English Paper: Part 2

Domestic Violence Program

Stephanie Lowry

Strayer University

Professor Matthew Norsworthy

03/15/2015

Abstract

Domestic violence is a commonly used and understood term. The majority of cases are women and children being abused by men. This paper seeks to provide an insight into domestic violence and provide a program aimed at addressing this problem. It is in this paper’s spirit to provide a clear process on how to address the domestic violence we face as a society today.

Domestic violence against women has been in existence for many centuries. It is only recently that it has been highly publicized, leading to it being rendered a crime in most society’s. After a long period of time, it has been finally accepted as a social problem caused by many factors and also a problem that has other effects in the society. We have witnessed women and children being subjected to domestic violence. As a result, many have run away from their homes and sought refuge elsewhere. This has prompted the establishment of this and many other shelter programs countrywide to address the concern. In view of this, we have come up with a program named the Hope for All to address this increasing domestic violence problem.

We are an organization that is highly devoted to assisting victims of domestic violence in our communities. We have continued helping the victims of domestic violence and as a result we have been recognized as an important organization when it comes to helping and giving expert advice to such victims. The statistics on domestic violence are alarming with America alone recording a 300% rise in domestic violence signified by the high numbers of people seeking shelter services in the years from 1995 to 1999. (Mathews, 2004).

To carry out our activities, there are strategies we follow to facilitate our services. We firstly expect that citizens should be protected by the state. This has been a role of the justice system (Danis, 2006) but thanks to the advocates for social responsibility, we have been given the needed support to address violence against women and children. Those who advocate for protection of vulnerable persons demand that rights of the affected come first hence the rapid response given to domestic violence victims. As such, we treat any form of abuse seriously and give very minimal chances to grave consequences that could result because of slow response.

We also put the safety of victims first. This is done by ensuring that we take good precautionary measures by asking victims to stay safe at our facilities as judicial restrictions may not be that effective in guaranteeing safety. We then help in ensuring that the perpetrators of this sort of violence are kept at bay through collective efforts. This ensures that victims and abusers are separated completely to avoid recurrence of the violence. To carry out these activities we rely on the law enforcement officers to supplement our security mechanisms. The use of officers to provide extra security has been enhanced by the advocates for social rights of individuals and organizations who have continued to demand and give strong reasons why we need to protect the victims of domestic violence an element that never existed many years ago (Gondolf & Fisher, 1988). Indeed, this has been the main reason for the recognition of the fact that home-based violence against children and women needs to be addressed through legal frameworks.

Our program is beneficial in many ways. One is that it has continued to assist the victims of domestic violence. Before, we could read of women and children who could be abused until they succumb to injuries caused to them. This was mostly because there was no legal protection of individuals especially when matters involved related to a family. During such times, law enforcement authorities could only be involved in the case of death of the victims of home-based violence a fact that showed no respect for people’s (women and children) rights (Gondolf & Fisher, 1988). With our program our top priority is to ensure that deaths due to domestic violence rarely happen.

We have also, through our proximity to the community, gained the confidence of the community members who were suffering with no one to run to. This has also led to an increase in the number of people seeking our help in solving matters connected to home-based violence. Due to this, lives of community members have been saved. Furthermore, through implementation of empowerment programs, we have managed to turn women into independent members of the society thus reducing their dependence on men a highly contributing factor to the increased abuses that have gone unreported.

Through educational programs, we have also been able to send child victims to school. This has also been greatly embraced by the support from members of the community who are opposed to domestic violence. We have been receiving donations in the form of money, books and other supplies that have helped supplement our current available resources. Thus the promotion of education through our program has been helping nurture children into responsible members of the society. (Danis, 2006). Further, we have also been providing education to the members of the community to help sensitize on the importance of having a violence-free society.

In conclusion, home-based violence needs to be criticized in the strongest terms possible. It has no benefits and only adverse effects on the victims and society at large. Domestic violence should be everyone’s concern and the department of justice should come up with proper laws to extinguish this vice that threatens the peace of society as a whole. I suggest the implementation of my program to help all victims of domestic violence. We need to take action to save the lives of countless victims.

References:

Danis, F. (2006) The Victim Assistance Field And The Profession Of Social Work. United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs OVC Bulletin.

Gondolf, E. & Fisher, E. (1988). Battered women as survivors: An alternative to treating learned helplessness. Boston, MA: Lexington.

Mathews , D. D. (2004). Domestic Violence Sourcebook, Second edition. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics