Domestic violence

Posted: November 30th, 2013

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Domestic violence

Introduction

Domestic violence is any forceful or uncalled for behavior used by one partner in a relationship to control the other. Behavior that results in the emotional, physical or psychological torment of the receiving party falls under the category of domestic violence. In domestic violence, the legal facts are that any physical or sexual abuse is a criminal charge but emotional abuse is not actionable in law. In my opinion, domestic violence is wrong as it goes against the human rights where every individual has a right to freedom. I strongly believe that every form of domestic violence should be actionable in law, as it denies the other party their freedom as they lack a way to channel their opinions or forces them to live in a manner full of fear. Domestic violence represses an individual’s ability to have a say in anything hence hindering an individual’s ability to live freely.

Augmentation

One of the reasons I support punishment by law of domestic violence perpetrators is that, they have no respect for the law as it clearly states the most fundamental right of any human being is that of personal freedom. Therefore, I believe that though punishing the wrong doer does not correct the wrong, it will provide some form of comfort for those whom domestic violence was perpetrated against, as they will feel safer knowing that their oppressor is locked up, hence, not in a position to cause them any more harm. On top of facing punishment, I strongly feel that the perpetrators should receive psychological counseling. This is because they lack the ability to make a proper judgment. Someone with the ability to judge between right and wrong is not capable of intentionally committing an action to another that would cause harm to them.

Yet another reason as to why I believe lawful punishment is in order is due to the emotional impact that domestic violence has on those affected. Through the numerous conducted researches, it is a fact that more than half the children, who grow up in abusive homes, end up being abusive partners or have demonstrable emotional problems in their life. Therefore, I feel that with the permanent emotional damage that domestic abuse has, the punishment should be heavy as the damage on the receptors life is sometimes permanent. In my opinion, more can be done to stop this vice, especially since most of the victims are of the female gender. One alarming fact about domestic violence is that, 63% of all boys charged with committing murder in their teenage years, are those who have killed their fathers who abused their mother. The emotional turmoil faced by the children in abusive families is, therefore, quite evident. With such disturbing facts, I strongly feel that greater preventive measures should be undertaken to prevent the occurrence of domestic violence, like providing counseling to children who have witnessed an abusive marriage.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I emphasize on the importance of prevention rather than punishment. However, where that is not fully possible, I encourage the use of counseling, as domestic abuse is a psychological problem. I believe that safety measures should be reinforced in neighborhoods in order to identify domestic violence at an early stage and intervene before the situation gets out of hand.