Prevalence of Domestic Violence in Australia

Domestic violence refers to the abuse that is perpetrated by one person against another individual within the domestic setting like marriage. It can also be termed as intimate partner violence in the event of being committed by spouse within an intimate relationship against that of another spouse. Domestic violence is any kind of behaviour the primary purpose of which is to gain control over another partner (Dragiewicz & Burgess, 2016). Domestic violence can be called a global phenomenon as this incident has reached epidemic proportions. This essay elaborates on the socio-economic along with psychological factor that have an influence on the incidence of domestic violence. It discusses how the psychological development in infancy and psychological trauma can give rise to domestic violence. It elaborates on the incidence of domestic violence within Nepal.

Domestic violence takes place within familial settings in Australia when one partner wants to dominate the other partner. The abusers feel the need of controlling the partner owing to low self-esteem and extreme jealousy. They have difficulties in regulation of anger along with strong emotions that gives rise to the incidence of domestic violence. A partner often feels inferior to that of another partner in terms of education along with socio-economic background that gives rise to the incidence of domestic violence. There are some people within Australia who possess the traditional mentality and they feel that they have got the right of controlling the partner (Hegarty et al., 2016) There are other people who have got undiagnosed personality disorder that often compels an individual to inflict domestic violence on another individual. There are people who grow up within an atmosphere of domestic violence and this often compels an individual to take recourse to domestic violence.

The socio-economic factors that result in domestic violence are those of relationship problem, extramarital affairs and frequent quarrelling. There are other factors like employment factor along with poor socio-economic status that leads to domestic violence. It is found that in the event of an individual being abused in the childhood one develops a kind of mentality that makes them more prone towards inflicting domestic violence (Forsdike-Young & Hegarty, 2016). People often have a cruel father and poor amount of supervision develops a tendency in them that force them to commit domestic violence. People having low educational level are the social miscreants in relation to domestic violence (Sapkota et al., 2016).  It is found that the perpetrator of domestic violence are generally hostile in nature and the psychological problems give rise to domestic violence.

Socio-Economic and Psychological Factors Contributing to Domestic Violence in Australia

It has been brought out by research that there is a relationship between violence and the negative developmental trajectory in the young children (Pun et al., 2016). The young children cannot register the experienced events but they develop post-traumatic stress symptom. There has been studies that have linked violence against the women and that of parenting. The experiences of the caregiver can have an impact on the young children (Douglas, 2015). The traumatized caregiver struggle in terms of emotional availability and this has an impact on the ability of responding to anxieties pertaining to children. Burden of care giving generally falls on the women in the society and the fathers are absent from that of treatment dialogue. The caregiving of women is influenced by the caregiving experiences of women along with the actions of their partners. Exposure to the domestic violence can take place directly and it can also take place indirectly. There are women who experience domestic violence when they hold the infant in the arm and the children often becomes injured when the women try to stop abuse. The young children have to suffer from excessive irritability and sleep disturbance and they have more chances of developing abnormal tendencies at a later stage of life. Being exposed to domestic violence can interfere with the autonomous development of children and they can become abusers later on in life (MacGregor et al., 2016).  

The adversity that a child faces can have impact on physical health along with development of children. The children who are exposed to abuse have lower health status and they suffer from health complications in a later stage of life. The children who are exposed to the domestic violence have to suffer behaviour difficulties and develop low self-esteem. They lack the capacity of empathising and they can become perpetrators of abuse when they grow up. Exposure to the aspect of domestic violence can pave the path for problematic psychological issue along with behaviour. Every child in Australia who are exposed to the aspect of domestic violence does not suffer such kind of long term negative effect but it increases likelihood of these children of developing emotional problems. There are a large number of children in Australia who suffer from Relationship Trauma and the traumatic experiences being faced within the care-giving relationship can have a detrimental effect on the development of the children (Ntekim, 2018). The trauma taking place repeatedly can make them face complex relational trauma. The children can lose the capacity of self-regulation along with inter-personal relatedness.

Impact of Childhood Trauma on the Incidence of Domestic Violence in Australia

Domestic violence has emerged to be a widespread problem within Nepal. There exist cultural and religious factors that reinforce the dominance of the males and the subservience of the female within Nepal. There are hence many people in the society who tend to think that domestic violence is an extremely natural process. Men control the property in Nepal and they have to face the responsibility of supporting parents, wives and children (Chowdhury, Bohara & Horn, 2015).  The dependence of the women is reinforced within the law along with cultural norms that makes the women in Nepal more prone to incidents of domestic violence. There also exists grinding poverty along with alcohol abuse that feeds opportunities pertaining to violence within the dependency relationship (Sebire, 2018). All the sectors of civil society within Nepal respond to the aspect of domestic violence and compromise is encouraged within the social structure. Family members, police and the lawyers want the victims to reconcile with abusers which suggests the reason why domestic violence is widespread in the society. Pressure of reconciling is due to the fact that a woman does not have any place of living outside family (Chowdhury, Bohara & Horn, 2018). A woman is thought of to be dependent on the husband for the purpose of getting food, clothing along with shelter.

The legal system of Nepal does not suggest any kind of remedy to the women who are subjected to the issue of domestic violence (Stöckl et al., 2014).  The civil law has a provision that states that the women who are abused will get a part of the property of the husband. Delay in respect to the legal system of Nepal deny women of the right of partition. Divorce is not common in Nepal and the women do not have financial security in Nepal. The civil law of Nepal reinforces the aspect of dependency in Nepal and this creates the ground of domestic violence in Nepal. The perpetrator of violence is not prosecuted within the criminal justice system of Nepal. National Code does not make the state prosecute crime of the assault. Assault is generally left at the hand of private prosecution. State is instrumental in prosecuting some of the assault who disturb public peace as being violators of ancillary law (Antai, Antai & Anthony, 2014). The women in Nepal do not have the financial resources with the help of which they can seek private legal relief. The women do not get support from society and hence they do not report regarding the incidents of domestic violence to police. The violence of women in Nepal take up the form of verbal harassment, emotional abuse along with physical violence. There are several human right advocates in Nepal who think that psychological abuse is more rampant as compared to physical abuse in the society of Nepal. The extended family structure that is prevalent in Nepal gives rise to abuse in the society.

Prevalence of Domestic Violence in Nepal

The socio-economic status of an individual in the society influences the educational attainment and financial security of an individual. It has an effect on that of quality of life of an individual and it can be stated that these factor can give rise to domestic violence (Rishal et al., 2016).  The educational achievement of an individual being lower can give rise to poverty that can make an individual perpetrator of domestic violence. The psychological factor of an individual like inadequate self-image along with low self-esteem make a person a perpetrator in relation to domestic violence.

Domestic violence occurs in familial settings of Australia in the event of a partner trying to dominate over another partner. The abusers want to control power as they suffer from jealousy along with low self-esteem. The traditional mentality of the Australians makes the men in the society control their partner. There are some Australians who suffer from undiagnosed personality disorder that compel them to perform acts of domestic violence. Relationship problems along with extramarital affairs often force an individual to commit act of domestic violence. Employment factor and coming from poor socio-economic background make an individual abuse another person either physically or mentally. The autonomous development of the children is interfered in the event of the children being witness to act of domestic violence. Adversity faced by a child can negatively impact his physical health and development. Domestic violence has emerged to become a major problem in Nepal. The cultural factors that exist in Nepal make the males feel superior and the women subservient in the social structure. Many people in Nepal have the tendency of thinking that domestic violence is a process that is natural within Nepal.

References:

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