's emotional, physical, and psychological well-being. Concepts of systematic oppression and violence are also presented and discussed.

What potential does the Council of Europe Convention on Violence against Women hold as regards domestic violence?

This article analyses the potential held by the Council of Europe's Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence as regards the issue of domestic violence. The background to the adoption of the convention is discussed, and the provisions of the convention relating to domestic violence are examined in detail. The article analyses the benefits of the convention and argues that the adoption of this instrument is certainly a very significant development for the movement to combat domestic violence. The article also examines a number of potential difficulties which may serve to hinder the effectiveness of the convention.

Creating a Safe Haven for Employees Who Are Victims of Domestic Violence

Intimate partner violence is a danger to American employers as well as costly for American businesses. Because one in four women is battered at some point in her lifetime and the percentage of employed women is over 50%, employers should address the issue of domestic violence at the workplace in an effort to keep employees safe while at work and to manage the financial burden that accompanies this problem. The author provides an overview of the problem and corresponding interventions that should be implemented to avoid violence in the workplace and to promote a culture of safety for all employees, particularly in a hospital setting.

Women's Movements as Agents of Change: The Politics of Policymaking and the Reform of Domestic Violence Laws in Croatia and Slovenia, 1991–2004

This article examines women's movements as agents of change in postcommunist Croatia and Slovenia: whether, and in what ways, they may have succeeded in politicizing and institutionalizing the issue of domestic violence in the two countries. Theoretically, this article aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion of the effectiveness of different forms of women's policy agency. Using a policy process analysis, the study demonstrates the key role women's movements have played in putting the issue of domestic violence on the political agenda and pressuring governments to enact new legislation. The findings challenge the common assumption that Central and Eastern European women's movements have remained weak, antifeminist, and apolitical, exerting only marginal influence on the gender policy processes in the region.

Challenging the Pursuit of Criminalisation in an Era of Mass Incarceration: The Limitations of Social Work Responses to Domestic Violence in the USA

This article critically reflects upon the social work field engaging the issue of domestic violence and its relationship to the criminal legal system in the USA. The historical trajectory of the contemporary battered women's movement beginning in the 1970s parallels the rise of criminalisation and mass incarceration particularly impacting marginalised racial communities. In the USA, the passage of the Violence against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994 as a part of the Crime Bill symbolises the convergence of historical forces contributing to the growing collaboration between the feminist movement, social work engagement with gender-based violence and the carceral state. Since the late 1990s, new social movement forces including advocates and activists from anti-violence programmes in the USA have contested this unquestioned reliance upon criminal legal remedies and the professionalisation that has depoliticised the social movement. This critique has developed an intersectional analysis that challenges gender-based violence as well as state violence and advanced an alternative set of frameworks and practices. This article employs contributions of critical criminology, critical race theory and empirical examples from the field of domestic violence and new social movements to analyse the limitations of social work policy, practice and research and to suggest future productive directions.

What Puts Women at Risk of Violence From Their Husbands? Findings From a Large, Nationally Representative Survey in Turkey

A large, nationally representative, cross-sectional survey was conducted in Turkey in 2008. In this survey, which used the WHO (World Health Organization) study module on violence, information about lifetime and current violence (past 12 months) was obtained using weighted, stratified, and multistage cluster sampling. This article describes factors associated with physical or sexual violence experienced by ever-married women, aged 15 to 49, from their current or most recent husbands in the 12 months before the survey. Logistic regression analysis is used to describe the risk and protective factors from a considerable range of explanatory variables. The findings confirm that many factors are similar to the experiences of other countries. The physical or sexual violence experienced by ever-married women from their husbands was 15.1%. The violence experienced by women is significantly positively associated with early childhood abuse experiences of both women and their husbands; marriages decided by families or others; husband's behaviors such as drunkenness, adultery, controlling women's behavior, and preventing contact with women's family and friends. The age of the women, their contribution to the household income, support from women's families, women's acceptance of male authority, and nonpartner violence experience as well as regional differentials also affect the risk of violence. No significant associations were found with the employment status of women and men or education difference. This study, as one of the largest surveys ever conducted on the issue of domestic violence using face-to-face interviews, demonstrated how the patriarchal family structure still affects women's lives in Turkey. This is particularly significant, given Turkey's setting between traditional and modern values.

Teenage pregnancy: social pandemic!

A study undertaken to identify the risk factors associated with teenage girls who decide to continue the pregnancy and among teenage girls who decide to terminate the pregnancy.MethodData collected from...

Across the Divide: Using Research to Enhance Collaboration Between Mental Health and Domestic Violence Services

Recognition of the deleterious effects of domestic violence on women's mental health has highlighted the potential benefits for women of collaboration between mental health and domestic violence services. Yet the different histories, knowledge bases, and organisational cultures of the mental health and domestic violence sectors present formidable challenges to the development of effective collaborative work. This article draws on a large research enquiry, involving four separate but related studies, which explored aspects of collaboration between these two service sectors. It focuses particularly on data collected in interviews with practitioners from mental health and domestic violence services who were participants in an action research study (one of the four studies), which was aimed at discovering the factors that contributed to enhanced collaboration and the benefits of this for women who experience both domestic violence and mental health issues.

Using Community Outreach and Evidenced-Based Treatment to Address Domestic Violence Issues

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF–CBT) is one evidence-based treatment for post-traumatic stress (PTS) that has shown great promise. The Children's Initiative has used this treatment model successfully to alleviate symptoms of PTS as a result of witnessing domestic violence. When this treatment model is used within a cohesive community structure with maximum inclusion of all local agencies and coordinated referral efforts, it is highly effective as a response to domestic violence.

„BHADŽIS PAPLŪDIMYJE“: HIBRIDINĖ TAPATYBĖ IR POPULIARIEJI DISKURSAI DIDŽIOSIOS BRITANIJOS DIASPORINIAME KINE

...