Family Issues: Domestic Violence in American Households

Abuse is widespread all over the world but varies in levels of intensity, victim classification, and category. Among others, the most common forms of abuse within a household include the following: physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, mental abuse, and emotional abuse, and many of these types can co-exist and be present at the same time in relationships. Abuse is not as talked about as other social issues, like divorce, suicide, and mental illnesses abuse often causes. I can’t help but wonder why abuse seems to be such a touchy subject that is avoided whenever possible. The damage abuse does to victims, and how common this issue warrants serious discussion. The problem is that right now, the discussion is non-existent.

When most people think of abuse, physical abuse is often the first thing to come to mind. Domestic violence is likely the most well-known form of physical abuse. An estimate of 1 in 3 women and 1 in 10 men over the age of 18 will experience a form of domestic violence. An estimated figure of well over 1,500 deaths are due to domestic violence in the U.S. in just a year. These figures come from an article published on the NCBI website. The number of fatal domestic violence cases has been decreasing due to a lowering rate of marriage amongst other causes. Still, thousands of non-fatal domestic violence cases go unreported every year. This high number of cases and the amount of mental trauma it inflicts on victims makes this problem so challenging to find better solutions to help victims. Many victims may fear for their lives if they were to report their abusers, thus creating long term, real, working solutions very hard to find. Nonetheless, this is a problem that needs to be spoken of more, and we must require government systems and programs to deal with these issues and help victims. We also need to improve how we, as a society, respond and support those who come forward as victims of abuse.

Mental and emotional abuse is one of the hardest categories of abuse to identify without knowing the victim personally. Still, it may potentially be one of the most damaging over lengthened periods of time. For obvious reasons, being exposed to emotional abuse can wear down a person’s mental state, and cause many lifelong problems. With emotional abuse, the cycle of violence can be especially disruptive. Tension will build between the abuser and the victim until the abuser has a violent outburst that could span over any length of time, where the victim is being abused and consistently mistreated. After this stage of constant damage, the abuser will typically try to make it up to the person they abused, showering them with gifts and love, giving them a false sense of hope that they won’t be hurt again. Sadly this hope crumbles as tension rises once again, eventually resulting in yet another abusive stage. This cycle of violence and pain can span any amount of time.

Whether it takes a year or a week to go through, it leaves the person being abused very hurt and likely with emotional damage. The violent phase in this cycle often includes multiple types of abuse and is when the worst abuse takes place. (DC.gov) Nearly half of all men and women experience mental abuse from an intimate partner in their life. (The Hotline) Mental abuse can leave a person scarred for life, and can negatively impact their everyday life for years after the abuse may have stopped. Mental abuse is something we need to help the victims of more than we currently do. Providing support for victims of emotional abuse is crucial to making a step forward in improving how we treat abuse in America.

In the conversations surrounding abuse in the US, child abuse is often mentioned and is usually the focus of the discussion. Child abuse is a very grave issue that encompasses all of the significant types of abuse with possibly more damaging effects on the victims. Consistent enduring abuse as a child could leave a person’s mental state in shambles and cause them to have life-long trauma. The most common form of child abuse is neglect. Neglect is a serious issue in which a parent or guardian of a child deprives them of their needs, and fails to provide for them in basic, everyday life. Child neglect can take many forms in of itself, and has various levels of severity, just like other main types of abuse. In 2016, at least 672,000 children were victims of maltreatment in the U.S. In American reports on child maltreatment, seven children out of 1,000 were reported as victims of neglect, were 1.7 per 1,000 were victims of physical abuse, 0.8 for sexual abuse, and 0.5 for emotional abuse. From 1990 to 2016, the rates of physical child abuse decreased by 40%, and sexual abuse reports went down by 62%, whereas the rates of reports of child neglect only declined by 8%. These statistics were reported in Psychology Today. Child neglect is a severe problem that affects thousands of American children daily. Negligence is often talked about in its most extreme cases but is much more common when you look past outright the abandonment or malnourishment of children. Economic situations can play a part in neglect, as well as the past experiences of the person neglecting a child. There are a myriad of reasons a child might be neglected, but a serious problem within our country. Along with neglect, the other form of abuse also can damage a child’s way of life and set them up with emotional damage and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We need to do a better job as a society of protecting children and youth from abuse and supporting them when they have no one else to help them.

When most people hear the word abuse, they think of physical and sexual abuse. Physical abuse is widespread in low severity. Sexual abuse is almost as common, if not more frequent, than typical physical abuse, but can be far harder to identify victims in essential day-to-day interaction. More than 12 million people are subject to physical violence, rape, and stalking by an intimate partner each year, which is roughly 24 victims every minute. Almost 1 out of 5 women and 1 out of 71 men have experienced rape in their life, with nearly 1 in 10 women have experienced rape or sexual abuse from an intimate partner. Rape, sexual abuse, and physical abuse are problems that need to be dealt with within our society. These problems are well known and often taken for granted as not as huge as they indeed are. 81% of the women who have been victims of physical or sexual abuse or stalking have dealt with severe long term or short term effects, including PTSD, anxiety, and serious injuries. (The Hotline) Physical and sexual abuse are recognized as serious problems by most people, but the severity of these problems is not as widely known or recognized. The commonality of victims enduring physical and sexual abuse is something that should be worked on and ultimately made far less common in our society.

We have failed to make many victims feel safe coming forward with the stories of their abusive experiences. This is partially due to victim-blaming, and partially due to the natural fear of the abuser. We need to normalize further coming out as victims of abuse of all kinds and set up a bigger safety net to protect and support those who are victims of abuse in its many types and severity levels. Abuse is a significant problem, and it won’t get better until we do a better job of helping victims.

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