toptermpaper.com

Although there are a lot of forms of human rights violation in Cambodia, domestic violence seems to be one of the hottest problems that everyone has been carefully aware of. What is domestic violence? Domestic violence refers to a pattern of abusive behaviors toward any single person at any age. There are five main categories of domestic violence such as physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, and economic violence. Physical abuse includes hitting, kicking, slapping, or other physical threats which cause pain or injury on the victim’s body while sexual abuse refers to situation which abuser uses force to make a victim involve in unwanted sexual activity. The force sex which is abused by spouse, intimate partner, or somebody else also can be counted as sexual aggression. Emotional can include any kind of actions that harm victim’s feeling in a negative way, control victim’s freedom, and humiliate or make shame on the victim privately and publicly; it is any type of behavior that threatens or attack somebody mentally. Meanwhile, verbal abuse is a behavior that abuser use abusive language toward a victim while economic abuse is the situation that abuser control over victim’s money or resources. There are many empirical evidences shown that the violence always exists in Cambodia in all pattern of aggression which can suspend and hinder the development, prosperity, and harmony in the country; thus, it is one of most challenging problems that Cambodia is facing nowadays. Therefore, in order to solve the problem effectively and fruitfully, we need to deeply understand the root of the matter, the result of the matter, and the suggested or satisfied solution in today’s event.

Today gender roles in Cambodia are severe issues that people should pay full attention to since men have dominated in almost significant roles in the society while Cambodian women are traditionally treated as inferior and physically and mentally suffered from the dominances. Meanwhile, people including the dominances and the victims do not exactly why such things happen in their lives which desperately affect to the whole community. Also, without understanding the real sources, no one cannot find good solution and make everything better; therefore, in order to eliminate domestic violence in Cambodia, we need to understand to two basic causes, historical events and harmful tradition.

Significantly, in order to understand the grass rooting ideas why the number of domestic violence has been growing, we need to take a close look at some important historical events in Cambodia. Over the course of the last thirty years, Cambodia has experienced the most dreadful tragedy which has impacted on Cambodian society until today. Between 1975 and 1979, Cambodia was under the Communist Party of Kampuchea, so called Khmer Rouge, who carried out war crimes, genocide, and other crimes against humanity. This nightmare has physically left Cambodian deep scar, and it has affected most of the victims with mental illnesses like easy to get angry or nervous; it may make people follow what they had experienced badly like using verbal, economic, physical, emotional, and economic abuse, or by threatening and controlling victim’s freedom since those pain and horror is buried deep down inside their agonizing hearts. Therefore, these kinds of illnesses may lead them to use violence because the brutal images are recorded in their memory. As a result, since women are defenseless, usually they become the secondary victims of those aggressive survivors.

Besides, harmful tradition can lead to have domestic violence. In all societies including Cambodia, people have various values and ideas which cause people own different perspective on women’s roles from one generation to another, and these traditional concepts view that females are weak and gentle or inferior. Unlike females, males are strong and powerful and can do whatever they want. Men in Cambodia usually are breadwinners, and they believe that their roles are so important; thus, they use their power to dominate over the helpless women in the family. Besides, domestic violence has largely gone unchecked in Cambodia, where cultural norms dictate that relations between husband and wife are internal affairs. According to LICADHO, surveys conducted in 2000 have shown that one-in-six women have been beaten by their husbands, and one-in-four have suffered physical, sexual or emotional abuse from their husbands. Additionally, still in some rural areas, women are injected with the outdated belief that they are not allowed to fight back their husbands, or they will be counted as bad women. Furthermore, women’s honor is very essential to each family. For example, if unmarried woman does something wrong that brings bad reputation to the family and get caught by relatives or neighbors, mostly there will be nobody to marry her. This condition results in emotional abuse directly to that woman and indirectly to her family. Acid attacks.

In short, historical events and harmful tradition are the two main cores that result in domestic violence in Cambodia. We, Cambodians, should understand the core of the problems and help eliminate this matter from our society; otherwise, this issue will constrain the development of our country.

Most men in Cambodia think that they are everything in the society and tempt to think that women are nothing in the society since women cannot help or play big roles in country’s development, so men treat women badly; however, those brutish men never realize that they are the ones who hinder their own country’s development because of their nonsense attitudes and thinking. Therefore, in order to be clearer why such violence hinder Cambodian development, we have look at three main consequences such as human development goal, physical and psychological health, and the direct and indirect victims’ present and future life.

Initially, hampering human development goal is a serious effect which can make Cambodian society collapse. As everyone starts to recognize that one country can fully reach her potential unless there is an acceptance of women’s capacity involving in the society. According to UNICEF, data on the social, economic and health costs of violence prove that violence against women interrupts improvement towards human and economic development. The participation of women has become an influential key in every social development programs including Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), for they can help numerous things in dealing with poverty alleviation. For example, though men are the breadwinners, who go out and make money, they can do nothing if they do not have women at home help them in dealing with housework and make things in the family go smoothly and properly, and that helps their family economy works well. Moreover, while those breadwinners are busy working outside, they do not have much time for their children’s study and behavior, so they need women at home to help provide good education and advice. As a result, when those children gain good education from both at home and school, in the future there will be more and more substantial human resources for their country’s development. Unfortunately, when there is lack of women’s involvement and participation, Cambodia may deteriorate the human capital of half their population. For example, if we compare two families that are in the same class, we can understand that one family who has only one man to make money get less income than another family who has both a man and a woman go out to make money. To sum up, if there is a high commitment to gender equality Cambodia by eliminating all forms of domestic violence, there will be a push in human and economic development in the near future.

Besides, what is worse is that such violence causes women physical and psychological health. According to LICADHO, there is an increasing rate of maternal and mentality, for many studies and cases especially in rural areas have revealed high levels of violence during pregnancy resulting in risk to the health of both mother and unborn baby. Also, some worse cases have proved that domestic violence can result in the death of women murdered by their partners. In addition, having been rape or having sexual assaults, women may feel unwanted pregnancies and dangerously seek to have illegal abortion services. It is very dangerous for women especially in rural areas where there is no health care center or maybe that center locates far from their villages. Additionally, women who are being raped are not able to use contraception; thus, they are at risk of being infected by sexual diseases including HIV/Aids. Additionally, the violence does not only injure the victims’ physical health but also mental health. For instance, having been raped experienced of sexual violence, some women are depressed and also demeaned by abuser, and so they may think that there is no way to escape from such relationship except committing suicide. This just creates more and more problems to the community.

Finally, the violence can directly and indirectly impact on the victims negatively who have witnessed the abusive scene, and those mostly are innocent children. The children who have witnessed domestic violence or have themselves been abused may have health and behavior problems. At school they may naturally feel embarrassed and find it hard to make any close friends or try to isolate themselves from outsiders. Gradually, they may become less and less social-able. Furthermore, what can be worse and more harmful to the whole society is when the girls (can be boys) victims have sexually abused in their childhood which can wound their heart and lead them to engage in risky yet practical behavior such as early sexual intercourse or getting revenge by abusing other girls like what they have experienced.

To sum up, these are the substandard impacts of local violence in Cambodia, so both civilian and government should notice the problems and start some effective actions in order to stop it. These serious effects absolutely disrupt the expansion of country’s potential. Simultaneously, in order to take actions effectively, while the government involve in solving the problem by finding good mechanisms and supporting NGOs, people especially men and conservative people should try to reduce or eliminate their traditional views on the matter.

Domestic violence has caused number of very negative impacts to both victims and a whole community, so there should be suitable solutions to respond to such harmful difficulties; meanwhile, we have to aware of our country’s condition, culture, and perception since we cannot change people’s believes in one day and since domestic violence has been rooted deep down in Cambodian society; it may take longer time to counter this matter. Also, there should be different keys based on in each case of the matter whereas solutions should be for both victims and abusers. Consequently, not only government needs to respond to the problem, but also civilians must interact into this matter. The followings are some key suggested solutions that can be effective for dealing with domestic violence in Cambodia.

One of an effective implementation is to have law enforcement which can be a useful mechanism to respond the domestic violence. According to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims, which was passed by the National Assembly on 16 September 2005, was approved by the Senate on its total form and objective on 29 September 2005. A part from preventing domestic violence, it helps protect the victims and strengthen the culture of non-violence and the harmony in society in Cambodia. In article 9, the authority in charge has duty to intervene in the action in order to prevent the victim on time, and if the case is serious, the authority can request for warrant to imprison the perpetrator or bring him to court. Besides, when the violence happening, the neighbors or the family members must immediately report to the authority, but if the case is getting worse and the authority cannot arrive at the scene on time, the neighbors should help stop the perpetrating; otherwise, the victims may badly injure or may not survive. Meanwhile, the neighbors or the family members should take the victims’ children away from the scene and help comfort them to feel relieve and make them feel being less influenced. This may be effective to make the situation and the children less being affected. In addition,

More importantly, education, dissemination, and training program can be a good tool to deal with this violence. Despite the fact that this solution can be found in Chapter 6, article 33, stating that state should pay attention to educating and disseminating this law in order to make people understand respect to this law; in contrary, in real practice government or ministry in charge has played not so many roles regarding to this action. It seems that most actions are implemented by NGOs who can provide citizens further education relating to the issue. For instance, European Commission based in Cambodia has raised the awareness of the women’s roles, rights, and representations in social and political affairs. As a result, over 3,700 women and men have confirmed that they have gained more knowledge through these grassroots activities about their rights; hence, women are able to exercise their rights more effectively in social and political participation. Moreover, by responding to the matter, there have been advertising or movie broadcasting on TV to help people understand more and influence people’s mind to change their traditional views on women’s role and other surrounding impact concerning to the issue. For example, the Asia Foundation’s Global Women in Politics (GWIP) program supported street theater productions raising awareness about violence against women’s rights in Cambodia society. As we know that visual effect may be more effective than any other kinds of material. Furthermore, when civilians get the knowledge of this concern, they should spread or share what they know to their family, neighbors, villagers, friends, or people they know; consequently, more and more people will aware of this matter. Therefore, gradually people’s traditional perception will change, and this violence can be successfully eliminated.

Besides dealing the issue with the abuse, we should deal and help the victims as well. When it comes to solutions for domestic violence, the most important thing to understand is, if it isn’t getting better, it’s getting worse. If the violent person is promising to change but never does anything about that promise, the victim herself and also her children should get out of the environment, if the violence includes more than just verbal abuse, the victims should make sure the abuser can’t find them or the children for the sake of their safety. There are several organizations such as LICADO and ADHOC which can help the victims, so she should go and ask for help. Those can put her in touch with local centers and sources for help. If the abuse includes serious mental or emotional abuse or any form of physical abuse, the victims must report this to the police so she, the children and the abuser can get help. In case, domestic violence abusers, who are not under control from getting professional help, will not stop, they will only get worse, so the only way to help them is by forcing them through the law to confront their problem and get the help they need.

Besides, education can reduce the level of problem from getting worse. It is the family which is principally responsible for building the character of individuals, and it is in functioning families that feelings of self-worth, respect for others and conflict resolution skills are developed. It is thus vital that support is given to families to enable them to nurture these qualities which, if not developed in the early, formative years, are very hard to instill later. Both education at school and home are essentially important for our community. Besides, education at school or outside is also important to raise the awareness of domestic violence. The education should promote morality and values of women’s role in society as well as promote the culture of peace and love in our society to eliminate all kinds of violence.

More importantly, in order to completely eliminate this matter, Cambodia should fully adopt democracy peace theory. Democracy calls for culture of tolerance, cooperation, negotiation, and non-conflict resolution, and it also promotes human rights and prioritizes people. Thus, Cambodian citizens can fully be injected with these ideas under the concepts of this theory which seeks individual to understand and respect each other; Cambodia will be a domestic-violence free country.

In conclusion, when government, private actors, and civilians together implement these effective actions, someday domestic violence will successfully be eliminated. Then Cambodia’s development will be pushed forward rapidly. As a result, when such problem is disappeared, development, prosperity, and harmony will be reached profoundly. In my opinion, if Cambodia becomes a fully democratic country, all kinds of violence and conflicts will be fade away like smoke into the air while every single citizen may enjoy and live happily with harmony and prosperity.

Domestic violence has been a serious social problem in many families, not only in the United States and United Kingdoms, but across the world. As per the 2003 surveys of the Centers for Disease Control, domestic problems or home violence had affected at least 32 million Americans (Bancroft, LT, & Jay, GS. 2003). Research studies have also shown that different countries have various ways of dealing with the family violence, its “public awareness, perception and documentation” are all prone to variations from State to State. Actually, the initial use of the concept “Domestic violence” can be traced back to 1977 when it was first identified as serious and growing phenomena, following a series of researches (Archer, J.2000, & Waits, K., 1985). These are a few manifestations that domestic violence has been a critical issue in many societies. It therefore deserved or still deserves to be given extra attention. This paper delves into the same, in attempt to find out, compile and discuss on issues surrounding domestic violence from different perspectives, and perhaps shed more light on the numerous cases of violence and social turbulences in homes and families.

Introduction

The concept “Domestic violence” have also commonly been referred to as spousal abuse, domestic abuse, intimate partner violence, or child abuse depending on who is victimized or affected in a way by the violence at home (Johnson, M., 2000). Reading through the work of Bancroft and Jay, spousal, child or domestic abuse is the act or the behavior of violence against a child, or a spouse. It is a raging conflict that may exist within a relationship perceived as very intimate, the cases of violence in families, marriages, between friends, in dating and all the intimate relationships categorically enclosed (Bancroft, LT, & Jay, GS, 2003).

According to the “U.S Office on Violence against Women”, domestic violence had been defined as “a pattern of abusive conduct in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and authority over the other and control over an intimate partner” (Johnson, M., 2000).

In the year 2004, the Spanish “Measures of Integral Protection against gender Violence” contended that gender violence “is the violence directed at women from the very fact of being a woman”. This had been one of the most controversial and brutal sense of gender inequality ever witnessed in the history of domestic violence (Waits, K.1985).

Intimate partner violence (IPV) assumes many patterns of abuse. Among such things that research studies have categorized as behaviors of violence are assault, insults, beating in any form i.e. kicking, slapping or hitting with anything, shoving, sexual abuses, emotional and psychological torture, economic deprivation, maltreatments, slavery and many alike (Waits, K.1985).According to Robertson and his research counterparts, domestic violence have been attributed to a number of possible causes, ranging from alcoholism to mental illnesses (Robertson, KP, Murachver,TM., 2009).

Aim and Objective

The aim of this paper is to discuss at length issues of domestic violence from different social-cultural perspectives. The paper seeks to address the mushrooming challenges surrounding social demographics i.e. families and homes across the societal divides. Its objective is to give a succinct elaboration on what many researchers hold to be right or wrong about the domestic violence. It investigates into the previous research findings and methods that had been employed to establish whether the spousal, child or family abuses could be brought to a permanent end, or the society have to live with and appreciate the violence as part of life.

Literature Review

United States as a point of reference is the one State that researches have shown to contribute a greater magnitude of long lasting domestic violence. Prolonged account of legal precedents pertaining to spousal abuses and relationship conflicts were common trends in the United States (Waits, K.1985).Similar cases have continuously been observed in the rest of the societies of the world. This implies that domestic violence have been a worldwide socio-cultural fiasco, not narrowed to the United States alone (Waits, K.1985).

Many research studies have found that the most affected by the domestic violence are women. To begin with, the research conducted by Robertson and Murachver revealed that women were the first victims of all domestic chaos in every society. They emphasize many women were being battered, assaulted, insulted, sexually abused, emotionally and psychologically tortured by family affairs, and all manners of family violence (Robertson, KP, Murachver, TM. 2009).Backing up the claims of these researchers was Bancroft and his research colleagues. They too emphasized that even though domestic violence affected all the members of families, including children and the spouses, women were faced with the most staid domestic challenges resulting from the social conflicts and violence (Bancroft, LT, & Jay, GS, 2003).

The arguments and assertions of these researchers were however met by stern resistance from the National Institute of Justice whose research findings pointed out that both women and men were affected equally by domestic violence, and that to some extent or in some cases, men were faced with most challenges than could be compared to their wives and children (Waits, K., 1985, The Criminal Justice Response to Battering). The findings of the National Institute of Justice further contended men from a few families were also battered, assaulted and insulted by women, and so, justice had to prevail when handling domestic issues (Wait, K., 1985).

However, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) further refuted the findings of National Institute of Justice (NIJ), arguing that male and female spousal assaults could not be rated similarly as the research studies of the NIJ posited (Wait, K., 1985).The CDCP and BJS studies held there was more violence of men against women, men assaulting women, and not otherwise.

Debates surrounding domestic violence were becoming controversial and highly contested. Archer Jefferson and other conflict resolution researchers also had their own stand. They opposed the assumption of gender equity or gender neutrality in domestic violence as held by some research scholars and civil rights movements (Archer, J., 2000)

Pertinent to domestic violence characterized by controversial debates and arguments, there were also emerging gender movements whose major aims were to defend themselves against the claims on who between men and women violated the family peace accords the most. The first of such movements was a women’s movement that beginning in 1970s (Bancroft, LT, & Jay, GS, 2003).This movement was concerned with women’s rights which held that men were ruthlessly abusing their wives. This move was later to be countered by the masculine movements commencing from1990s. Modern attention given to domestic chaos put into consideration factors that could have led to commencement of the gender conflicts and domestic fiascos (Bancroft, LT, & Jay, GS, 2003).

Survey estimates have, too, indicated that in every 1000 females, approximately 240 were victims of domestic assaults as compared to only 76 in every 1000 men going through the same domestic traumas (Robertson, KP, Murachver, TM. 2009). Nevertheless, some anonymous reports released in 1997 revealed that a good number of men who suffer from the wraths and brutalities of women fail to say so, therefore living no substantial evidence that could be used to approve to what extent men suffer the domestic violence concomitant to women The reports, however, noted that there were no certified proves that men under-reported their cases than women or the vise versa (Robertson, KP, Murachver, TM. 2009).

The reports were though more categorical on the case of female reportage of domestic violence, admitting that a significant percentage of women were likely to accept they were being abused by their partners. This, according to reports, had been one of the challenges facing men, the fear to admit for safeguarding the perception of the masculine gender (Robertson, KP, Murachver, TM. 2009)

Research Methodologies

Among the most commonly used and criticized research methodology in investigating gender domestic violence was the use of Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) survey tool. CTS was found in 1970 as a tool used in measuring the extent of domestic and gender conflicts through surveys and compilation of data. This research methodology was, however, met with stern criticisms and dissatisfaction by other research bodies like the U.S National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) (Waits, K., 1985).

The above highlighted research organs commonly contended that the use of CTS in research was not effective in a number of ways. It did not measure critical domestic violence aspects such as coercion, control, sexual assaults by ex-partners or partners, factors contributing to the domestic and gender violence (Waits, K., 1985). For such concrete assertions against the use of CTS, other research methodologies have been preferred in investigating issues of domestic violence. Such methodologies as filling of questionnaires, field researches, desk research, and interviews have commonly been utilized.

Results and Findings

The major findings concerning domestic violence is that women are generally the most victimized, though a number of other researches claim otherwise. Like-wisely, a significant percentage of men have fallen victims of gender violence. Debates as to whether it is women or men that suffer the consequences of domestic violence the most is still unsettled, with both genders pointing accusing fingers on who should be accused of violating the family piece accords almost always.

Causes of domestic violence so highlighted indicate that alcoholism plays a significant role in instigating family violence, making the male gender to be the first culprit to be accused of the assaults and insults in the families. This follows the general notion that a better percentage of men are drunkards as compared to women. Other factors contributing towards the same are misunderstandings, mental illnesses, poverty, communication conflicts and cultural diversities (Robertson, KP., & Murchver ,TM., 2009, Attributes and attributions associated with female and male partner violence).

Discussions and Conclusion

The so called domestic violence has no boundaries or limits. It can possibly take place in any family at any time. This, as Robertson and Murachver confirms, is very true in the cases of psychological abuses. After all, the violence doesn’t need to go physical or get aggressive through attacks, and family skirmishes. Many psychological researchers have incessantly pointed out that the psychological kind of abuses in families present more severe consequences than could be compared to the equally consequential physical and aggressive domestic violence (Archer. 2000).Emotional abuses though minimal as the many surveys on domestic matters indicate, “they leave prolonged and long lasting tensions” (Robinson, KP, & Murachver,TM, 2009). In conclusion, domestic violence may be regarded as part and parcel of life that both men and women should learn how to manage, appreciate and live with.

Domestic violence has existed for as long as we know. Not so long ago men were allowed to beat a wife with a stick that is not thicker than one of his fingers. Nowadays any kind of violence, whether it is physical, emotional or any other form is prohibited by the law. Domestic violence occurs in many different ways; however negative effects are the same. This essay will address the issue of domestic violence from a different angle, which is unrecognised, unaccepted, disbelieved, and swept under the rug. It will seek to explore nature of abuse against men, cast a light on why the men stay in abusive relationships, effects on abused. Further, why is violence against men unrecognised, how does the society react as well as possible “remedies” that could help in dealing with taboo topic of abused men.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Domestic violence occurs when a family member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate or harm the other.(www.wikipedia.com)

Domestic violence is a crime and those in danger of violence need protection.

Violence can be:

physical

sexual

emotional

psychological

verbal

financial

Victims are often trapped in the situation because they are afraid of further abuse or ashamed to report it. If they are financially dependent on the abuser, they are afraid they will have nowhere to live.

Violence is not confined to any social class, nor is all violence perpetrated by men; in a lesser number of cases it is the woman who abuses her partner, both emotionally and physically.

Deirdre, M. (1999) Food home and society, Gill & M Ltd, Dublin

Popular emphasis has tended to be on women as the victims of domestic violence although with the rise of the men’s movement and men’s rights, there is now some advocacy for men as victims. (www.wikipedia.com)

Violence is learned behaviour. Children, who are exposed to violence at home, see it as normal. They in turn are likely to be violent as adults. Violence and bullying are more common in individuals who have low self-esteem, feeling of inadequacy or difficulty forming relationships. Instead of expressing anger verbally, they resort to aggression and physical violence. Violence usually stems from a desire to control. Violence is common among those addicted to alcohol and drugs. One has to notice that this statement can not be fully accepted as true as much research has indicated that violence is combination of nature and nurture. However, the effects of violence on spouse are physical pain and suffering; loss of confidence and self-esteem; emotional damage and isolation from family and friends. Violence breeds violence. Children brought up in violent homes often grow into violent adults. It can cause homelessness, unhappiness, insecurity and emotional damage to children. Spouse or children can turn to drink or drugs to ease the pain.

Acceptance of violence at any level leads to:

more violent society,

delinquency and crime,

marital breakdown, often as a result of violence, weakens society

adults subjected to childhood violence often become a burden on society, as criminals or alcoholics.

Deirdre, M. (1999) Food home and society, Gill & M Ltd, Dublin

MALE VICTIM

Majority of recorded incidents of domestic violence are of men on women. Society, although aware of the male victim, treats him as a joke. But in reality he is a man in fear, isolation, man who is considered as weak. Why is that? Because he doesn’t fit into the stereotypical male image. (spiritual-side-of-domestic-violence.org)

Male victims face two obstacles:

To prove that he is a victim,

To ensure that his children are protected and do not become the new victims. Very often they remain in abusive relationships for the sake and protection of their children.

Most men react by staying silent. Often this silence is encouraged by fear of ridicule and realization that it is unlikely his partner will be evicted. Even if he proves that he is a victim, it seems that only thing that he can do is leave home.

Then he is separated from his children and has difficulties in keeping proper and regular contact with his children. (www.amen.ie)

MYTHS

Certain conditions provoke violence but we expect such sufferers to seek help or medical treatment.

Men are expected to take responsibility for their actions (violence) but no excuses are accepted. Yet when female is violent society provides a list of excuses: post-natal depression, stress, PMT etc. Although most men will be sensitive to these problems, they should not have to suffer violence as a consequence. (spiritual-side-of-domestic-violence.org)

MEN AS FATHERS

When a woman is violent and abusive in relationship, it is not necessarily assumed that she is a bad mother. In men’s case is automatically assumed that he is unfit parent. The law presumes that the children are almost always better off with their mother. As a consequence the only options for men seem to be put up with abuse or to leave home, since under the law there is no protection for them. (spiritual-side-of-domestic-violence.org)

Men today are spending more time with their children. They provide half of the child’s genetic material, and then are another source of unconditional love so essential to every child. (www.parentkidrights.com)

Thorough history role of the father has changed. Prior the late 18th and early 19th centuries, fathers were involved in daily lives of their children. They taught them how to work and worked alongside of them, especially sons. With industrialization fathers and urbanization fathers often worked 14-16hours in factories (often in wretched conditions) which hindered their role in domestic affairs. More recently, a new kind of father is emerging, resembling more closely those of pre-industrial eras. This father still plays a major role but is also more involved in domestic tasks and caring for children. There is a difference between this public image and private reality. When a father is involved in child’s life it can make a big difference. Childs intellectual, physical and all other developments can be enhanced if their relationship with a father is close. This does not change if a father does not live with a child (www.montana.edu) There are no studies which suggest that a child brought up by a man display any marked psychological or emotional characteristic different to one raised by a woman. (www.kittybrewster.com)

Unmarried fathers have no automatic rights to their children. They may, as a result, be denied access to their children. Unmarried fathers have no constitutional rights, and few legal rights, to their children.

It has been established that fathers who have not been denied access to their children have more positive experiences of family life, and are more likely to have satisfying and fulfilling relationships with their children. (Lesley C. 2004)

WHY DO MEN STAY IN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS?

Why do men stay in abusive relationship is the question that cannot be answered easy. Next statement can provide one of the reasons:

A man received particularly bad beating from his wife. She used various tools pliers, screwdriver etc. He suffered bruising to his arms, legs, buttocks and back. He did not use any physical means to defend himself. A day later he had his injuries recorded by the family doctor (female). Her attitude was bemusement, indifference and hostility. She did not encourage him to report further incidents.

He appealed to female social workers who suggested he should pack his bags and leave, despite the fact that he had three young children. But his life wouldn’t seem worth living without them. He did not take that option. He went to the district court to apply for protection and safety order. But they were unsupportive and did not register his bruising that was visible. Judge gave him a protection order, and his wife threatened him and applied for protection order against him. On occasion he has left the house (on her insistence). She accused him of desertion. He was denied access to his sons. He returned home and she is acting very nice until she feels safe to return to her violent behaviour. He has put up with abuse for years in order to be with his children. (A male victim’s confidential statement www.amen.ie )

In this statement it is clear that the victim didn’t get any support and that the life that he is living is not a pleasant one. The doctor’s hostility is just disgraceful. In my opinion she was not looking at him as individual patient and showed characteristic of a discriminator. And all that is left to conclude is that man as a victim faces prejudice and is left with no choice to accomplish anything. His basic right as a patient and victim are not satisfied.

If a male victim seeks help society should offer the same protection to help him and his children as is given to the female victims. Women who are violent should be legally responsible for their actions. (spiritual-side-of-domestic-violence.org)

There are number of reasons why men are reluctant to report abuse:

Fear of not being believed

Fear of being denied access to their children

Fear of being judged and blamed for the abuse because of society prejudices

Fear of revenge by abuser

Fear of partner making false allegations against him

Fear of being left homeless

(www.amen.ie)

EFFECTS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ON MEN

The adverse effects of domestic violence or abuse can be very long lasting. Men who have been abused by a spouse or intimate partner often suffer from:

Low self-esteem

Anger

Substance abuse

Sleeping problems

Inability to work

Consequences of abuse:

Performance at work has been affected

Loss of job

Put strain on relationship with children

Some have lost contact with their children.

In addition to these problems, physical abuse may result in serious injury or death if the victim does not leave the relationship. (www.wejamaicans.com)

By knowing facts about abuse one would have to conclude that there is no difference between men and women when looking at the effects of abuse.

UNRECOGNITION OF ABUSED MEN

Domestic violence against men goes unrecognised because:

It has taken years of advocacy and support to encourage women to report domestic violence. Virtually nothing is done to encourage men to report abuse.

The idea that men can be victims of domestic abuse is so unthinkable to most people that many men will not even attempt to report the situation.

There has been very little investment in resources to address the issues of domestic violence against men.

In most cases physical damage and the impact of violence on men is less apparent then violence against women.

Even when they report it, they don’t receive help and in the first place are not believed (www.memberstripod.com)

HOW MAN COPE WITH ABUSE?

Men in abusive relationships use various methods to attempt to avoid or lessen violent situations. (www.menweb.org)

They may:

Go into another room

Leave the house, go to family or friends

Sleep in their car or wherever they can go

Accept responsibility for all sorts of untrue accusations

Cover up for their violent partner.(spiritual-side-of-domestic-violence.org)

This will not stop attacks. But most of them will do anything in hope to stop abuse. But they fail to record accidents. Usually they don’t tell any family members and make excuses for their injuries. They fear humiliation even when abuse is life threatening. (www.amen.ie)

Abused men are not cowards but their actions can be misinterpreted as such. It is a pity to see how even the strongest men succumb to the old-fashioned way of thinking, that if they report abuse they will be seen as weak. On contrary those men who will endure anything to be with their children, are to be admired.

SOCIETY REACTIONS

Even when men attempt to report abuse, they are met with discrimination, disbelief, and comments that most of the time proves why they were reluctant to report anything in the first place. Usually people’s reactions would be about men’s size (he should be stronger than a woman), that he did something to deserve it. Even the police are in disbelief and comment if they arrest her, what will happen to the children.

The generalised opinion that men are not capable of taking care of children needs to be changed in order to make any progress in such cases. Law should be applied regardless of gender, because that is a hiding spot for a woman. Today’s society is, not doing much to solve the problem. Many women will think twice before they act if they knew that they could be arrested like any men in the same situation.

And when it comes to the police education, they should get more information regarding to gender equality and psychology. Abuse is the hardest and least dignified thing that can be done to any human being. And society lets this abuse to happen.

DOMESTIC ABUSE OF MEN IN IRELAND

In Ireland:

One man in 25 has experienced severe physical abuse in a relationship 1 in 90 has experienced sexual abuse and 1 in 37 severe emotional abuse.

While 1 woman in 12 has experienced physical abuse, 1 in12sexual abuse and 1 in 13 severe emotional abuse. (www.amen.ie)

These figures show that while risk to women is higher, domestic violence is something that also affects a significant number of men. (www.irglov.ie)

More than a‚¬15million is provided by the government each year for services for female victim, while less than 1% of this amount is provided for male victims.

Mary T. Cleary. Irish examiner, 15.09.2006

Irish Governments funds for sufferers of domestic abuse clearly show the difference of funding available for man and women. It is clear as the sky that abused men are not given enough support or recognition by Government.

These figures speak for themselves and show how Irish society knows and acknowledges the domestic violence against men. But only acknowledging is not enough and that certainly needs to be changed. The person who is working hard to achieve that is Mary T. Cleary, the founder of AMEN.

CONCLUSION

Domestic violence against man is a topic that not many are willing to start. This essay has done just that. It explored different aspects of abuse against man. Vast numbers of things are preventing recognition (on a bigger scale) of abused men. The fact that abuse is abuse, no matter against whom it is done, does not change a fact that we as society on micro and macro level are closing our eyes. Women, Police Officers, Doctors, Government are leading the “race”. It is clear that men are disadvantaged and the hurdles that they are facing are almost impossible to overcome. Their fundamental rights as parents are not respected.

RECOMMENDATIONS

While doing the research for this assignment I came across a web site RAPE CRISIS NETWORK IRELAND that, in my opinion, has a very important and useful feature.

It gives advice how to cover your tracks so that nobody can find out that you visited this site. Instructions are clear and easy to follow. This site has not relevance to my assignment, but I couldn’t fail to notice their safety issue. That is a first site that I came across that offers the feature. I think it should be present in all sites that deal with violent issues, because it can give confidence to many people to search for answers, to report the abuse. In many cases, fear of abuser finding out that they tried to “do” something puts the victims off.

Domestic violence can be prevented through early intervention, by law enforcement, social services and the criminal justice system. Even men as victims, who are reluctant to press charges due to lack of recourses can be assisted once they have been identified and removed from violent home environment. (www.practicalhomicide.com)

It amazes me, through my research how the government and all involved don’t have enough knowledge and common sense to deal with issues like violence and abuse against men. As I grew up I witnessed domestic violence on many occasions. Friends, neighbours, members of my family, unknown people who were abused made me think about causes and solutions to the problem.

While criminal violence is well known, domestic violence is swept under the rug. As a standard “man” is the abuser and “woman” is the abused.

I visited a number of websites in order to find relevant statistics about abused men but only couple of them had any information about abused men. The main focus is on women and children. The only one that deals with every aspect of abuse against men is AMEN.

I know that is important but also shows me that minority (abused men) is neglected.

A study of MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE -commissioned by AMEN- was conducted. The study was carried out in County Monaghan. (See appendix 1)

To make the picture clearer I wanted to see how other European countries react and deal with this issue. I visited International Domestic violence and Abuse agencies list. It contained 55 countries but none of them had any organisations listed clearly aimed for men. That showed me that Ireland is ahead even if there is only one organisation for abused men. But it is “reachable” way more easily than in other countries.

Irish Government funds for sufferers of domestic abuse clearly show the difference of funding available for man and women. They are not given support or recognition by Government. (See appendix 2)

I witnessed many violent outbursts in the night time. But I couldn’t fail to notice that majority of those incidents were started by women. Freedom and change of life style allow women to go out and act as men. But binge drinking is one of the things that are not good in any way. In my opinion women know that they will not suffer big consequences (such as arrest) if they attack someone, so they feel confident to do as they please.

In this study (section 9) men surveyed suggested following support systems that should be put in place to deal with abuse that is done to them:

aˆ? Statutory services, and in particular the Health Boards, to take the problem of male victims of domestic abuse seriously.

aˆ? The Gardai to take male victims of domestic violence seriously and to treat the matter with more sensitivity.

aˆ? The legal system (i.e. legal professionals, court staff and the judiciary) to take a more balanced and equitable approach.

aˆ? All men surveyed felt the need for a ‘safe place’ to take themselves and their children when incidents in the home became particularly abusive.

aˆ? Better protection for their children if they are forced to leave the family home.

aˆ? The right for men to remain in the home when they are the victims. (Leaving the home has negative implications for the male in that it means he may have inadequate access to his children and that he is leaving his home which in most cases is his sole asset.)

aˆ? Better equality when the issue of custody and access to their children is being addressed by the courts.

aˆ? Less gender bias by social workers and health care professionals when dealing with male victims of domestic abuse.

aˆ? More alternatives to the adversarial family court system.

aˆ? The issue of men’s health and welfare to be taken more seriously by the Government.

aˆ? Adequate support services for male victims.

These recommendations are clear and they cover all areas that need to change in order to deal with abuse against men. However change needs to start on small scale starting with men who need to admit that they can also be vulnerable, and in that in their “macho” world some space should be left for acknowledging that fact. All children should be made aware that abuse is abuse no matter whom it is done against. Without that, I’m afraid, we won’t get far.

Intrigued by this topic, I asked friends what they think about abuse against men. Almost all responses were raised eyebrows and disbelief, laughter and the same replies as in all material that I have researched for this topic. The picture that people have in their heads is that abusers are male and just few said it is possible that females can be abusers as well.

My hope is that this essay will at least on a small scale make people aware of ABUSE AGAINST MEN.

“Woman is more fitted than man to make exploration and take bolder action in nonviolence… There is no occasion for women to consider themselves subordinate or inferior to men….Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity….If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior….If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with women…”

Traditionally Sri Lankan society held women in high esteem though the society was a man dominated. During last few decades it appeared that this situation has been changed and violence against women is increasing rapidly in Sri Lanka as same as the other countries in the world.

The first place from where it starts the violence against women is the household where we are living. Among the other form s of violence domestic violence has the top in Sri Lanka. There fore, violence against women has become an issue which needs a quick and definite solution.

Most of the people in our society think that domestic violence is a matter that should not revile to the out of the family. Hence domestic violence subsided for a long time without a solution. However it has been formed new legislation for the domestic violence in year 2005. But domestic violence has been increased more than before. This research is aimed at analyzing the possibilities of recurrence of the degrading process of inhuman. Domestic violence against women is mostly based on gender.

The team gender mean different things to different people. The world gender comes from the world gender, this, in turn, comes from Latin genus. Both words mean ‘kind’, “type” or “sort”.

7. This difference in their behavior, attitudes and values that is superimposed on their biological sex is what is meant by them gender. Hence in other words, gender refers to a set of qualities and behavior expected from a female or a male by the society. Biological sex is quite different from gender, as it refers to aspect of the body such as the genitals, hair growth genetic make- up and or hormones. According to the gender characterizations superimposed by society,

8. Male are expected to have the qualities of Devious, Fearless, Impulsive, Honest, Tough, Violent, Heard working, Opportunistic, Insensitive, Extrovert, Dominating, Independent and female are expected to have different qualities as Emotional, Week, Beautiful, Sacrificing, Nurturing, Submissive, Shy, Calm, Polite, Sensitive, Cunning, Soft, Introvert, Compassionate, Enduring, Fearful, Quite, Timid, Tolerant, Dependent

10. These characteristics attribute to each gender are possibly satisfactory from the point of view of the society as a hole. However, when one considers from the point of view of the individual of either genders, it may not be so. Impact sometimes it could be even harmful. Similarly, there are many instances of traditionally imposed characteristics which are disadvantages to the women as well. This is more so in patriarchal societies like ours.

12. It is traditionally accepted that female should do the cooking, looking after the house etc, while the man works in the field. This is satisfactory as long as there is mutual understanding between the women and the man and the decision had been arrived at by mutual consent. Often it is not so. The role of the female has been thrust upon her and she is obliged to perform it even when she is pregnant or ill. It is this traditional compartmentalization of these roles according to gender attributes determined by the society that leads to problems.

DEFINITION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

13. Domestic violence is defined as an abuse of power perpetrated mainly by men against women. The most commonly acknowledge forms of domestic violence are physical and sexual violence, threats and intermediation, emotional and economic abuse.

PHYSICAL ABUSE

14. Physical abuse can include slapping, punching, beating, shoving. It can include attempts to harm the victim with weapons, like knives, sticks, or other items found lying in the home. In extreme cases firearms, may also be used to threatened and/ or helm the victim.

SEXUAL ABUSE

15. Sexual abuse includes rapes, physically attacking a woman sexual body parts preventing the victim from using birth control and/ or safe sex practices. Rape is forcing woman to have sex against their will, which in many cases involves violence. In all cases it is a violation of an individual’s rights her body.

EMOTIONAL ABUSE

16 Emotional abuse can includes all intentional attempts to minimize the victim’s concerns and to make them feel back. Humiliating the victim in front of the other people, family and friends is a common way, this is achieved.

PSYCOLOGICAL ABUSE

17. Psychological abuse can include any threats that are made or carried out with the intent of financial or emotional injury, blackmail or humiliation. Threat may be made to take the children away from the woman.

ECONOMIC ABUSE

17. Economic abuse creates financial dependence. The victim can have her money taken away by her abuser, forcing her to have to ask for money whenever she needs any thing.

INTIMIDIATION

18. Intimidation as a form of abuse can include making the women afraid by using looks, action and gestures, by destroying their property, or by displaying weapons.

ISOLATION

19 Isolation can be used to control and limit what the woman does. Whom they see and where they go. The abuser may prevent them from seeing family and friends.

USING PRIVILEGE TO CONTROL

20. Using privilege to control is also a Form of abuse. By treating a woman like a servant and having the last word about everything, the abuser is acting like master of the castle. He is defining and rigidly abiding by the traditional roles of men and women

THE AGGRIEVED MAY BE

a. he father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, stepfather or stepmother

b. the son, daughter, grandson, or grand daughter, stepson, stepdaughter

c. the brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, step-brother, step-sister

d. brother or sister of parent (an uncle or aunt)

e. child of a brother or sister

f. The child of brother or sister of parent

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CAN BE CAUSED BY

the spouse

b. the ex-spouse

c. the cohabiting partner

d. parent

REASONS FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Drunkenness of the aggressor

9. This is a major reason for subjecting wives to domestic violence. Alcohol appears to be the most proximate cause for many type of violence particularly in the rural areas where illicitly brewed alcohol is available in plenty. This is particularly a cause for incest where the father who is drunk, with all his animal instincts bared ,sexually harassed the young and innocent daughter, often with no mother to protect her as she has gone away to earn for the family.

Anger

10. Another reason given after battering women by husband ids that. They got angry and beat the wife. The responsibility is given back to the women for irritating him and making him an angry. The common preventive measure prescribe to the wife is not to irritate the husband. Often no advice is given to the husband. However there is no justification whatsoever to convert anger in to violence which makes someone else suffer. It is said that “conquer angry by love, conquer evil by good”.

Financial problems

11. Unemployment, less salaries or wages, housing problems are course to create domestic violence because inability to afford the expenses of the family, still the dowry is also course to create violence.

Cycle of the violence

12. The person who has subjected to violence in his childhood or who experienced the violence from their parents can behave as their parents

Incense by the victim

13. Sometimes the victims incense their husbands unnecessarily

Societal factors creating with the family

14. Mistakes occurs day to day workings of women in the household; problems of children, misunderstandings of the relations of the wife or husband, have subjected to create violence against women.

Sexual problems

15. Suspicion of the husband regarding his wife and assuming that an affair has been built his wife with another person, and refusing sexual behaviors of husband when he want are also coursed to create violence against women

Cultural factors

16. Dislike to holding key appointments by wife and confine her to the household is also a major problem

Structural inequalities

17. Supremacy of men in the household is also caused to create violence against women

Extra marital affairs beyond wife or husband
CHAPTER
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

1. Even though traditionally Sri Lankan society holds women in high esteem, it is a favorable increase of domestic violence against women in Sri Lanka. Although enough lows and legislations have been formed in time to time it is not appeared that a decrease of domestic violence against women.

2. Domestic violence is the first action which occurs among the members of a family in side a house hold. This includes various forms of sexual harassments as same as other form of physical harassment, oral or mental abuses. Generally it is not reported mental harassments but it occurs more than other form of harassments with in a household.

3. The domestic violence which takes place in a household mostly targets the women. Domestic violence against women usually does not occur in public. In the public “Ladies first” is the abstract. Hence it is not detected domestic violence because it appears that all are giving due respect for women.

4. Even though the government and some non government organizations have collected data on this issue they could not be able to make a effective solution for preventing domestic violence against women.

JUSTIFICATION

5. Women have to face various type of violence for the sake of being born a woman. This study is mainly focused on ascertaining the reasons for violation against women in Sri Lanka and to make recommendations to overcome the problem. Research findings and recommendations could be vital to the government and respective authorities to make effective solutions to eliminate this violence. A proper analysis carried out may uncover avenues to assist measures in preventing domestic violence against women.

6. Hence, this research could be used to arrive at viable solutions on the issue of domestic violence against women. Later the remedial measures may be included in the national policies depending on the relevance and validity.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

7. There are so many aspects in domestic violation against women. The scope of the study is to find why these things happen and what precautions that can be taken to prevent the domestic violence against women.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE

8. To developing a well-mannered family and it adopted to build up a well-mannered nation

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

9. Specific objectives are as follows;

To find reasons for the violence and type of violence take place

To suggest solutions to prevent domestic violence against women

To study the ability to practice the solutions in Sri Lanka

To analyze the statistical data

HYPOTHESIS

10. Domestic violence against women is unable to prevent by the Law with out making an environment that promote to perform obligations of each others of the family.

METHODOLOGY

11. This study will be mainly based on the primary data, which will be collected through questionnaires from a random sample of women to collect the qualitative data and it is to be used the data that has been collected from government and non government organizations concerned this problem in hall the island. The information drawn from the above methods will be used to finalize the report to prove or disprove the hypothesis drawn from the research.

CHAPTER III
PAST AND THE PRESENT

Sri Lankan society has built on Buddhist culture since 2500 years ago. The basic teaching of Buddhism, salvation by one’s own effort put forward the spiritual equality of all beings irrespective of gender. Singalowada Sutra at Sutra Pitakaya has defined obligations of a husband and as same as a wife to perform for each others. That taught to respect each others in the family.

After introducing open economy, social values which gained from Buddhism have been loosed. It is started to import various goods and services. It created a consumer society in Sri Lanka. Wants of the people were increased. To adapt this society and fulfill these wants women also have to employ to earn money. Further the women has bee used a commercial dummy. This system very much cute to give some mental bribes to women who were missed their social values on money and introduced women rights in lieu of the obligations women. Women are experiencing to win their rights but the love from his husbands .Obligations of husband and only the rights of wives were remained. As a result of this situation, it started to destroy the picture which had drawn in our mind set as a mother, sister, wife and daughter and the violence against women were increased.

At present in Sri Lanka, it was estimated that around 60% of women are subjected to domestic violence.*

CHAPTER VI
LEGISLATIONS TO PROTECT VICTIMS

1. It had not certain legislation for domestic violence in Sri Lakethe penal Code also does not have respective provisions with regard to domestic violence against women. Therefore victims of the domestic violence has to be consider under other general section like section 324- assault or section 311- causing grievous hurt. Although the amendment s to the penal code in 1995 expanded the definition of grievous hurt it did not take in violence against women as a crime. This amendment also did not concern victims who may have suffered only light injuries and those subjected to emotional abuse which exactly points to the entry not decisive by its CEDAE obligations.

2. However the Act made favorable provision in year 2005. The newly passed law on domestic violence is an act to provide for the prevention of any act of domestic violence which may be either physical abuse or emotional abuse between two people who are related. The provision of domestic violence act no 34 of 2005 specify the degrees of relationship.

3. This law is a civil remedy and is gender natural and does not disturb the criminal law remedies as it is not an alternative to the criminal process. This law focuses on ensuring the safety of the aggrieved party. To obtain a protection order you need to apply to the Magistrate Court. You can submit your application through an Attorney at Law or personally or through a Police Officer.

4. Any person against whom an act of domestic violence has been committed or likely to be committed may make an application. Such a person is referred to as an aggrieved person under this Act. An application should be made to the Magistrate’s Court with in that jurisdiction the aggrieved person resides or the relevant person resides or the act of domestic violence took place. Up on receiving such application the court can consider the application and determine whether an interim protection order is urgently needed to ensure the protection of the aggrieved party

Domestic Violence and Women Health

1. Violence as defined by WHO is the intentional use of physical force or power ,threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that either result in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death physical harm, mal development or deprivation

2. The victim s women tend to have many disorder which, when considered superficially, do not appear to be connected to violence. A WHO study done recently identified following complications that could be associated with violence.

Bleeding during pregnancy

3. It is now that physical assault can cause bleeding ‘in pregnancy due to partial separation of the after birth (placenta), while the baby is still with in the womb.

Low birth weight

4. There are instance where the mothers deliver babies with lower weight than respective their maturity. These babies too face risks the mental stress that the mother undergoes due to violence, effects of passive smoking through husband’s smoking are factors leading to the effects of assault.

Lack of attention and care

5. It is often seen that the mothers who are victims of violence tend to attend antenatal clinics late or not attend such clinics at all. This late or non attendance is seen at the maternal death reviews where each maternal death is looked into in detail. This leads to not getting necessary care and

changing attitudes that permit such abuse, developing legal and policy frameworks to prohibit and reject it, and improving women’s access to economic recourses and girls’ access to education.

CHAPTER V
THE IMPACT ON CHILDREN

Children may test their parent by behaving badly. Children are dependent on adults to tell them what is right and wrong. Children need to feel loved, accepted and safe in their family. This means living in a home where there is no uncertainty when violence may erupt.

Children try to make sense out of what happens in the world; to believe that there is a reason for what happens. This may lead them to feel that it is mothers’ fault that she is beaten. They may think that it is their fault. They may feel guilty that they cannot help parents. They may take father’s side because they feel safer to be on the side of power. This may happen more with male children. Though children rose in violent homes are at risk for perpetrating or experiencing violence in their adulthood.

CHAPTER VII
THE WAY THE BUDDHIST TEACHINGS

5. Buddhism condemns any form of violence in no uncertain terms. Buddhist teaching Buddhist teaching extends beyond the universals Buddhist concept of ahimsa or non violence and provides directions for the lay followers to live a happy, peaceful and fruitful life with out conflicts in the family with in the boundaries of dharma.

6. When one considers the fundamental principals elaborated in Buddhism, one cannot see a gender distinction. The three universal characteristics (tilakkana) which are anicha, dukka, anathema are common to both genders alike. The Ariya Attangika Magga, the path that is to be followed for emancipation, is available to both genders and it is to be followed in the same manner by both genders. Hence emancipation or Nibbana is common and is attainable by both genders that follow the right path. When facts are so, the logical conclusion is that, in Buddhism there is no gender equality. However, when it comes to interpretation of the Buddhist doctrinal issues, at times, this fundamental Buddhist social principle is not very clearly presented. The attitudes towards gender as depicted in the Pail Canon reflect the attitude towards gender with in the society at the time of the Buddha, as well as the Buddhist attitudes towards it. It is also accepted that there are contributions from sources other than the Buddha eighth in the Canon

7. When we are analyzing the problem of domestic violence against women it appears that the fault is always transferred only towards the men. All the good men and women raised their fingers towards men. Actually this society is a man dominated society. Men always try to maintain the supremacy. Further he has got some strength more than woman by the nature. The true love can collapse these barrios to live together for man and woman until the end of the life. But unfortunately the social system which we have to face restrict to the peace of the family. Therefore both man and women should have responsibilities and obligations for each others to strengthen their family. The Lord Buddha preaches following responsibilities and obligations for the exemplary family.

Five Kinds of Duty for a Husband

a. A husband must be kind to and adore his wife

b. He must not treat his wife in an insolent manner.

c. He must not engage in sexual misconduct with other women.

d. He must give her control and authority over domestic matter.

e. He must provide his wife with garments and ornaments.

Five Kinds of Duty for a Wife

a. A wife must arrange chores of the household well and run it smoothly.

b. She must distribute gifts fairly between her relatives and her husband’s relatives.

c. She must not engage in sexual misconduct wife other men.

d. She must keep and maintain all things orderly that are handed over by her husband.

e. She must be skillful and diligent in all her house works.

8. If this code of conduct is adhered to there is no room for domestic violence to occur. But what usually happens is completely disregarding thee need to remind men of their deities

CHAPTER VIII
ANALYSIS

1. At present there is no systematic mechanism for data collection in relation to the prevalence, causes and consequences of violence against women and there are no disaggregated statistics available concerning intimate partner violence. However records of complaints to women’s organization assisting women affected by domestic violence, police statistics and newspaper reports suggest a higher prevalence of intimate partner violence. Recent studies on this subject estimate the prevalence to be between 18.3% and 60% in Sri Lanka.

Year

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2003

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Incidences

791

895

1020

1208

1514

2015

2688

3154

3207

3612

4523

2. Following statistics in respect of domestic violence against women in whole the island receive from Women In Need (WIN), which provides free counseling and legal advice to victims of domestic violence shows an idea of resent trend of violence against women in Sri Lanka.

3. Above chart shows that the number of personnel who has got leagle advises from Women in Need each years. It clearly indicate that the number of personnel who have got advices for domestic violence from Women in Need has increased rapidly year by year.

4. Although the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act came in to operation from 3rd October 2005 it appearse that problrems regarding domestic violence against women. Actually it has been increased. Therefore it is difficult to say that the law is an effective one to prevent domestic violence against women in Sri Lanka.

Legal Advices

Colombo

Kandy

Matara

Badulla

Anuradapura

Jaffna

Puttalam

New

1844

627

422

396

265

31

282

Repeat

2679

316

2028

1015

1009

242

315

Total

4523

943

2450

1411

1274

273

597

5. The chart shows that the number women who faced domestic violence and request consultant from the Women in Need from January to October in year 2009. 4523 person have got consult and Most of them have got consultant at the repeat list. If there is a new provision in the law to solve domestic violence against women and they have got legal consultations why they came again and again to get legal consultation is a problem.

6. According to the questioners it appears that Sri Lankan women don’t like to tell their problems out of the household and they always think about the future their children. Most of the women married with love affairs and someone married with out the authority of their parents. Therefore they have a problem to tell even their parents.

7. After established the prevention of domestic violence against Act Child and women bureau has started to get entries regarding domestic violence. But in 2009 only the 236 incidents were reported and 55 incidents have been reported from January to September in 2010 in the entire Island.

CHAPTER IX
RECOMMENDATIONS

1. After introducing liberalization policies in year 1977 in Sri Lanka media played tremendous role to change attitudes of the nation towards traditional women and to collapse her traditional values. Hence it has been proved that the media can do a major role to change attitudes of the nation. Therefore it is recommended to use media on the authority of the government to create well planed public awareness program to respect all women as a mother.

2. Another responsible party is business world who sole women in Sri Lanka with their goods and services by advertisement. Therefore it is recommended to contribute them to make a social marketing campaign to change attitudes of the nation towards women as a must.

3. Government should take an action to cohabit Tele-dramas which make people to experiencing hate to each others.

4. It is recommended to start school level awareness programs to educate girls and boys regarding the expected qualities of male and female and to teach to patience others opinions. Buddhist and other religious teachings regarding the family life and obligations of each person who are playing a separate role with in a family should be thought. Through this awareness programs it is able to deliver these massages to their parents also.

5. Police or the respective authorities should make a mechanism to collect data with regard to the complaint of domestic violence against women separately and d.

6. Awareness programs should plane for the public to inform quickly regarding domestic violence incidences that take place in the next door to the police and obtain their assistance immediately.

7. Domestic violence should be considered as a health issue and specialist doctors should attached to the hospitals to treat victims of domestic violence. Police officers who got complaints of the victims of violence should educate and trained to treat them in a supportive manner.

8. The education system that has been focused only to the examinations and competition should change and should buildup a nation who has humanity.

9. Try to provide care for them with emotionally sound adults with whom they can relate.

10. It will help them to see adults who can settle differences without abuse or violence. It is important for them to see adults who respect each other.

11. Accept that you are not perfect. Do not feel guilty about it. Keep doing your best and be open to change and learning new ways.

12. Remember that your children need to be able to depend on you. Don’t depend on them to act as your partner. Let them to be dependent. Encourage them to have friends and activities in a new community as soon as you settle. Friendship can help them to regain security. They need to belong too.

13. At past Sri Lankans has experienced to go to temple to solve their problems because they know that the venerable monks have solutions all the problems they have. There fore people got solutions with out bias for anyone. Hence again it is useful l to start that past experience.

CHAPTER X
CONCLUSION

1. Four type of married life is described In the Pathama Sutra Sanvasa Sutra of the Anguttara Nikaya.

a. Foolish man with foolish women

b. Foolish man with a goddess

c. A Good with foolish women

d. A good with a Goddess

2. The last being the best and is being encouraged.

3. It is important to note that in this sutra, the qualities of man and women have been giving equal prominence and in no way the man considered superior. Further this sutra explains how the ideal wife and husband could continue their relationship to the next birth.

4. “If both have equal saddha, sila, cage and panna, they will meet in the next birth too.”

5. As shown as the data analysis it is unable to prevent domestic violence but punish someone aggressor who committed a violence by the law. According to this Analysis only way that can prevent Domestic violence against women is fulfilling obligations described in this research to each others. Therefore a government also should have an obligation to create a fair environment with in the country to make well mannered nation without violence.

Domestic Violence is an act of physical, sexual or psychological abuse against a woman by someone who is intimately connected to her through marriage, family relation or acquaintanceship. It has its roots in the patriarchal set up of the society. Women have always been considered to be the weaker sex. Right from the later Vedic age to the 21st century, Indian women have never experienced the freedom that men have. They have always been subjected to inequality. The subordinate status of women combined with patriarchal ideologies is a major cause of domestic violence. According to ‘United Nation Population Fund Report’, around two-third of married Indian women are victims of Domestic Violence attacks. To protect women against Domestic Violence, the Parliament passed ‘The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005’ According to this act, any woman who has been subjected to domestic violence can file a complaint to the police officer, protection officer or the magistrate in the form of ‘Domestic Incident Report’, which is similar to an FIR. However, this act is not enough. In light of the increasing instances of domestic violence against women, the government needs to take more stringent measures to reduce the prevalence of domestic violence against women.

Objectives

The objectives of this project are as follows:-

What is the magnitude of domestic violence against women in India? What is the prevalence of physical, sexual and psychological abuse against Indian women?

What community and families are associated with domestic violence against women? Whether domestic violence is more prevalent in the higher or in the lower strata of the society.

Methodology
Hypothesis: The prevalence of Domestic Violence against women is an indication of patriarchal ideologies

The survey was conducted in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Ahmadabad in 2012. The survey includes forty women who represent different families culturally as well socially i.e. they belong to different stratus of the society. The study is based mainly on quantitative data. It has tried to get empirically sound and statistically reliable data regarding the physical, sexual and psychological abuse against women. Qualitative methodology has been used to interpret and analyze the data collected.

Review of Literature

‘Behind Closed Doors’ by Rinki Bhattacharya is one of the few books which deal with Domestic Violence against women in India. This book contains narratives by seventeen women who have been the victims of domestic violence. These women have showed immense courage in sharing their stories. These heart- wrenching narratives bring home the fact that domestic violence is still very prevalent and that no amount of privilege can protect women from abuse. A documentary film called ‘Char Diwari’ was made on this book. The fact that this documentary has been telecasted only twice and that too at midnight shows that such issues are still not brought out open in the public.

This book also contains essays by eminent feminists and other sociologists who have tried to analyze the phenomenon of Domestic Violence. What they really try to say is that in a country like India, where people worship the female power of Shakti in the form of goddess, why should women be subjected to domestic violence?

Then there are further essays which deal with the loopholes in the domestic violence bill. The book ends with a road map to support the victims of domestic violence. This book should definitely be read by those who wish to bring about a change in d position of the women in the society.

There is a case study on domestic violence against women in Nagpur. This Case Study has been conducted by International Clinical Epidemiologists Network (INCLEN). On the basis of the survey conducted, it was found out that nearly sixty- two percent of the women have been subjected to some form of domestic violence. Most of these women have been the victims of psychological abuse (60.2 % as compared to 37.9 % of the women being subjected to physical abuse ). Ten percent of these women left their husbands but most of them had to return since their natal families refused to accept them. There is still a social stigma attached to leaving your husband and the root cause of this is the patriarchal ideologies which are still widespread today.

Another Case Study deals with domestic violence in Kerala. This has been conducted by Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, Kerala. Around fifty five percent of the women admit being subjected to domestic violence. In Kerala most of the women have been victimized due to issues related to dowry. Like in Nagpur, psychological abuse is very high in Kerala. (54.23% as compared to 32.4% of thee women who are subjected to physical violence). In Kerala the literacy rate is almost 100 percent, yet women are victimized. What does this show? It again goes back to the patriarchal ideologies that have existed since time immemorial.

Results and Interpretation of Data
Table 1: Socio Demographic Profile:

TOTAL

40

HIGHER STRATA OF THE SOCIETY

27

LOWER STRATA OF THE SOCIETY

13

AGE (in years)

Woman Respondent

Husband

32

36

33

37

31

35

EDUCATION

Woman Respondent

Illiterate

Primary ( 1-5 )

Secondary ( 6-12 )

>12

Husband

Illiterate

Primary ( 1-5)

Secondary ( 6-12 )

>12

4

6

7

23

0

4

8

28

0

0

5

22

0

0

2

25

4

6

2

1

0

4

6

3

EMPLOYMENT

Woman Respondent

Unemployed

Employed

Husband

Unemployed

Employed

27

23

6

34

17

10

0

27

4

9

6

7

This table shows that literacy rate is lower among the woman respondents as compared to their husbands. The overall employment rate is higher among the husbands. However as far as the lower strata of the society is concerned, more women are employed than men.

Now we come to the prevalence of domestic violence. First the researcher will deal with the women of the higher strata of the society. 20 out of 27 women have admitted to being subjected to domestic violence by their husbands. Out of these 20 women, 12 have been physically abused, 5 psychologically and 3 sexually. As far as the women of the lower strata are concerned all the 13 of them have been subjected to domestic violence. Out of these women, 8 are physically abused, 3 psychologically and 2 sexually.

Graph showing the prevalence of Domestic Violence.

Table 2 will show the lifetime physical abuse and Table 3 will show the lifetime psychological abuse.

Table 2: Lifetime Physical Abuse :-

TOTAL

(20)

HIGHER STRATA OF THE SOCIETY

(12)

LOWER STRATA OF THE SOCIETY

(8)

Slap

11

8

3

Kick

8

3

5

Weapon

1

1

0

Table 3: Lifetime Psychological Abuse:-

TOTAL

(8)

HIGHER STRATA OF THE SOCIETY

(5)

LOWER STRATA OF THE SOCIETY

(3)

Insulted

5

3

2

Demeaned

2

2

0

Unfaithful

1

0

1

Now the researcher would like to draw your attention to the reasons as to why these women are subjected to domestic violence. Table 4 shows some of the reasons identified by these women.

Table 4: Reasons as to why women are subjected to domestic violence:-

TOTAL

33

HIGHER STRATA OF THE SOCIETY

20

LOWER STRATA OF THE SOCIETY

13

Not Cooking Properly

18

13

5

Not Looking after the Household

5

4

1

Harassment due to Dowry

4

3

1

Talking to Other Men

6

0

6

It is evident from the survey that Domestic Violence is extremely prevalent especially in the lower strata of the society. There is an inverse relationship between socio economic status and domestic violence. Both Education and Employment is also significant for physical and psychological violence. It is seen that women with lower education but better employment than their husbands are subjected to greater domestic violence. This is the case in the lower strata of the society. As far as the higher strata is concerned, it is generally the lesser educated and the unemployed women who are subjected to the wrath of their husbands.

Legal Measures for Domestic Violence against women In India

In India not much has been done to protect the rights of women. Women have been the victims of domestic violence since time immemorial, but the ‘Domestic Violence Act’ was passed by the parliament as late as 2005. It was passed in the furtherance of the recommendations of the United Nations committee on the CEDAW. The following abuses are covered by this act:-

Physical abuse

Sexual abuse

Verbal and emotional abuse

Economic abuse

This act provides women a right to stay in her matrimonial house, even if she does not have ownership rights over the house. Basically a husband cannot throw his wife out of his house. However her rights will extend only to her husband’s properties and not to the properties of her in-laws.

Under this act, a woman has the right to ask for help and protection. A victim of domestic abuse has the right to seek the help and services of ‘police officer’s, ‘protection homes’, ‘service providers’, ‘shelter homes’ and ‘medical establishments’. She also has the right to lodge a complaint under section 498 of the Indian Penal Code for ‘matrimonial cruelty’.

Under this act, a woman can get the following orders issued in her favour:-

Protection Order

Residence Orders

Monetary Relief

Custody Orders

Compensation Orders

Interim and Ex parte Orders

If the respondent is found to be guilty, he can be imprisoned for a term which may extend to one year or can be charged a fine which may extend to Rs 20,000 or both. He may also be asked to provide monetary relief to the victim and her children. In the latter situation, he has to pay compensation damages as well. He has to abide by the arrangements made by the court regarding the custody of the victim’s children.

Drawbacks of the Legal Measures

The Act is mainly criticized on the grounds that it is not backed up properly. There is no effort by the government to implement it effectively. Important factors such as the appointment and the training of the protection officers, police officers, service providers, counselors, and judicial officers have been ignored. The authorities lack the initiative to spread awareness. Moreover there is improper budgetary allocation. Most states have still not appointed the Protection Officers. In some states, where Protection Officers have been appointed, they are not aware of their duties and the legal remedies that are available to the victims of domestic violence. Another drawback is that that the act has not been publicized properly. The helpline numbers available to the victims have not been publicized properly. As a result, sometimes domestic violence goes unreported because the victim does not know whom to turn to for help. In some cases, the violence is reported, but no case is filed in the court. There is a big difference in the number of cases that are reported and the number of cases which are actually heard in the court. These are the drawbacks of the legal measures.

Remedial Measures

A crucial question in the light of the increasing instances of domestic violence is that what should be done to control and reduce it. As responsible citizens should we just sit and read articles and collect information about domestic violence or should we raise our voices against it?Today Domestic Violence is being viewed as an epidemic disease which needs to be controlled. Many Law agencies, Governmental and Non Governmental Organizations, public and private bodies are working for this cause.

We need more stringent laws to curb domestic violence. At present we do not have a single law in the Indian Constitution which effectively deals with the issue of Domestic Violence. Even section 498 A of the Indian Penal Code and The Domestic Violence Act, 2005 have been misused because of the restricted definition of the abuse that women are subjected to. As a result we need more stringent laws to protect the rights of women.

There are several NGOs which are actively working in issues relating to women abuse. These NGOs need to spread awareness among women regarding the legal remedies that are available to them. They should encourage more and more women to come forward and report instances of domestic violence so that necessary action can be taken against the culprit.

The Police and the Protection Officers need to be sensitized. They need to take Domestic Violence as seriously as other offences. They need to be made aware of their legal duties and the remedies that are available to the victims. Moreover care has to be taken to appoint efficient men as Police and Protection Officers. Gender training should me made mandatory.

Steps need to be taken to recognize Domestic Violence as a public health. Training needs to be provided so as to develop the skills of the professionals to provide the basic support to the victims of domestic violence. Documentation on the health consequences of domestic violence should me made so as to spread awareness.

Lastly the patriarchal mindset of the people has to be changed. Until and unless women are given due respect in the society, no amount of laws will be helpful. The root cause of domestic violence is patriarchal ideologies and that needs to be changed.

Conclusion

The study underlines that the situation of Indian women is quite severe in terms of the violence they experience in the marital home. Women are subject to frequent and multiple forms of violence in their lifetime. The main cause of this is the patriarchal mindset of the people. Men have always considered themselves to be the superior sex and have always tried to overpower women. Generally women do not raise their voices against men because they have been taught to believe that they are the inferior sex. In conclusion, it can be said that the hypothesis- ‘The prevalence of Domestic Violence against women is an indication of patriarchal ideologies’ has been proved and a social reformation needs to be brought about soon.

Questionnaire

The women were asked the following questions:

Name

Age

Husband’s Age

Educational Qualification

Educational qualification of the husband

Employment

Husband’s occupation

Any Physical Violence?

Slapped by the husband?

Kicked by the husband?

Used or threatened to use a weapon?

Any Sexual Violence?

Any Psychological Violence?

Insulted by the husband?

Demeaned by the husband?

Was the husband unfaithful?

Reasons for the violence as identified by the woman.

Not cooking properly

Not looking after the household

Harassment due to dowry

Talking to other men

The limitation of this study is that in view of the social stigma attached to domestic violence, some women have been reluctant to answer these questions and as a result have not answered them truthfully.

Domestic Violence

What is your definition of love? Domestic violence is not considered love or affection. It is violence abuse. In your eyes what is domestic violence? Domestic violence is a pattern of behaviors used to establish power and control over another person through fear and intimidation (thehotline,org). If you’re experiencing this you might have been hit, kicked, choked, and/or controlled. Physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, and economical abuse are key warning signs. Abuse is a repetitive pattern of behaviors to maintain power and control over an intimate partner (thehotline.org).

The following are behaviors that physically harm, arouse fear, prevent a partner from doing what they wish, or force them to behave in ways they do not want (thehotline.org). This also includes threats and intimidation. Warning signs you are in an abusive relationship include forbidding you from eating or sleeping, damaging your property when they’re angry by either throwing objects, punching walls, kicking doors, etc., and or using weapons to threaten to hurt you, or actually hurting you with weapons (thehotline.org). A woman of the name Jessica was stuck in an abusive relationship. She said, “I was a prisoner in my own home” (Axelord). Her boyfriend beats her, verbally abused her, and controlled her. He made sure she didn’t leave the house without him. He tapped her phone and made sure she knew not to eat, sleep, or shower without him being home to watch her every move. He installed cameras around the house to make sure Jessica wasn’t doing anything behind his back. If they trap you in your home or keep you from leaving, you’re in an abusive relationship. Jessica’s boyfriend claimed abusing her was his sign to show her he loved her and didn’t want to lose her (Axelord). Jessica said, “His excuse was he was afraid to lose me cause he loved me so much and that was his way of showing me that he loved me” (Axelord). This is what goes on in the minds of abusers. Jessica knew she was in a domestic relationship, but she had no way to get out until one day Jessica’s sister called the cops on her boyfriend and got a restraining order (Axelord).

Not everyone knows they are in a domestic violence, the victims are manipulated into thinking it is a sign of compassion and love. More red flags include abandoning you in unfamiliar places, driving recklessly or dangerously when you are in the car with them, and or forcing you to use drugs or alcohol are red flags (thehotline.org). Calling you names, insulting you or continually criticizing you, refusing to trust you and acting jealous or possessive, and or trying to isolate you from family or friends are the first warning signs (thehotline.org). Monitoring where you go, who you call and who you spend time with, demanding to know where you are every minute, threatening to hurt you, the children, your family or your pets is when you seek help (thehotline.org). The first people to notice what is going on are family, friends, and neighbors. Domestic violence happens to both men and women on a daily basis. Women 20-24 years old are at the greatest risk. 1 in 3 women are homicide victims and murdered by their partner each year (SafeHorizon.org). Four million women experience physical assault and rape by their partner each year (SafeHorizon.org).

517 children witness domestic violence each year. Three in four children see the violence happening to their mother or father. 21% of children hear the violence going on. 3.3-10 million children are exposed to domestic violence yearly (SafeHorizon.org). Many children are not safe from this violence. Most of the time, the abuser also goes after the child. More likely than not the child is emotionally scarred for life. According to race, 53% White people are abused, 20% African American people, 16% Latino, and 6% Other (SafeHorizon.org). According to income the following are abused, 28% under $20,000, 30% making $20,000-$50,000, 18% making $50,000-$75,000, and 24% making more than $75,000 (SafeHorizon.org). Some risk factors related to domestic violence include young pregnant women because they are more likely to be targeted compared to older women (apa.org). The younger the easier to be manipulated and used. Domestic violence takes place between 6pm and 6am (apa.org). 60% of incidents happen at home (apa.org).

30%-60% of families experiencing domestic violence include poverty, substance abuse, and other violence (SafeHorizon.org). Domestic is the third leading cause of homelessness among families (apa.org). 1/3 of abusers are using New York shelters (apa.org). This is what you can do to help yourself when the abuser is not around; call a local battered women’s shelter or domestic violence hotline and tell them what happened, ask them what your choices are to protect yourself, and what to do to end the violence (venetiservices.eu). Discuss the abuser’s pattern of violence with someone at a shelter or crisis line and think about what risks, there might be if you talk about leaving (venetiservices.eu). You should encourage your abuser to go to a group for batterers (venetiservices.eu.)

If you’re a friend or family member you can encourage the victim to get to safety and help keep that person safe. Confront the abuser if you can do it safely (SafeHorizon.org). Don’t accept excuses for violence from the people you love. If your loved one starts controlling your life and taking advantage of you, it is time to leave. Your significant other should always be there for you and care for you. If they ever lay a hand on you immediately call the police. On average it is said that it takes 7 tries to officially get out of an abusive relationship (Axelord.)

A significant other should never lay a hand on you if it is not for comfort or affection. If you are physically, mentally, or emotionally abused, it is not love. That does not show that your significant other cares for you. You need to stand up for yourself and get help.

Being in an unstable relationship may cause harm to you or your family. People have died, and people have been injured. Children are scared for the rest of their lives. Pay attention to the warning signs and seek help immediately if there are any red flags. The ones you love should respect you and care for you and your family.

Works Cited

“Abuse Defined.” The National Domestic Violence Hotline RSS2. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. .

Axelord, Jim, “I was a prisoner in my own home.” 17 May 2013. CBS News.

Carter, Lucy, Weitnom, Louis, and Behman. “Domestic violence and children.” Volume 9 number 7 Winter 1999.

“Domestic Violence: Statistics & Facts.” Safe Horizon. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. .

“Partner Violence: What Can You Do?” Http://www.apa.org. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. .

“Partner Violence: What Can You Do?” – Veneti CPT Services Ltd. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. .

Domestic abuse is a pervasive and preventable public health issue affecting many women around the globe with different race, ethnic, and socio-economic background. What is more devastating is the rate at which pregnant women are being abused. According to the literature, at least one in every five women is abused while pregnant. It is also indicated that these women experience life threatening maternal and fetal complications. The aim of this library research paper was to explore the effect of domestic abuse on pregnant women’s health through an extensive review of secondary analysis of the literature. The paper also touched briefly on the ethical issues encountered by the healthcare professionals when dealing with an abused person.

Domestic Abuse on Pregnant Womens Health

Introduction

The issue of violence against women, particularly against pregnant women is increasingly being recognized as an important and often devastating major health and social problem around the world with serious health consequences for the abused women and their children. Health care practitioners providing care to pregnant women need to consider how the experience of abuse in current or past intimate relationships could affect their clients’ health during pregnancy. Historical evidence indicates that there is a positive correlation between abused people and admittance to psychiatric institutions (March of Dimes, 2005). A high number of women if not all women who seek long term treatment from mental health institutions have histories of being abused previously. It is therefore, not surprising that in 1997, “The Violence Prevention Task Force” for the Region of Peel in Canada declared violence as the number one health hazard in the Region. Many of the studies and statistics which have been reviewed from different literature support this declaration. For instance, a Canada-wide survey shows that 61% of women physically or sexually assaulted by their intimate male partners are injured in the attack (Solicitor General of Canada, 1997).

Moreover, there is a belief that pregnancy is a joyous, and a period of complete and well-being in a woman’s life. A time of peace and safety, but unfortunately for most women this might not be the case. In an article by Hedin and Janson (2000), they mentioned that about 40% to 60% of women who are abused experience the abuse during pregnancy whilst 95% of those women abused during pregnancy were abused prior to getting pregnant.

Throughout the literature, pregnancy is known to be a high risk period during which domestic abuse may start or escalate in situations where the women were already being abused prior to getting pregnant. Negative effects such as attempted or self induced abortions, therapeutic abortions, spontaneous miscarriages, and divorce or separation during pregnancy are closely linked with abuse. Other injuries reported by women due to domestic abuse are abrasions, contusions, lacerations and fractures.

A Canadian study done in Newfoundland confirms the link between abuse and institutionalization of women in psychiatric setting. It proves that there is a high prevalence of woman abuse among psychiatric patients, reporting that 42% of the women currently being assaulted had been assaulted prior to their hospitalization (Carlisle, 2000). Another study indicates that the abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs is 3 to 5 times higher in women living in abusive relationships (Noel & Yam, 1998). The gap between these studies is that they do not prove conclusive which act is the cause of what. Does the alcohol and prescription drug abuse cause the mental problem that result in mental institutionalizations, or is it the abuse that causes the alcohol and drug abuse, and subsequently, the mental health issues?

One may argue that the issue of violence against women has been overblown and that the issue is private rather than public. The problem with this line of thinking is that the health-related cost of violence against women in Canada is estimated at $1.6 billion dollars per year (Carlisle, 2000), and in the United States, an unbelievable $10 to $67 billion dollars a year in lost productivity, health care cost, and reduced family income. However, the actual cost involved with violence against women and their children is not adequately reflected by this amount. The high cost involved with dealing with the issue as well as the psychological, emotional and possibly, the physical cost the victims pay makes it an urgent social problem that demands vigorous and immediate attention. Therefore, it is our responsibility as citizens, and more especially as health care providers to help these women gain a greater quality of life by stopping abuse. As is most often the case, when a woman looks for help, her first contact is with a health care professional.

Statement of Purpose

The focus of this research paper is to conduct an in-depth literature review on the prevalence of domestic abuse, and identify the effects that domestic intimate partner or spousal abuse has on pregnant women’s health. It will also outline some of the ethical issues concerning domestic violence that healthcare practitioners, specifically nurses may encounter when caring for abused pregnant women and how they can assess for abusive behaviours in pregnancy. In addition, the paper will provide the writer with additional scope and depth in this area and help in enhancing personal knowledge and skills as well as promoting professional creativity.

Definition of Domestic Abuse

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, (PHAC), intimate partner violence or domestic abuse is not a single form of maltreatment. It comprises the entire collection of abusive behaviours such as sexual, emotional/psychological, financial, physical, and verbal – when they are directed exclusively or mostly at the abuser’s spouse, mate, girlfriend, or boyfriend. Also for the purpose of this paper, domestic intimate partner abuse/violence is defined as any of the above mentioned behaviours experienced by women at the hands of their partners.

Domestic abuse against women

It is known that battering has cultural, social, economic and psychological roots. The unequal power between men and women relationship contributes heavily to the problem. In many different part of the world, domestic violence is firmly entrenched in the culture. At times violence against women is accepted by cultural and religious norms therefore, for men to use force on women is not considered an offense (Payne, 2006; Carcia-Moreno, Jansen, Ellsberg, Heise, & Watts, 2006; Valladares, Pena, Persson, & Hogberg, 2005). Women are traditionally in a position of being economically dependent on men. As a result, women have learned to be submissive, feel powerless, and respect the male dominance. The reported lifetime prevalence for abuse toward women is one in every three women in the world have been beaten, forced to have sex, or otherwise. There is still underreporting of this issue since battered women may be embarrassed about their situation because they feel that it reflects on their abilities as a woman, wife and mother. The battered person expresses feeling anxious, depressed, and insecure and feels that she cannot live without the perpetrator (CDC, 1989).

Sadly it was not until 1996 that the World Health Organization recognized domestic abuse or intimate partner violence as a public health and human rights issue. Violence against women has a long, dark past in both industrialized and non-industrialized part of the world. For example, once upon a time, the British common law allowed a male spouse to “chastise” his wife with “any reasonable instrument” (Frieze & Browne, 1989). In North America, state laws and cultural practices supported a man’s right to discipline his wife throughout the 1800s. It was not until 1895 that a woman can use the ground of domestic violence to divorce her husband. By 1994, the Violence against Women Act has been adopted and thus guided research of domestic abuse which generated social, legal and financial support for law enforcement and social services to protect battered women (Boyer, 2001). Violence by an intimate male partner against women manifests itself in the form of forced sexual intercourse, physical aggression, psychological maltreatment and controlling behaviours.

Types of abuse

Often times when we think domestic abuse the first thought is a woman has been beaten up by their partner. Not all domestic abuse actually results from a violent act. A woman does not need to be brutally beaten or bruised for us to suspect domestic abuse. An abusive behaviour can be in any form of the different abuse such as emotional or sometimes refer to as psychological, economic, physical and sexual. Review of both international and national literature suggests that between 10% and 52% of women experience or has experienced physical violence and 10% to 30% have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of the partner (Garcia-Moreno et al., 2006). Description of the types of abuse is provided.

Physical abuse is defined as a “deliberate application of force” to a person’s body (Statistics Canada, 2001, p. 11) which may result in a non-accidentally injury. Physically abusive behaviour can take many forms including hitting, slapping, pushing or anything that causes physical pain or discomfort. In the United States, an estimated 4 to 6 intimate relationships end up in physical violence each year and one in every three women would experience physical assault by an intimate partner in their adulthood. Also alarming is that 2 to 4 million of women in the U.S.A. per year are assaulted by an intimate partner (Newton, 2001). In the literature, it was reported by many women that the physical violence against them either began or escalated when they were pregnant or when their children were very young (Ulla Diez et al., 2009; Bostock, Plumpton, & Pratt, 2009). This increase in abuse may be a result of the abuser having feelings of jealousy over the woman’s concern for another individual, even if it is an unborn or small child. Violence including physical abuse also affects both physical and mental well-being depending on how severe the attack or injuries were (Payne, 2006).

Also economic and financial abuse is another form of domestic violence in which the abuser uses money to control his or her partner. A person is denied of financial mean when their partner refuse or when they are forbidden to work and if they are permitted to work, the abuser demands the abused individual to hand over their paychecks. This allows the abused partner to be dependent on the perpetrator for money. There are some economically abused women who are forced to beg their partner for everyday necessities such as food and/or health care. Furthermore many financial and economic abusers will put all of the family bills in their victim’s name in order to ruin their credit.

Psychological abuse, also known as emotional abuse is another avenue for a batterer to use to assert power and control of the woman. According to Health Canada, there is no accepted universal definition of emotional abuse. This abusive behaviour is usually used to damage the person’s sense of self-worth, perception, and independence. A person who is emotionally abused tends to experience verbal insults including name-calling, yelling, and threats and blaming. Social isolation and intimidation also consist of emotional abuse. What is more, emotional abuse may lead to physical violence. In the eyes of the public, emotional abuse may look less damaging to physical abuse due to the scars and bruises that physical abuse may leave. But despite it invisibility, emotional abuse cuts deep. To confirm, case-study interviews compiled by Statistics Canada with abused women suggest that for many women the cumulative impact of emotional abuse over a long period of time can equally be damaging as physical violence (Statistics Canada, 2001). No abuse, physical, sexual, or financial happens without any element of emotional consequences. One Canadian study on abuse done with both College and University dating relationships revealed 81 percent of the male respondents admitted to emotionally abusing their female partners (Health Canada, 2006).

In addition, sexual abuse is a pervasive form of violence against women. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sexual abuse is any forced sexual contact, intimidation, and trafficking including unwanted sexual advances and harassment (2003). Research have show that sexual violence is associated with number of adverse mental health outcomes such as post traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety, eating disorder, drug and substance misuse, and suicidal behaviour (Payne, 2006; Galvani, 2007; Garcia-Moreno et al., 2006; Svavarsdottir & Orlygsdottir, 2008). In her study Galvani (2007) determined that 40% to 80% of women who receiving treatment for substance abuse at a treatment centre have experienced domestic abuse some point in their life. Also based on a WHO report, one in four women may experience sexual violence by an intimate partner whereas the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence states between one-third and one-half of all battered women are raped by their partners at least once during their relationship. As high as 15% of women have experienced sexual abuse in their life time and fewer than 10% in the last 5 years have experienced sexual abuse.

Whilst a multi-country standardized population-based survey by WHO report that between 15% and 71% of women were physically or sexually abused by their partner some point in their lives. However, numerical figures which represent all types of abuse against women underestimate the actual population experiencing it. Most women fails to report violent behaviour due to the shame, social stigma, and fear of repeated or escalation in abuse, as well as fear of material loss such as income. In other countries, women who report abusive behaviours tend to fear violence toward them from the authorities who are in place to protect them. A forced sexual activity even between intimate partners is still considered as violation of the person’s human rights.

Domestic abuse during pregnancy

Violence against women by male partners and ex-partners is a persistent major public health problem resulting in injuries and other short and long term health consequences, such as mental illness and complications of pregnancy. Domestic abuse often happens when the woman becomes pregnant with the child. It often leaves the pregnant women engaging in harmful behaviors and practices correlating with poor pregnancy outcome. Various researchers have critically reviewed and completed analysis of studies that identify pregnant women at risk of intimate partner abuse.

To my surprise, according to the Center for Disease Control, 4 to 8 percent of pregnant women (over 300,000) per year suffer abuse during pregnancy. Also, one Canadian study revealed that 6% to 8% of women had been abused while pregnant and 95% of them had experienced the abuse during the first trimester (Stat Canada, 2003). It is said that 40% to 45% of physical abused women are also forced to have sex (PHAC). It is estimated that 95% of the victims of domestic or intimate partner violence are women, and that two-thirds of all marriages will experience domestic violence at least once. Consequently, 4 million women a year are assaulted by their partners.

Domestic violence is the number one cause of emergency room visits by women. The number one cause of women’s injuries is abuse at home. This abuse happens more often than car accidents, mugging, and rape combined. Battering often occurs during pregnancy. One study found that 37% of pregnant women, across all class, race, and educational lines, was physically abused during pregnancy, and 60% of all battered women are beaten while they are pregnant.

Interviews with pregnant women suggest that abuse during pregnancy is an important link between the well established overlap of intimate partner violence. Abuse in pregnancy can affect maternal health and infant birth weight. Most complications of pregnancy such as low weight gain, anemia, sexually transmitted infections, and first and second trimester bleeding are significantly higher for abused women (Saltzman, Johnson, Colley Gilbert, & Goodwin, 2003; Martin et al., 2001; Kearney, Haggerty, Munro, & Hawkins, 2003). When a pregnant woman is subjected to violence, it is certainly a threat to her own health, but it also puts the fetus at risk. A woman’s ability to protect herself and her unborn baby is limited by the abuser. Abused women report alcohol and drug abuse, cigarette smoking, and insufficient nourishment.

An analysis of articles written in this area demonstrated that the number of expectant women who are abused in a relationship is unknown and that the consequences range from physical injuries, emotional distress to maternal and fetal death. However, many of the literature identified pregnancy as a common risk factor for domestic violence, and estimate the prevalence rate of violence during pregnancy to be 0.9% to 28%. These studies also yielded information on various demographic and lifestyle variables that correlates with spousal abuse during pregnancy. For example, according to data (Espinosa, & Osborne, 2002; Bostock et al., 2009; Garcia-Moreno et al., 2006; Valladares et al., 2005), younger women may be more at risk for abuse during pregnancy. The researchers found that young women may lack the life experience that could forewarn them of the seriousness of becoming involved with dangerous or violent individuals and may experience violence within a larger context related to their vulnerability. As well as having an unplanned pregnancy. A population-based research confirms by indicating that women who had unplanned pregnancy were 2.5 times more likely to experience abuse than those who had planned their pregnancy (Whitehead & Fanslow, 2005). Approximately about half of all these unplanned pregnancies in the US end up in termination. Parker, McFarlane, and Soeken (2000), found that 20.6% of teens reported abuse during pregnancy, in comparison to 14.2% of adult women based on a structured interviews of pregnant women ages 13 to 42. In addition, Persily and Abdulla, (2001), analyzed data from a pilot study conducted in rural part of West Virginia. In that study, pregnant women under 20 years old experienced domestic abuse at a shocking rate of 18.5%, compared to 9.4% for the pregnant women ages 20 to 29, and 4.4% for pregnant women 30 years and older.

Furthermore, the relationship between alcohol uses, tobacco use and other substance abuse and domestic violence during pregnancy have been investigated. Persily and Abdulla noted there was a significant relationship between tobacco use and abuse but no significant difference were found between alcohol and illicit drug use and abuse of pregnant women. In contrast, Galvani, (2007), Parker et al, (2000), and Amaro, et al, (1998) found that more victims of domestic violence during pregnancy reported use of cigarettes, alcohol or other drugs than non-victims. The findings also suggested that abused pregnant women were significantly more likely to continue substance abuse during pregnancy.

Another shocking finding was that, pregnant women who are in an abusive relationship tend to initiate prenatal care late in their pregnancy because of their partners’ controlling behaviour. McFarlane et al (1998) researched that abused women were almost twice as likely as non-abused women to begin prenatal care in the third trimester. Work by Persily and Abdulla (2001) showed that 38% of the women in their sample who were victims of domestic violence registered for prenatal class after 20 weeks of gestation, comparing to 23% of the women who were not abused.

Moreover, majority of pregnant women experiencing domestic abuse simultaneously experience depression and anxiety (Collins, & Thomas, 2004; Ulla Diez et al., 2009). According to Persily and Abdulla (2001), 83% of victims of domestic abuse during pregnancy report being depressed, and 89% report feeling anxious. Amaro and partners (1998) found that victims of domestic violence were more likely than non-abused pregnant women to be depressed during pregnancy, to feel less happy about being pregnant, and to have had a history of depression and attempted suicide. The question is: is it the abuse that results in the depression or the history of depression that manifest itself again at pregnancy?

To combat and eliminate violence against women, especially expectant women, a variety of social support resources need to be available to women abused during pregnancy. In one Canadian study sample (Wathen, & MacMillan, 2003), 8 of 109 women entering prenatal care who reported abuse shared a common source of social support. The eight women abused demonstrated a sole identification of non familial support people, whereas the remaining 101 non-abused women all identified family members as their source of support. In addition, Amaro et al (1998) reported an association between feeling a lack of support during pregnancy and higher rates of violence during pregnancy. Espinosa and colleague (2002) similarly states that women who were battered during pregnancy reported they had fewer people whom they could “get together” or discuss personal issues.

However, in some international papers, women often felt that domestic abuse was a private family matter and should not be discussed. But based on the findings of Bostock et al., (2009), discussing relative safety from domestic abuse was dependent on whether there was empathy, understanding, shared experience, and effective help and protection offered by the support systems that were accessible to the abused victim. The implication is that, women who have contacts, such as, family, a close friend, legal, police, social and health services to contact stands a big chance of escaping abuse in their relationships; and that failing to recognize the unacceptability of violence against women were aspects of service that perpetuated abusive situations. It further indicates that, maybe it is the knowledge of “not having anyone to cry unto” that encourages men married to or in relationship with such women to abuse them.

The information found highlighted that there is a need for further evaluation of domestic violence in pregnancy and related factors regarding the unequipped health, social and legal resources available to respond to women and domestic abuse. Moreover, there are gaps found on which limited or no research have been performed. First, studies of domestic violence during pregnancy using studies of population-based sampling of women and studies incorporating a variety of clinical settings are very limited. Secondly, more research is also needed on the best ways to assess for domestic violence and the ways in which its severity and chronicity can be assessed. As it is now, there is no study out there indicating how spread the phenomenon is and the long term effect that the abuse have on children born under these circumstances. No study has answered whether the abuse also stops after delivery or not. Further research about perpetrator-focused intervention is needed. The only tool we have now on dealing with perpetrators of domestic abuse is punishment. However, common sense dictates that this does not eliminate abuse. To combat it properly therefore, we need to have more researches into workable treatment for abusive men. These areas will be necessary to explore because it is an obligation for health care providers to consistently assess for domestic violence and to intervene appropriately when violent and abusive situations are acknowledged.

Ethical consideration for health providers

As part of their professional role, nurses, in their everyday lives make ethical decisions in their nursing practice. When dealing with domestic violence, nurses are bound to encounter ethical issues such as dilemma, distress, distributive justice, violation, and locus of authority.

One of the greatest mysteries to many healthcare professionals attempting to help victims of violence from their intimate partners is the revolving door syndrome, which deals with the same victims who are admitted to care over and over again. The nurse may perceive this as an ethical dilemma, since the nurse may wish to break the cycle of the abuse but then the victim may not want any help. Their inability to “fix” the problem or what they perceive as women’s failure to follow their advice and change their situation lead both the doctors and nurses feeling frustrated and powerless. The inherent frustration leads to comments such as “you again?” or “Now, will you leave him,” or “Don’t you get it? when victims arrive at the emergency department. The fact is, for all their good intentions, it is the professional caregivers who don’t get it (McMurray, 2005). What they don’t get is these women are not happy in the situation in which they find themselves; neither do they necessarily attract violent men. They often just get caught up in a situation where they perceive that there is no way out. These women are often emotionally isolated and economically dependent on their abusers. The uncertainty of making it on their own outside of the marriage, and especially where children are involved, the fear of impoverishing or endangering the children forces the victims to stay in abusive relationships. As such, their main motivation is reducing the impact and frequency of the abuse rather than leaving the abuser (Bates & Hancock, 2001; Lutenbacher, Cohen & Mitzel, 2003). As a result, they become invested in the situation, and normalize it regardless of how difficult it becomes, even to the point of dismissing the threat of lethal violence (Nicolaidis, Curry, Ulrich et al, 2003). Carver (2003) a psychologist who has been trying to help victims out of this type of situation for over 30 years, describes this dilemma as a mix of the Stockholm Syndrome and cognitive dissonance.

In addition to overcoming the dilemma, health care professionals working with an abused client may experience moral distress. The distress comes about when a person know the ethically appropriate action to take, but is unable to act upon it or when one acts in a manner contrary to their personal and professional values which undermines the person’s integrity and authenticity (Redman, & Fry, 2000). Moral distress can be a serious problem in nursing. It results in a significant physical and emotional stress, which contributes to nurses’ feelings of loss of integrity and dissatisfaction with their work environment. Studies demonstrate that moral distress is a major contributor to nurses leaving the work setting and profession. It affects relationships with patients and others as well and can affect the quality, quantity, and cost of nursing care (Redman, & Fry, 2000).

Further more, nurses may feel overwhelmed from the need to help in the case of domestic violence. However, they may be unable to follow their moral beliefs because of clients’ personal, cultural values, even societal or institutional restraints. For instance, for a pregnant woman in an abusive relationship, the “right” action to the health care worker is very obvious, yet the client’s right to exercise autonomy and choice makes it impossible for the nurse to pursue the proper course of action without the victim’s consent.

Another ethical issue that can occur in domestic abuse is distributive justice. According to Keatings and Smith, (2000), distributive justice is the proper distribution of both social benefits and burdens across society. Within the health care ethics, the relevant application of the principle focuses on distribution of goods and services. Unfortunately, there is a finite supply of goods and services, and it is impossible for all people to have everything they might want or need. According to Burkhardt and Nathaniel, (1998), one primary purpose of the governing systems is to formulate and implement policies about broad public health issues (example, domestic violence) that deals with fair and equitable allocation of inadequate resources. In 2002, the Ontario government announced its plans to spend more than $21 million to address domestic violence after the recommendation of the Hedley jury inquest in February 2002 (Cross, Ontario Women Justice Network, 2002, November). Evidently, in Ontario, the provincial government is trying to do something about this pervasive issue that have taken a toll in today’s society, but the estimated cost of violence against women by the Middlesex-London Health Unit in 2000 was $4.2 billion annually ( Malone, 2005). Then clearly, the governments’ action is woefully inadequate and it needs to increase the funding if every domestic violence victim is to be catered for.

Clinical decision-making and appropriate implementation of decisions in the clinical environment is an essential component of professional nursing practice. However, implementation of decisions requires a critical look into the distribution of authority in the environment. In domestic violence situations, the power in the house usually rests in the hands of the men. Breaking the cycle of violence therefore requires changing the dynamics of the power through education and interventions rather than any medical interventions. Also, although nurses have the clinical knowledge and desires to help their abused clients, however, the power of autonomy that the clients have makes it impossible for nurses to make decisions about victims without first consulting and getting their consent. This is very frustrating for nurses because no matter what they know and how much they want to help, they cannot do it if the victim says no.

A factor influencing the nurse-physician relationship stems from the inequity in power relations between the two. Doctors exert direct power in the health care system, determining who will be admitted as well as the type of treatments to be performed. Nurses, although an essential component to the functioning of any health care organization and by far the most powerful group in terms of numbers, exert little authority in regard to initiating treatments for their clients. Nurses, because of their wholistic approach to health care tend to acknowledge that patients exist within social networks and that the relationships embedded in these networks are central to decision-making. As a result, nurses have a tendency to become concerned with the specifics of a situation and therefore, are slow to make decisions. On the other hand, doctors who are reductionist in nature are inclined to analyze problems, leaving details that nurses may believe are important out in their decision-making. Consequently, they make decision with little or no collaboration, and based on little information about the client. For instance, because of their personal values and moral beliefs, nurses might believe abused women require more wholistic treatment whereas a physician might just treat the bruises.

Furthermore, violence against women is a violation of human rights that cannot be justified by any political, religious, or cultural claim. A global culture of discrimination against women allows violence to occur daily and with impunity (Amnesty International, 2001). Domestic violence violates a woman’s right to physical integrity, to liberty, and all too often, to her right to life itself. These are universal human rights that every one everywhere is entitled to, simply by virtue of being human. Therefore, when states fail to take the basic steps needed to protect the basic human rights of women from domestic violence and allow these crimes to be committed with impunity, states are failing in their obligation to protect half of its citizens, namely women from torture.

Conclusion

Evidence through this library research indicates that, in some cases, domestic abuse perpetuated against women may be initiated when a wom

This article dissects the long-running dog meat debate in the Seoul, South Korea. The paper begins with a brief background, summarizing the history of dog meat specifically to the Korean culture. The paper then moves on to discuss the dog industry specific to the Seoul Olympics of 1984 along with the 2002 FIFA games. From then on, one will read how the controversy affects Seoul dogs in particular, dog owners, restaurants, and the government. Throughout the paper, the reader will note the thoughts concerning Koreans in favor of dog meat consumption as well as the Koreans against the eating of dog meat.

Seoul, South Korea: Man’s Best Friend or Man’s Best Meal?

“I like eating dog meat soup when I feel burnt out” said a graduate student referring to herself as Yang. This student believes that the soup recharges her energy, aiding her to make it through the intense Seoul summer (Ji-sook, 2006, p. 1). Others believe that dog meat provides other medical benefits, such as increasing stamina, reducing sweat in the summer, and warming ones blood during the winter. Also, dog meat is said to aid in healing, and most importantly, when referring to Korean men, dog meat makes the male more virile (KARA: The History, p. 3). Regardless whether or not these myths hold any truth, dog meat consumption has sparked up quite the controversy surrounding nearly 20 million citizens existing in Seoul, South Korea.

The thousands in favor of dog consumption claim that Posintang, or dog meat soup, as well as many other traditional dog meals, have largely been a part of their Korean culture. According to Podberscek, dog meat originated from the era of Samkug (Three Kingdoms), 57 BC to AD 676. However, after this period, dog meat fell in popularity as Buddism grew, becoming the state religion during the Koryo Dynasty (918-1392). During the Chosen Dynasty, lasting from 1392 to 1910, Confucianism became the state ideology, creating a striahgt path for the return of dog meat (Podberscek, 2009, p. 619).

Likewise, there have also been many types of art and scripture found supporting the ideology of dog meat in the Korean culture. During the 4th century, a mural was found in the tumulus named Go-gu-ryeo An-ak 3, one of the tombs at Koguryo. The mural showed a dog hanging alongside wild pigs, and a sheep or deer, in the process of being slaughtered. Dog meat also appeared in Myung era pharmaceutical text, along with the Chosun period medical encyclopedia, and the book of manners all from the same era. Summing up the traditionalist views, dogs in Seoul, along with the rest of South Korea, were never bred for pets and companionship. The dogs were not likely seen as possible workers, for example, being used to herd sheep. Dogs in this area were likely used for the sole purpose of food, categorized as livestock (KARA: The History, p. 2).

“A Korean tradition, well let’s say that it is a Chinese tradition that was copied by Koreans at some stage.” Here is word for word the thought of animal rights advocates. Scholars agree that the Chinese have eaten dog meat for the past 7,000 years. China’s trade most active in the past arose from the Korean province named Choong-cheong. Because of these facts, many in favor for the illegalization of dog meat believe that Seoul has only copied the past cultural traditions of others (KARA: The History, p. 1).

Human remains that date back nearly 2,000 years ago were found lying next to the remains of a dog in the Sacheon area of Gyung-sang Province. Once the analysis was finished, it became apparent that the dog had been buried after that of the human, suggesting that the dog was considered like family to that particular person. Likewise, images in paintings from the Chosun period depict dogs as pets and food sources. Many Koreans will insist that the eating of dog meat became popular in the twentieth century, stemming from other cultures, and not their own (KARA: The History, p. 1).

If any disapproval of dog meat had evolved from the past, it managed to disappear during the Korean War (1950-1953). During these years, people were faced with many food shortages, leading to the consumption of dog meat for protein. Later, in the 1980’s, the issue of eating dog resurfaced in the form of international condemnation. By June of 1984, the Food Sanitation Law confirmed that restaurants could not sell any food deemed to be “disgusting, repugnant, unhealthy, or unsanitary.” Dog meat then fell under this category, along with snakes, lizards, and worms. Violators of the law were told that they would first receive one warning without penalty, and then a seven day suspension of business concerning each particular offence committed. The city of Seoul adopted a code banning dog met as “disgusting food,” however this law was never exposed nor enforced (Podberscek, 2009, p. 620).

During the year of 1988, Seoul hosted the Olympic Games, where the dog meat issue received much international publicity and ridicule. Like mentioned earlier, the Seoul government had previously banned the consumption of dog meat, however, it was poorly, if at all, enforced. With foreigners enraged, the Korean government scrambled quickly, doing whatever possible to demonstrate that Seoul was up to “international standards.” The government banned doggie dishes from the menu, while also teaching their waiters to encourage customers who wanted the dog dinner to order something else. The result of this was Korea’s first animal welfare and legislation laws under the Animal Welfare Law of 1991. This law considered dogs as “domestic pets”; however, these laws had the same impact as the laws before. The Animal Welfare Law was only an attempt to blindside the rest of the world to what was really taking place. Due to little change in the dog meat industry, the world continued to put the Korean government under pressure to lift its Animal Welfare Law to international standards (KARA: The History, p. 2).

According to the Korea Times, located in the heart of Seoul, controversy was said to heat up again as Seoul co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals with Japan. FIFA unofficially asked the Korean government to hold back from selling dog meat; however, they were turned down. Local dog meat restaurant owners planned to provide foreigners with the chance to sample the dog meat itself. A group of about 150 members, known as the National Dog Meat Restaurants Association, were the head of this master plan, all of whom sell dog meat in their own restaurants. They explained how visitors would be able to taste free samples of various dog meat dishes, which would be distributed near the World Cup stadiums in Seoul (Korea Times: World, 2002, pp. 1-2).

The overall goal here, as stated by Park Song-soo, head of the association, exclaimed “We decided to hold the event to help legitimize the consumption of dog meat and change foreigners’ prejudice against our culinary culture” (Korea times: World, 2002, p. 1). Samples were handed out in cups along with leaflets summarizing the nutritional benefits to dog meat. Those foreigners that showed favorable responses during the tasting were asked to serve as volunteers for the next days of the Seoul World Cup Games. A member of the association known as Choi-Han-kwon stated “by receiving help form foreign volunteers, World Cup visitors will be able to consider dog meat in a more positive manner, while communicating more easily” (Korea times: World, 2002, p. 1). At that time, dog meat restaurant owner’s strongly engaged in campaigns to help promote canine cuisine to the city’s foreigners’ (Korea times: World, 2002, p. 1).

In one specific case, Seoul restaurants decided to gather together and create the “National Dog Meat Restaurants Association.” Their overall goal is to fight against the government crackdowns and current criticisms. The owners announced that they will “launch efforts for legitimizing the consumption of dog meat while making sure the entire procedure of breeding, distributing and processing of local dogs is carried out in a sanitary, scientific and effective way.” Officials at the state-owned telephone giant said that their telephones were ringing off the hook. One call after another, full of complaints from animal lovers, some of whom even threatening to boycott Korea Times, the local Seoul newspaper, if they agreed to host the dog meat association. Choi Han-kwon, the main organizer of the association, said that it is time for them to openly promote the positive aspects of the cuisine culture, rather than continuing to cover up the issue. Clearly, the issue was not going away on its own (Korea Times: Dog Meat, 2002, pp. 1-2).

With certainty, the entire campaign held in Seoul riled up many animal rights activists around the world. Many of these critics are specifically concerned with the ways in which these dogs are killed (Gluck, 2002, pp. 1-2). Dogs are commonly electrocuted for their deaths; however, many are killed in an illegal, inhumane way. There is a common belief in Seoul that the dog meat tastes much better if the animal has a high level of adrenaline in their meat before they are pronounced dead. In short, this means that many dogs are deliberately made to experience extreme fear and suffering in the lead up to their deaths. Therefore, some dogs are hanged while being beaten as they are still alive, until they reach their death. Others are hanged while experiencing a blow torch to their bodies to remove the hair, while still alive. Others are simply beaten and tortured to death. The controversy refuses to disappear (KARA: Current, 2009, p. 1).

It is important to remember that although these inhumane things may go on, many people in Seoul do not contribute in such nauseating, cruel incidences. According to Dr. Kim Seong-kon, an author of The Korea Herald newspaper in Seoul, only a very small percent of people repeatedly eat dog meat. As of 2003, most Korean women despise dog flesh, as well as any who take part in the action. Likewise, the majority of Korean men are not interested in the canine cuisine, nor would the majority of them enjoy or take part in the gruesome death of the dog. Many Koreans in Seoul are worried for their country’s reputation and disappointed in their Governments actions and indifference to westerners. Many feel that this attitude has ruined their unusual culinary tradition, while agreeing that there are no excuses for those who choose to cruelly slaughter the dogs (Seong-kon, 2003, p. 1).

As a couple years went on by, it seems as though the situation is still a “hot potato.” A local movie director, Kim Sun-rye, is reaching out to many, in hopes of persuading people to stop eating dog meat. She states that “we are over-nourished and yet are trying to supply unnecessary thing into our bodies by taking other lives” (Ji-sook, 2006, p. 1). She explains to others how her experience with breeding pets allowed her to understand much about life, and taught her that eating dogs is a selfish act. While many others believe that there are certain dogs bred for eating and certain dogs bred for pets. Many Seoul residents are neither proud nor ashamed of this fact (Ji-sook, 2006, p. 1).

In a 2006 survey done by KBS Radio, 35.6 percent of dog owners said that they themselves eat “poistang,” or dog meat soup. The percentage of people who ate dog meat soup most often were the ones who had pet dogs for a long duration of time. Like mentioned earlier, many eat dog meat soup only when they feel exhausted. Bae Ji-sook, a renowned author for the Korean Times tells the story of a local woman. The woman explained how she breeds dogs at her home, having acquired them for years. However, she says it has nothing to do with eating dog meat soup. She doesn’t eat her dogs, she loves them. She, like many others, believes there’s different kinds of dogs bred for food. 85.1 percent of the radio respondents were for eating the soup, saying that they believed it was a personal manner, and a part of Korean culture. Many, who said they were against the eating of canine cuisine, said that dog was a bad taste and brings hatred unto others (Ji-Sook, 2006, p. 1).

Becoming more and more obvious, dogs in Seoul, South Korea have quite extreme fates. Some of them are eaten, while some of them are abused beyond imagination. However, some of them are treated like a humans own child. Yes, it’s true, some Koreans cannot do enough for their dog. A pet dog rage is spreading in Seoul, which is starting to become as popular as the dog soup itself.

Many foreigners that visit the large city notice right away that there are two kinds of pet dogs. The first kind is a dog tied to a leash all day, surviving in such a small area, an area even too small for a chair. This type of dog is a household pet in name only. These dogs receive no love, no attention, and no room for play. They freeze in the extreme cold and become quickly dehydrated in the hot Seoul summer sun. The second type of dog is the smallest of them all. They are dogs such as Chihuahua’s, Miniature Poodles, Shih Tzus, and so on. These small dogs are popular mainly among the middle class because they are both expensive and small. The owners, being mostly female, carry these little ones everywhere they go. They bring them into restaurants, subways, and shopping malls. With such an outrage of pet dogs in Seoul, the government has managed to issue a set of health regulations governing the dog meat industry. The government now taking action, has once again, brought the Korean cuisine back in the hot seat (Huer, 2009, p. 1).

With focus back on the cuisine, the Seoul government set plans to inspect the sanitation of dog meat served in local restaurants. During the inspection, the researchers took samples from 530 restaurants and examined each one carefully for harmful substances. Under the current Seoul law, it is illegal to butcher dog and sell their meat as if they were livestock. However, the government claims that it has been unable to regulate the sale of dog meat because it is part of a “long-rooted private Korean culture” (Tae-jong, 2008, p. 1). Dogs at that time were categorized in the same group as donkeys, rabbits, horses, and deer, which do not enable the government to apply proper regulations for livestock to the killing and trading of dog (Tae-jong, 2008, p. 1).

As dogs are not currently listed as livestock, there are no legal grounds authorities can take to regulate dog meat in restaurants and those who breed them for human consumption. Dog farms have specifically been a main cause for such pollution issues. Immense amounts of dog excretions are dumped into the water and soil, made possible by the lack of regulations. This issue led to the revised law known as Livestock Night Soil Disposal Act, requiring dog farmers with amenities of 60 square meters or larger to acquire proper waste disposal facilities. The farmers must also report these disposals to local authorities (Tae-jong, 2008, pp.1-2).

Animal Rights Activists also have strong feelings concerning dog farms. Most of the dogs live in very small cages lifted above the ground. The owners of the farm fit as many dogs as possible into the cages, leaving the dogs with little space to move. Because they are kept in cages, the dogs lack time to play, run, and mingle with their companions. Many pups are separated from their mothers too early in life and slaughtered. The dogs are also kept outside; forcing them to endure whatever extreme weather may come their way. This means some end up dying of heat exhaustion, or freeze to death. Sadly, many of these dogs are also not fed well; most of them consume kimchi, meaning human food waste. The canines receive limited amounts of water and are known to have their eardrums burst t o prevent them from barking. Not all dog farms are like this; however, most are due to the lack of governmental regulations (KARA: Current 2009, p. 1).

In 2008, Seoul began sanitation inspections of all restaurants that serve dog meat. During this four day inspection, authorities randomly chose 30 restaurants and checked their storage bins of ingredients, as well as hygiene conditions. Some restaurant owners feared that the inspection might cause a severe downfall in business, for dog meat was in the peak season. One owner stated “We have been in bad business and it worries me that the inspection will keep out guests from dining here. We do our best to serve delicious and safe dishes” (Tae-jong, 2008, 1).

This move was seen as an official recognition of dog meat as food, since it was currently not listed as livestock (Tae-jong, 2008, 1). However, city officials said that the inspection does not mean that the government is acknowledging dog meat as food. The inspection is however, the first in Seoul in about 20 years; therefore it can be seen as an attempt (Tae-jong, 2008, 1).

Currently, local authorities in Seoul say that “they have had enough of fudging the legal issues and say they will attempt to bring dogs bred for meat at last under the banner of livestock.” The whole issue is chiefly ignored, and an estimated 500 dog meat restaurants operate in Seoul alone (Anger, 2009, 1). Seoul is also urging the central government to do the same across all of South Korea. This will help Koreans to rest assured that the meat they eat from canines is safe and healthy. Also, they can be hopeful that the dog was humanely reared and slaughtered.

Korean Animal Rights Activists, as well as other animal lovers in the world, see the issue completely different. In their opinion, banning dog meat is the best way to protect people from dog-meat related illnesses, as well as protecting people’s pet dogs from ending up as dog meat. Also, the banning of dog meat is the most successful way to stop the horrible cruelties and suffering dogs in Seoul must endure from birth to death (KARA: Current, p. 4).

President Lee Myung-bak stated, “If dog does become classed as livestock and an existing South Korean law that safeguards the human treatment of animals is enforced, I can’t see how anyone can complain. He says that Western cooks regularly shish-kebob Bambi – an absolute affront to the mightily lobby for the cute in East Asia” (Fitzpatrick, 2009, 1). As Michael Fitzpatrick, author of Seoul Food puts it, “to ask South Koreans to stop eating dog meat after it is regulated as livestock would be a case of plain old cultural superiority, wouldn’t it?”

This research paper tries to review the same sex couples relationships regarding the role they play in parenthood and the effects both negative and positive that they likely would have on their children whether biological or adopted. It also reviews the society’s perception of the gay men and the lesbian community and their rights to raise their children. A comparison of the effects of lesbian and the gay men parenting and that of heterosexual parenting will also be brought about in order to bring about the positive or negative side of homosexual parenting. This research paper will also review the results of the researches done on homosexual parenting, the arguments, the outcomes and conclusions.

Introduction

According to Bozett (1987), lesbians and gay men form families which are identical in appearance like those of non-gay families. Within the last couple of years in the gay and lesbian communities, there has been increased awareness of the fact that the possibility of being a parent is not ruled out by being gay. According to Drescher and Glazer (2001), traditionally, when one came out as lesbian or gay, it meant that one had to abandon any hope of ever becoming a parent or even to keep one’s children if one had them already. However, with homosexuality in the open, more and more same sex couples are having new babies, are continuing to raise previous heterosexual relationships children and also are adopting children (Drescher & Glazer, 2001).

As a result, after coming out many gay men and lesbians are considering parenthood. Parenthood in the lesbian and gay men community may come about from joining of a homosexual parent legally with a spouse of the opposite sex who may have one or more children who may be adopted or biological. On the other hand, children may be adopted by lesbians and gay men as single parents who may or may not have a lover who takes the stepparent role. Some of the gay men or lesbians may choose to provide foster care as a way of parenting. Lesbians on the other hand, can opt to become parents through alternative fertilization. Other ways for the homosexuals to become parents is where single or coupled gay men use a surrogate mother and also where a lesbian is inseminated by one or more than one gay man. And thereafter rear the offspring as if it were related to them biologically (Bozett, 1987).

According to Kurdek (2004), homosexual parenting is when gay men or lesbians become biological or non biological parents to one or more children. Despite the controversy surrounding marriage of the same couples recently, there has not been established a reliable number of estimates of lesbian and gay couples. According to an American survey data, 40-60 (%) of gay men and 45-80 (%) of lesbians are currently romantically involved. Because when one presents himself or herself to the public as part of a lesbian or gay couple is subjected to abuse, discrimination and even violence, these numbers are likely to be underestimated as many do not come out in the open (Kurdek, 2004).

Effects of homosexual parenting

According to Patterson (2000), the gay and lesbian’s family lives have been a source of controversy for a long time. Due to the stigma attached to the same sex identities, the lesbians and gay men who declare their identities risk their original family relationships. However, the gay men and lesbians have always succeeded in creating and to sustain family relationships despite the discrimination and prejudice (Patterson, 2000). According to studies, children who have been raised by lesbian mothers tend to conform to gender role behaviors and careers that are stereotypical. In a census conducted in US 2000, 33% of lesbian couple household and 22% of gay couple household reported at least an under 18 year child living in that home. By 2005, the number of children living in the same sex couple households were 270, 313 (Patterson, 2000).

In Stacey and Biblarz (2001) words, gay marriage today has become rampant in our society and many countries are endorsing for its legalization. It is therefore no surprise that family issues on lesbigay have turned into a rapidly growing industry in social science research. Such researches bear on family policies and marriage that predetermine the Western Culture’s held convictions on parenthood sexuality, and gender. As opponents and advocates square off in cultural wars, legislatures, state and federal courts and in the electoral arena over efforts to extend equal rights to foster care, child custody, marriage, and adoption to nonheterosexuals, they heatedly debate the implications of a body investigating how the parents sexual orientation affects the children. The research body’s findings are such that there are no differences notable between children brought up by heterosexual parents and those brought by gay and lesbian parents. They also find the same sex parents to be as effective and competent as heterosexual parents (Stacey & Biblarz, 2001). According to most studies conducted about homosexual parenting, outcome of children of the same sex parents is no better, nor worse than other children’s in terms of self esteem, academic achievement, quality and warmth of family relationships, peer group relationships, or behavioral difficulties and no likelihood of being gay than other kids (Carpenter, 2007).

According to traditional opinions, homosexual parenting will have the following effects on their children 1. Provide an associate, a model and experiences which make a child engage in homosexual activities. 2. The probability of sexual victimization in childhood will increase. 3. Due to the disturbed behavioral and standards of the parents, the child will likely be psychologically and socially disturbed than other children who have been raised by straight parents (Homosexual parents, 2010).

However, in a 2002 AAP report on gay parenting, it found no meaningful differences of children who have been raised by same sex parents from those raised by heterosexual parents. The committee first assessed the adjustments, behavior, and attitudes of gay and lesbian parents and found more similarities than there were differences in the attitudes and parenting styles of gay and non gay fathers. At the same time, the lesbian mothers had the same scores in psychological adjustment, attitudes and self esteem toward child rearing with the heterosexual mothers. The second study looks at the sexual orientation and gender identity of children who have been raised by gay parents. The study reported that none of those children showed any confusion in gender identity, wished to be of the other sex or engaged in behavior of the cross gender. There were also no differences found in the boys or girls’ preference of toys, activities, games, friendship or dressing code with the same sex parents in comparison with heterosexual parents, nor sexual attraction difference or identification of self as gay (Stacey & Biblarz, 2001).

The third area of study looked at the emotional and social development of children. It compared children who have been raised by divorced lesbians with those raised by divorced heterosexual mothers. There was no difference found in behavioral difficulties, quality of family relationships, peer group relationships, academic success, and personality measures. The study however, suggest one meaningful difference that children raised by lesbian parents are more likely to tolerate diversity and are likely to be more nurturing towards younger kids than those children raised by heterosexual parents (Hirsch & Sears, 2004).

Most of the researches conducted about gay parenting have the same conclusion that the suggestion that children raised by gay parents suffer has no base. The only significant difference as suggested by some evidence is that children raised by same sex parents are much freer in occupation and behavior explorations which are not hampered by traditional gender roles than children raised by heterosexual parents and thus a good thing (Stacey & Biblarz, 2001).

According to Stacey and Biblarz (2001), those who oppose to parental rights of lesbian and gay couples claim that children of these couples are at a higher risk of outcomes that are negative. Most psychological research however, concludes that the developmental outcomes of kids raised by same sex parents and those raised by heterosexual parents are no different (Stacey & Biblarz, 2001). Several lawyers and activists who are struggling to defend adoption petitions and child custody by gay men and lesbians or attaining the marriage rights of the same gender have been successful on drawing on the research (Stacey & Biblarz, 2001).

In reference to Kurdek (2004), a comparison of both partners from cohabiting gay and lesbian couples with no children was done with those of married heterosexual couples with children. Of the 50 (%) comparisons, there were no differences between the heterosexual partners with the gay and lesbian partners. Differences were found on the 78 (%) comparisons, which indicated that the same sex couples functioned better than did the heterosexuals. According to Kurdek, since the same variables were used to predict the concurrent relationship stability and quality for both same sex parents and heterosexual parents, he concludes that there should be generalization across the heterosexual, gay and lesbian couples by those processes which regulate the functioning in relationships (Kurdek, 2004).

There are a few studies purport to establish characteristics of children raised by gay couple which are negative, these negative characteristics tend to however be discounted as they are associated with researchers and organizations that are anti gay. While there is a need for further study of gay parenting, it is much clear that there’s no reason found by the objective researchers to accept the idea that children of gay parents need protection (Hirsch & Sears, 2004). According to Rekers (2004), the Arkansas regulation that denies foster parents’ licenses to those adults behaving in a homosexual way has a rational basis from three reasons. These are:

From the inherent structure and nature of homosexually behaving adults’ households, foster children are endangered as they are exposed to a substantial harmful stress levels that are far above heterosexual homes levels of stress. There is normally a high psychological disorder incidence in children entering foster care ranging from 29-96 (%); hence in the presence of adults with homosexual behavior in the foster home they are vulnerable to increased maladjustment and psychological harm (Hirsch & Sears, 2004).

Same sex relationships are substantially short lived and significantly less stable compared to a man and a woman marriage hence the rate of household transition is high in foster homes with same sex couples (Hirsch & Sears, 2004).

Foster children in homes with members behaving in a homosexual manner are deprived of the vitally needed positive child adjustment contributions which are due to the inherent nature of their foster homes and which are present only in heterosexual foster homes which are licensed. Some of these contributions are a father or a mother model, lack of a father or mother childbearing contributions, and lack of a wife -husband relationship model (Rekers, 2004).

According to Gerstmann (2004), it is clear that it has not been certainly established by the social science data that the lesbian or gay men households are not optimal environments for children to be raised. But this does not make it for the society to irrationally assume that the biological father and mother should raise a child for its best. According to Social science data, we should be cautious to assume that traditional families compared to families of the same sex are better environments for raising children. Again, we actually cannot say that hypothesizing that children being raised by both a father and mother benefit is irrational (Gerstmann, 2004).

Conclusion

Lesbians and gay men form families which are identical in appearance like those of non-gay families. Within the last couple of years in the gay and lesbian communities, there has been increased awareness of the fact that the possibility of being a parent is not ruled out by being gay. Homosexual parenting is when gay men or lesbians become biological or non biological parents to one or more children. Despite the controversy surrounding marriage of the same couples recently, there has not been established a reliable number of estimates of lesbian and gay couples. This is because when one presents himself or herself to the public as part of a lesbian or gay couple is subjected to abuse, discrimination and even violence, these numbers are likely to be underestimated as many do not come out in the open.

Most of the researches conducted about gay parenting have the same conclusion that the suggestion that children raised by gay parents suffer has no base. The only significant difference as suggested by some evidence is that children raised by same sex parents are much freer in occupation and behavior explorations which are not hampered by traditional gender roles than children raised by heterosexual parents and thus a good thing. It is clear that it has not been certainly established by the social science data that the lesbian or gay men households are not optimal environments for children to be raised. But this does not make it for the society to irrationally assume that the biological father and mother should raise a child for its best. According to Social science data, we should be cautious to assume that traditional families compared to families of the same sex are better environments for raising children.

“Why do working- class individuals continue to enter working- class, gender stereotyped jobs? Why do working- class boys look for heavy manual work (Willis 1977), in trades such as plumbing, electrical engineering and forestry? Why do working- class girls still swarm towards traditional female occupations, such as nursing and rarely for example, seek training as electricians, joiners, technicians and computer operators? We might expect that new production patterns, and new systems of education and training, coupled with the promise of lifting barriers to opportunity, might have dislocated the processes of class and gender reproduction of careers- but little has happened to counteract the influence of class race and gender on career choice.” (Wilson 2010: 51)

In view of the above statement, critically evaluate the contention that the individuals enjoy the freedom of occupational choice.

Occupational choice is without doubt one of the most important decisions an individual makes in their lifetime. Sofer (1973) reiterates this by stating that;

“It is often critical in determining…income; standard of living; health; self- esteem; social relationships; the quality of one’s life; and the environment one can provide for one’s family, including the chances of one’s children to enter particular occupations.”

(Williams 1974:15)

The above statement reflects how it is often perceived that if a person is satisfied within their working environment, then other aspects of their lives will follow on from this. Work plays a huge role in our life and we contribute a large majority of our time and effort to ensuring that we have chosen the right career, beginning from very early childhood when we embark into the education system, right through to when we leave school and decide where to go next.

The past twenty years have seen rapid advances in the theories of occupational choice, but to date there has been little agreement as to exactly how and why we preside in a certain occupation over another. More traditional theories sided with the belief that we either happen upon a certain role, or that it is down to the development of the individual thanks to a rational process of decision making. These concepts have recently been challenged by theorists who believe that alongside the developmental and chance aspects of occupational choice, there are structural factors which make a massive impact. The objective of this essay is to determine the extent to which an individual enjoys freedom of occupational choice. This will be addressed by firstly defining occupational choice, then exploring how the theory has developed, critically evaluating the contrasting opinions and providing necessary academic literature where needed. The essay will logically move through these theories in reference to the objective provided and then arrive at a conclusion, reviewing all of the above.

According to Watson (2003), occupational choice is an individualised process through which “the self concept grows as abilities, aptitudes and interests develop” (Watson 2003: 183). This definition has developed over many years after numerous studies have been conducted into occupational choice and its determinants. Preliminary theorists deemed it to generally rely on “chance events” whether they are planned or unplanned, that would eventually influence an individual to make certain decisions (Bright et al 2004: no page). This was referred to as the “happenstance” theory of occupational choice, which is now seen as highly inaccurate since it did not consider the individual and their personality alongside occurring events during their lifetime (Bright et al 2004: no page).

Back in 1951, Ginzberg et al carried out a major study into occupational choice which has become known as one of the originating theories on the topic. Ginzberg’s research focus was on the individual, and how by making decisions through defined life stages, the self concept is adapted. They deemed the process to be “largely irreversible” which has formed the basis of the argument for many critics (Slocum 1959:183). Super (1957) is probably the most notable critic of Ginzberg et al’s theory. He argues that elements such as values and previous research had been ignored (Slocum 1959:184) and he also believed that an individual is matched to an occupational role not only because of their character and merit, but also by the opportunities which are available at the time (Williams 1974:31). Super had recognised the more vocational aspect of occupational choice that a child is subjected to whilst growing up, such as work experience and changing job roles. Super’s work contained situational experiences that highlight more structural factors such as the socio- economic status of the child’s parents (Watson,T :2008:230) and the current availabilities within the labour market. Although Super’s work delved into the subject much deeper than the proceeding research by Ginzberg, it has limitations due to the way that it only highlighted the potential influence of parents and peers on a child- nor does he examine how this impact can be either positive or negative. The weaknesses of the two studies mentioned so far include that both were carried out on white middle class American males, and therefore cannot be considered to be a true reflection of developmental occupational choice. More valuable research would include information on both sexes, and also recognise the impact of different social class status in the United Kingdom.

Musgrave (1967), Mead (1934) and Miller and Form (1951) reinforce the latter point that the main drawbacks of Super’s studies was that he failed to fully recognise the significance of parental and peer influence on a child (Slocum 1959: 142-3). Musgrave (1967) took the work of Ginzberg and Super and applied a more sociological stance to give recognition to the way in which we as individuals learn, watch and observe even before entering the labour market, which helps to shape our perception of society (Watson 2003:183). He formulated four stages through which an individual passes; “pre-work socialisation”, “entry to the labour force”, “socialisation into the labour force” and lastly, “job changes” (Williams 1974:101). The pre work stage focuses on how children imitate adults by games such as doctors and nurses where they take on an imaginary job, and act out how they perceive the role to be. This role playing or “role-taking” as Miller and Form (1951) refer to it then develops in the second and third stages which cover the individual’s entry into a working environment and the career path they eventually decide on, whilst the fourth stage considers any changes that may happen occupationally (Slocum 1959:142). Role- playing shows the influence adults, and more specifically our parents can have on our career choice.

A more recent study into the importance of parental roles has been carried out by Dryler (1998). Although on a Swedish cohort, she confirmed that parents in a specific industry will encourage their child to follow in their footsteps. In addition to this, she discovered that the parent of the same sex as the child is more influential if they are in a particular line of work (Dryler 1998:394). There are similarities between the work of Dryler (1998) and Greico (1987). Greico recognised that some individuals are not merely influenced by their parents, but physically supported toward a certain job by being sponsored or recommended (Watson 2003:185). The work of Dryler (1998) and Greico (1987) mirrored earlier observations by Bandura (1977) and Kohlberg (1966) that focussed on “social learning” and “cognitive development”, theories that both acknowledge how children emulate their parents, specifically those of the same sex to themselves (Dryler 1998: 377). Interestingly, Dryler also denoted that if the parent and child are of different sex, then the opposite is true (Dryler 1998:394).

Whipp (1980) and Ram (1994) carried out research which is consistent with the findings of Dryler and Grieco, agreeing that a child can literally be pushed into a job of their parent’s choosing, which differs greatly from Ginzberg’s original theory that individuals have freedom of occupational choice. This also demonstrates how children are not necessarily exposed to all the career opportunities available, and that their parents can be a driving factor in limiting this. These findings also support the theories of Marshall, Swift and Roberts (1975) that ability is nurtured which Hollingshead (1949) suggested can relate to where our parent’s are situated in the class structure as to how a child portrays a particular job role, which will be looked at in more detail in the next section of this paper (Abercrombie and Warde 2003:141, Slocum 1959:147). However, it must be recognised that childhood observation of our parents may have totally the opposite impact, and a job role may be chosen simply to be different.

The research discussed so far has mainly focussed on the individual and our behavioural maturation alongside values and beliefs, and how these achieved roles affect our occupational choice. Whilst the work into the developmental aspects of occupational choice is invaluable, it does not help to fully explain the issues mentioned by Wilson (2010) and Willis (1977) in the question. Therefore it is necessary to look at how the theory has developed, and widened to incorporate structural factors which are outside of the individual’s control- also known as ascribed roles. Three advocates in the structural related factors field of theory are Roberts (1968), Kiel et al (1966) and Miller and Form (Furlong 1996: 561- 65, Williams 1974: 78 &97). They understand that whilst psychology plays a huge part in our occupational choices, we are often faced with issues including, the current economy, gender, ethnicity and class which will be now be analysed in more detail.

Traditionalists such as Kuh and Wadsworth (1991) believe that as individuals, we are born into one class- and it is very hard to migrate into other classes (Kuh and Wadsworth 1991: 537-555). In contradiction to this is the notion of social mobility, which is the ability of an individual to move from one class to another (Goodhart 2003). The Government is working hard to increase social mobility, and has appointed Alan Milburn to assist them further with their plans to eradicate the so called “barriers to opportunity” that Wilson (2010) refers to (Stratton 2010 and Wilson 2010). Hutton (2010) believes that the working class are simply not presented with as many opportunities as those in the classes above them, and Sennett and Cobbs (1972) went as far as to say that being working class creates psychological barriers – acknowledging how it may not only be economic difficulties that affect an individual (Reay et al 2001:855-74). Goldthorpe (2003) counteracts this, stating how the class system is in decline in Britain, whilst Goodhart (2009) observes that there is no viable way of measuring who belongs in what class therefore statistics on class mobility are often complex and flawed (Goldthorpe 2003:239, Goodhart 2009).

In his own studies, Goldthorpe (2003) draws heavily from the previous work of Ginzberg and Super with relation to the self concept development theory, but is distinguishable by the way in which parental class is addressed in more depth and he also incorporates modern empirical evidence to support his work (Goldthorpe 2003: 234). Although he deems class as important, he makes clear that this is only in the entry and lower levels of the labour market (Goldthorpe 2003:238). This is supported by Layder et al (1991), Giddens (1984) and Blau et al (1956), who agree that an individual is affected by different factors at different times in their life, particularly when they enter the institution system and the job market (Watson 2003:184, Williams 1974: 31). Goldthorpe (2003) refers to the rich as “risk averse”, highlighted by the recent stock market collapse where high paid city bankers still received huge bonuses and pay packets after losing millions of the nation’s money in risky transactions. This translates the way in which the working class have to rely on education more heavily as they do not have as much to fall back on as their higher class peers (Goldthorpe 2003: 235). Pakulski and Waters (1996) disagree, stating that parents’ class makes no difference to their child’s eventual occupational choice (Abercrombie and Warde 2003:130).

In stark contrast to the earlier research, Garner (2008) states that social class is the single most influential factor in educational attainment, suggesting that our parent’s class is directly related to the grades we will eventually achieve, and also for what institution we gain them from (Garner 2008). Savage and Egerton (1997) and Westergaard (1995) agree with Garner (2008), claiming that children can do well in education purely because of the distribution of wealth (Abercrombie and Warde 2003:130-1). The Government seems to sit on the fence with regards to the impact of parental class on occupational choice; Nick Clegg and Harriett Harman are both of the opinion that whilst parents play a crucial role, ultimately class inequalities still remain (Stratton 2010, EHRC 2010)- explaining why the Government is taking such a stance on social mobility. The above discussion on social class shows how the stereotypical roles referred to by Willis (1977) may be undertaken by working class individuals purely due to the opportunities that are available to them and the class status inherited from their parents. Although Wilson (2010) suggests that this is still the case, the research mentioned has proved that this debate is not easily settled since there are strong arguments from either side by numerous theorists and influential figures.

Another structural factor which may affect an individual’s choice of occupation is that of gender. In today’s modern society, the hypothesis is that gender inequalities have been eradicated, but the National Equality Panel found recently that men are still paid up to twenty one percent more per hour than women who have the same job role and qualifications (EHRC 2010). This report has been devastatingly critiqued by numerous academics, including Saunders (2010) and Caldwell (2010) who both believe that the EHRC have confused the meaning of “inequality” with that of “prejudice and discrimination” (Caldwell 2010:7 and Saunders 2010:14). This demonstrates how, like class, gender is a hard topic to define and quantify, therefore its affects on occupational choice are very difficult to measure.

In 1984, Martin and Roberts looked at the relationship between gender and career choice, and found that a woman’s decision making process is related to the assumption that she will become a mother and therefore be more dedicated toward child rearing and domesticated duties (Watson 2003:192). This study suffers due to the fact that it is over fifteen years old and therefore cannot be considered as accurate in the present time. However, more recent work has been carried out by Riddell, Gaskell and Banks (1992), who discovered women are more likely to be pulled towards domestic subjects in early schooling (Abercrombie and Warde 2003:472), which illustrates how gender is already affecting occupational choice at a very young age by implying stereotypical roles to each sex . Although Riddell et al’s research is newer than Martin and Roberts’ it still has limitations because times have changed so much in the past ten years or so and it does not properly consider the aspirations of males compared to those of females.

In 2000, Hakim demonstrated that preferences had changed dramatically, women were being offered more opportunities, and businesses had adapted to become more flexible towards them. She identified three “work life preference groups”; “home centred”, “work centred” and “adaptive”, claiming that most women in America and the United Kingdom could be placed into the adaptive group- therefore achieving a balance between their work and home lives (Watson 2003: 194). More recent studies have also found there to be a more wide range of job opportunities available to both sexes, with the armed forces being an example of how gender atypical roles have deteriorated. The Royal Air Force now offers over ninety percent of its roles to women, whilst the Navy and the Army have approximately three quarters of their roles available to both sexes (MOD, no date). This does however insinuate that not all opportunities are entirely equal- although progress has been made over the last century as attitudes have changed and women are looking for self fulfilment from their occupations (Watson 2003:194).

Formal institutions have often been blamed for the different educational development of boys and girls. Timperley and Gregory (1971) found that there were approximately four times as many females wanting to continue on in education after school, whereas males were more likely to go straight into the labour market (Wilson 1974:193). Timperley and Gregory’s paper would have been far more persuasive if it had been carried out in the last ten years and also if it had covered a nationwide cohort rather than just one particular area. Since this study, research has also begun to cover individual attitudes toward occupational roles, it cannot be said that women nowadays subscribe to the assumption that they will have children- many women are in fact the total opposite and careers are becoming first priority. Harper and Haq (2001), support this by stating that British women who “delay motherhood”, are likely to be more ambitious in terms of their educational and occupational achievements (Harper and Haq 2001:713). This can also be related to the way in which gender roles have in some cases switched altogether, with some men choosing to stay at home with the children whilst the woman of the household is the main breadwinner. However, this is hard to measure since studies cannot clarify individual aspirations and boys may not apply themselves as much as girls if they believe that the occupation they want to go into does not need high grades, particularly if they are looking at trades or the armed forces.

Although class and gender are two of the most prominently researched structural factors that may impact on an individual’s occupational choice, Wilson (2010) also mentions the issue of race. The afore mentioned EHRC report found that white working class boys and black Caribbean boys historically have bad attainment grades (EHRC 2010), whilst Haw (1998) concluded from her study that some staff were “confused” with regards to the treatment of Muslim pupils (Abercrombie and Warde 2003:474-5). Blackwell (2003), looked at the impact of ethnicity in greater detail, and implied that occupational choices in different ethnic groups can largely be related to “historical and political reasons”. She also noted that ethnic segregation in occupational roles is less than gender segregation, highlighting how differentials can be created by the individual, rather than by the market (Blackwell 2003:726-7). Most studies in racial impact on occupational choice have been slanted towards the opportunities available in the market, but it would be more useful if the authors had considered individualistic factors that relate to culture and political views. Taking into account the studies mentioned; it would seem that ethnicity is not a deciding factor of an individual’s occupational choice- and further studies could focus on whether this is true.

Returning to the question posed at the beginning of this paper, it is now possible to state that whilst an individual does have freedom of occupational choice to some extent, there are, as Wilson (2010) states, many factors which also have an impact. The findings of this essay suggest that when the individual proceeds through the development of self concept, they can be influenced by parents, peers, class, formal institutions, the current economy, gender and their ethnicity. Further work needs to be done to establish whether individuals in the present times are still impacted by the socio-cultural factors mentioned by Willis (1977), and also to attain whether aspirations are affected by opportunity availability. It is now more acceptable to see women in roles such as plumbing and engineering, but the impact of gender and class is still being argued. Structural factors are very much related to the individual in the sense that certain job roles have historically been filled by certain class origins or by a particular gender- and it has proven difficult to change people’s perceptions of certain careers. New government policies are attempting to eradicate inequalities, although it will be difficult to change individual attitudes and values towards certain jobs- especially in the tough economic climate that is being experienced due to the recession. Overall, it could be said that if an individual is given a fair and varied exposure to all job roles available, then it will be down to their own choice, but in reality this will be very hard to achieve because what may be a “good” job for one person, may not be perceived as that to another.

Word Count: 3260 words

(Excluding bibliography) References

Abercrombie, N. and Warde, A. (2000) Contemporary British Society. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Polity Press

Blackwell, L. (2003) ‘Gender and Ethnicity at Work: Occupational Seggregation and Disadvantage in the 1991 British Census’ British Journal of Sociology, Vol 37, pp. 713-31 [online] Available at: [Accessed 16/11/2010]

Bright, J.E.H. et al. (2005) ‘The Role of Chance Events in Career Decision Making’ Journal of Vocational Behaviour, Vol 66, Part: 3: pp. 561-576 [online] Available at: [Accessed 19/11/2010]

Caldwell, C. (2010) ‘Inequality in a Meritocracy’ Financial Times, 30th January, p. 7 [online] Available at: [Accessed 20/10/2010]

Carol, A, Parry S. (1968) ‘The Economic Rationale of Occupational Choice’. Industrial and Labor Relations Review. 1968. pp183-196 [online] Available from Business Source Premier < http://search.ebscohost.com.librouter.hud.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=4455786&site=ehost-live> [Accessed 20/10/2010]

Chang, T.F.H. (2003) ‘A Social Pyshcological Model of Women’s Gender-typed Occupational Mobility ‘ Career Development International, Vol 8, Part: 1: pp. 27-39 [online] Available at: [Accessed 15/11/2010]

Dryler, H. (1998) ‘Parental Role Models. Gender and Educational Choice’ The British Journal of Sociology, Vol 49, Part: 3: pp. 375-398 [online] Available at: [Accessed 20/10/2010]

EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE (2010) ‘How Fair is Britain? Executive Summary’ The First Triennial Review. EHRC [online] Available at [20/10/2010]

Furlong, A. et al. (1996) ‘Neigbourhoods, Opportunity Structures and Occupational Aspirations’ British Journal of Sociology, Vol 30, Part: 3: pp. 551-565

Garner, R. (2008) ‘Social Class ‘Determines Child’s Success” The Independent, 18/09/2008, [online] Available at: [Accessed 19/10/2010]

Goldthorpe, J. (2003) ‘The Myth of Education Based Meritocracy- Why the Theory Isn’t Working’ New Economy, pp. 234-239 [online] Available at: [Accessed 20/10/2010]

Goodhart, D. (2009) ‘Oh Do Keep Up: Social Mobility Is Far From Dead’ Sunday Times, 26/07/2009

Harper, B. Haq, M. (2001) ‘Ambition, Discrimination, and Occupational Attainment: a Study of a British Cohort’ Oxford Economic Papers, Vol 53, Part: 4: pp. 695-720 [online] Available at: [Accessed 15/11/2010]

Hutton, W. (2010) ‘Extract: Them and Us: Politics, Greed and Inequality- Why We Need a Fair Society’ The Guardian, 26/09/2010, [online] Available at: [Accessed 19/10/2010]

Kuh, D. Wadsworth, M. (1991) ‘Childhood Influences on Adult Male Earnings in a Longitudinal Study’ British Journal of Sociology, Vol 42, Part: 4: pp. 537-555 [online] Available at: [Accessed 16/11/2010]

Ministry of Defence (MOD) (no date) ‘Equality and Diversity in the Armed Forces’ [online] Available at http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/Personnel/EqualityAndDiversity/. Accessed 15/11/2010

Reay, D. et al. (2001) ‘Choices of Degree Or Degrees of Choice? ‘Class’, ‘Race’ and the Higher Education Choice Process’ British Journal of Sociology, Vol 35, Part: 4: p. 855-874

Saunders, P. (1997) ‘Social Mobility in Britain: an Empirical Evaluation of Two Competing Explanations’ British Journal of Sociology, Vol 31, Part: 2: pp. 261-288

Saunders, P. (2010) ‘Difference, inequality and unfairness: the fallacies, errors and confusions in the Equality and Human Rights Commission report- How Fair is Britain’ Civitas Online Report, October [online] < http://http//www.civitas.org.uk/pdf/Saunders_EHRC_ReportBriefingOct2010> [Accessed 20/10/2010]

Slocum, W.L. (1959) ‘Some Sociological Aspects of Occupational Choice’ American Journal of Economics and Sociology. January 1959. pp 183-196 [online] Available from Business Source Premier < http://search.ebscohost.com.librouter.hud.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=15381182&site=ehost-live > [Accessed 19/10/2010]

Stratton, A. (2010) ‘Nick Clegg Outlines Plans For More Social Mobility’ The Guardian, 18/08/2010, [online] Available at: [Accessed 19/10/2010]

Watson, T.J. (2003) Sociology, Work and Industry. 4th ed. London: Routledge

Williams, W.M. (1974) Occupational Choice. London: George Allen and Unwin LTD

Willis, P.E. (1977) Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. Farnborough: Saxon House

Wilson, F.M. (2010) Organisational Behaviour and Work. a Critical Introduction. 3rd ed. Abingdon: Routledge