Domestic Violence Essay Research Paper Imagine that

Domestic Violence Essay, Research Paper

Imagine that you fall in love. That the man of your dreams says .I DO. and that you may live happily ever after. Imagine you have your dream wedding, followed by your dream honeymoon. It seems that you have found the prince charming most women seek in their lives. A few months later you get the unexpected. Your husband comes home, he.s had a few drinks with his buddies from work and he has a look in his eyes you have never seen before. He begins to complain about the way the house looks, the way his wife looks, and the way his life is going. He then proceeds to take out his anger on his wife. He beats her, smacks her, and pulls her hair. He may even punch her in the face as he would another man.

This woman who thought she found the man of her dreams has just become a victim of Domestic Violence. A disease that has plagued our society for many years. A woman in this situation is confused and doesn.t know what to do or who to turn to. In this time of confusion she may feel its her fault, that she brought this vicious beating on herself. She may turn to her mother and her mother may tell her to stand by her man. There are many scenarios you can look at, but they are all pretty much the same. Domestic violence is one of the most terrible crimes there are. The reason being is that the victim gets attacked by a loved one. It doesn.t make any sense to the victim and that is why they remain in these relationships until sometimes, it is too late.

In my research of domestic violence I found a sea of information. Domestic violence seems to be one of the most common of all crimes. I interviewed Police Officer Jorge Chico from the 49th precinct in the Bronx. Officer Chico informed me that most of the calls made every day are domestic violence disputes. He said that when an officer arrives at the seen of a domestic violence dispute where the victim 99 times out of 100 is a woman the officer checks to see if there are any visible injuries. He said that most of the women are afraid to make a complaint against their husbands and therefore the officer cannot make an arrest. If the woman says .he hit me, I want him arrested. the officer will arrest. Officer Chico told me that most of the calls result in a summons called a Domestic Incident Report and a Complaint Report, and that the man remains in the home with his victim. If the officer sees visible injuries then he will arrest the assailant right away. Officer Chico works the four to twelve shift where he says there are about thirty (DIR)s Domestic Incident Reports a day. I asked Officer Chico do the calls vary in ethnic groups. The answer was one which was sad both to him and myself. Officer Chico replied: .I work in a predominately white neighborhood, but most of the Domestic Incident calls are made by black and Latino families.

I interviewed Police Officer Raymond Gutierrez of the 90th precinct in Brooklyn. Officer Gutierrez confirmed what Officer Chico had told me. He said most of the calls made every day are domestic violence disputes. He says in his precinct most of the calls lead to arrests. He patrols an integrated neighborhood where there are blacks, Latinos, and Jews. Officer Gutierrez says most of the calls are made by Latino and black families as well.

I don.t know why it is that minority families have the more domestic dispute calls. My opinion is that they have more problems and are therefore affected more. Domestic violence in any race, or culture is a tragedy.

There are many statistics that indicate that domestic violence is considered common in our society. The United States Department Of Justice states that .Police were more likely to respond within five minutes if the offender was a stranger than if an offender was known to the female victim.. Another statistic says . 90% of all family violence are never prosecuted, and one third of the cases that would be considered felonies if committed by strangers are filed as misdemeanors (a lesser crime).. U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, September 2, 1993.

Another quote says . One out of every four men will use violence against a partner at some time in their relationship.. (Violent No More, Michael Paymar, 1993, Hunter House).

According to FBI statistics, 30% of female murder victims in 1990, were killed by their husbands or boyfriends. Approximately 3000 women. These statistics give a new meaning to the movie, Sleeping With The Enemy.

I can produce a stack of pages on statistics that show what a major problem domestic violence is in our society.

It has become a major issue as of late, due to the highly publicized cases like the O.J. Simpson case, and the John Wayne Bobbitt case.

In the O.J. Simpson case O.J. Simpson was accused of the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, his wife. At the trial a tape was played from a 911 call Nicole had made in June of 1993. The tape said . I don.t want to stay on the line. He.s going to beat the s*#t out of me. In October of 1995 Mr. O.J. Simpson was found not guilty.

In the John Wayne Bobbitt case, his wife Lorena Bobbitt severed her husbands penis with a knife claiming that her husband repeatedly beat her and even raped her. Lorena.s attorney made a statement which made a lot of sense, she said . A life is more valuable than a penis.. Simply stating that Ms. Bobbitt may have been killed if she did not get out of tha