Female Victims Of Violence Research Articles

Malaysian Women in the Modern Era

This article attempts to examine the position of the Malaysian women in the
 present context of capitalist development and fast rate of industrialization in
 Malaysia, and raises the question, 'Does a common notion of the modem
 Malaysian woman exist?'
 The first part examines critically the lack of women's representation in all
 institutions of society. The lack of representation especially at the important
 decision-making levels has disadvantaged the majority of women.
 The second part proposes that women are also disadvantaged in the
 domestic sphere, where the main tasks and responsibilities are borne by
 women irrespective of class, although some variation naturally exists
 between these women.
 The third part then looks at the roles and achievements of women's
 NGOs. They have succeeded in bringing about new laws (e.g. the Domestic
 Violence Act) and amendments to others (e.g. the rape laws). There appears,
 in fact, to be a closer partnership between the government and women's
 NGOs over women's issues. Furthermore, they have brought much-needed
 services for female victims of violence, and have educated the public on
 women's issues.
 The last part discusses the modem capitalist, consumerist and religious
 culture, which constructed the image and role of women. Conformity to the
 dictates of such structures lends support to the philosophy of expediency
 and acceptability for most Malay women.

Physiological Desensitization and Judgments About Female Victims of Violence

Earlier published studies have indicated that exposure to filmed violence against women leads to decreased perceptions of violence, systematic reductions in emotional reactions, reduction in self-reported physiological arousal to the violence in the films, and a tendency for subjects exposed to the violence to judge a victim of a sexual assault presented in a more realistic context more harshly. The present study was designed to measure physiological desensitizatian (heart rate) and to investigate the relationships between this measure and other cognitive, affective, and attitudinal components of the desensitization process. Subjects were either exposed to a two-hour videotape portraying violence against women or to exciting, nonviolent material (i.e., auto races, nonviolent sex). Following this, all subjects were exposed to two brief clips of violence perpetrated by a man against a women. During these clips, all subjects’ heart rates were monitored. Afterwards mood reactions and perceptions of the perpetrators and victims depicted in the dependent measure clips were measured. The results indicated that heart rates for subjects exposed to the violent videotape were lower during the final 90 seconds of each violent dependent measure film clip than controls. Although the violence-viewing subjects experienced no change in moods, control subjects experienced significant increases in hostility, anxiety, and depression during the dependent measure clips. Subjects in the violence-viewing condition attributed less injury to the victims but greater responsibility to the perpetrators in the dependent measure clips, compared to control subjects. There was no apparent relationship between physiological desensitization and later victim/perpetrator judgments.

Injuries due to deliberate violence in areas of Denmark. V. Violence against women and children

As part of an European-South American study of deliberate violence cases of violence against women ⩾15 years of age and violence against and among children under the age of 15 years were registered at 3 Danish emergency wards and at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen. 352 cases of violence against women and 46 cases of violence against children were registered in the three emergency wards corresponding to rates of about 1.6 1000 per year for women, 0.6 1000 per year for boys and 0.7 1000 per year for girls in a provincial/rural district, the catchment region of Holbaek County Hospital, 3.4 1000 per year for women, 2.8 1000 per year for boys and 0.6 1000 per year for girls in a mainly middle income area of the metropolis Copenhagen, the catchment region of Frederiksberg Hospital, and 0.4 1000 per year for women, 4.0 1000 per year for boys and 0.9 1000 per year for girls in a mainly low income area of Copenhagen, the catchment region of the Rigshospital. Nineteen live adult female victims and 17 dead adult female victims of violence were registered in the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen, where also one was registered as a victim of homicide. Nearly half of the adult live female victims of violence had been injured at home while this was the case for approximately three fourth of the dead victims. In 35% of the live cases the husband was the aggressor and in 12% a former cohabitant. In 71% of the homicide cases the husband was the aggressor. The live women appeared to have fewer but more serious lesions than men. The pattern of deliberate violence against women appears to be associated with socio-economic and cultural factors. In cases with a preceding quarrel there is statistically a link to alcohol intoxication. In half of the cases of violence against children the aggressor was known to the victim, in 15% the aggressor was one of the parents, while 42% of the cases were violence among children. The pattern of violence according to sex, and the distribution and severity of lesions for 10–14 years old children showed resemblance to the situation for adults. The lesions were more serious in young infant victims, especially boys, than in adult victims.