Violence & Abuse: Its Many Forms and Common Elements

Violence and about against women in America is a wide spread problem that most people fail to recognize. Of the 8 million acts of reported intimate partner abuse, 60 percent of these were against women. The types of abuse vary ranging from acquaintance violence to childhood abuse to sexual harassment. Despite all the types of abuse there are common elements that tie them together both from the outsider's perspective as well as the abused's point of view. As a woman, I believe that our gender has a social duty to educate and aid other women (and their children) to help prevent abuse.

What defines abuse? It's a wide spectrum of behaviors that in some way causes harm to another. While there are increasing degrees of abuse, the following is a list of just some of the types and outcomes of these acts.

1. Acquaintance Violence - Acquaintance violence is a form of violence or abuse committed by a parent, relative, coworker, neighbor, or friend. The unique aspect of this type of abuse is that some type of relationship exists between the attacker and victim. It may be that since the victim knows the attacker that they let down their guard or feel entrusted to them. This is the most prevalent form of violence and abuse.

2. Domestic Abuse - Domestic abuse is violence or abuse that is committed in the home by a spouse, ex-spouse, intimate partner or other cohabitating person. While most people think of this as abuse against a spouse, it may also include child abuse or elder abuse. In a spousal abuse situation, the majority of the abuse is against women.

3. Childhood Abuse - Childhood abuse (also known as child abuse) is an extremely serious problem in America. Child abuse is defined as the maltreatment or injury of a child before the age of 18 by physical or psychological means. According to child abuse statistics approximately 900,000 children are abused each year in the United States. 1,500 of those abuses result in death.

4. PTSD - Post traumatic stress disorder is often a result of child abuse. PTSD is a clinical anxiety disorder where the person often relives the traumatic event. For a child this can result in lifelong difficulties with developing stable adult relationships.

5. Psychological Abuse - Psychological abuse is the perpetration of malicious and explicit nonphysical acts of abuse against another person. A systematic process of creating a threatening or controlled environment is a character of psychological abuse. Research has shown that psychological abuse can have long term affects on a persons' mental wellness.

6. Sexual Assault - Sexual assault and abuse is any type of sexual activity not agreed to by the victim. It is an overarching term used for many types of sexual improprieties. Rape would fall under this broad category. The majority of sexual assault is against women, although men are affected as well.

7. Acquaintance Rape - This type of rape is a form of acquaintance violence where the victim and the attacker are known to each other. College women have a 1 in 4 chance of being a victim of this type of rape. Overall, 60% all rape victims know their attacker.

8. Date Rape - Date rape is a form of rape where the victim is assaulted after they have agreed to see the attacker socially. Sexual assault of this type can occur at any stage during a relationship. The assault may be coerced by any means, but often drugs such as alcohol or date rape drugs are involved.

9. Marital Rape - Marital rape is any sexual act coerced or forced upon a spouse or ex-spouse. It accounts for nearly 25% of all reported rapes. As a staggering statistic approximately 10% to 14% of all American wives are raped by their husband. There are three different legal types of marital rape which include violent rape, force-only rape, and sadistic or obsessive rape.

10. Sexual Harassment - Sexual harassment is a form of sexual discrimination and abuse. It is defined as "unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment."

From the outsider's perception, there are a number of elements that are common in all types of abuse. Many of these reflect public opinion and societal misconceptions regarding abuse. These include:

1. Minimization - Often the public perceives that abuse and related violence are less prevalent than it actually is. This downplaying of abuse is a contributing factor to the continuance of the problem.

2. Directionality - Abuse or violence is primarily perpetrated by men on women.

3. Trivialization - As a coping mechanism, violence against women is sometimes joked about or made fun of. These tend to reduce the seriousness of the acts and promote a competitive aspect to the violence.

4. Blaming the Victim - This is taking the view point that the victim acted in some way to provoke the attackers behavior or that some outside event was responsible for the act.

From a victim's perspective, there are a number of characteristics that are common to battered women.

These characteristics include:

1. Personal beliefs - The common characteristic of nearly every victim of abuse is low self-esteem. Common beliefs of victims include believing that abuse is a usual part of a relationship or that they were the cause of the abuser's behavior.

2. Personal feelings - A typical abused woman often has a strong personal feeling of worthlessness. If the relationship is dysfunctional they may blame themselves and further lower their sense of worthiness. Following abuse, a strong feeling of hopelessness may ensue.

3. Codependency- Often the abused has a codependent relationship with the abuser. Codependency may be defined as developing a dependency (financial, physical, or emotional) for the abuser to the point of self-neglect. While this characteristic can be exemplified is any relationship, in an abusive relationship the victim is willing to endure the abuse because their perception of responsibility for the relationship has become unreasonable and unhealthy.

4. Perception of Partner - In concert with codependency, a victim may feel that their violent partner is in need of them. They may believe that they can "save" or "change" their partner. As a result, the victim may actually feel pity or compassion for the attacker.

Being a part of the female gender in America's society, it is my belief that we have a responsibility to help those who are victims of abuse and violence. Interesting, as families have become more fragmented in today's culture, abuse is tolerated at much higher levels than in the later 18^th century. It seems that this correlation may be due not only to the perception of abuse, but the social support systems that women had in place during these eras. There are support systems in place for women who are willing to seek out help. As an individual responsibility, it can be difficult to become involved in helping another woman. Education not only for victims but for those aiding victims needs to be a priority. Through research, time, patience, and healing I believe it is possible to help another victim change their perceptions and circumstances and create a healthy life.

Kolander, Cheryl A., Danny Ramsey Ballard, and Cynthia K. Chandler. Contemporary Women's Health. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print.

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