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发帖数: 788 | 1 Myths and Facts about Domestic Violence
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/domviol/myths.htm
MYTH #1: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AFFECTS ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION
AND IS RARE.
FACT: National studies estimate that 3 to 4 million women are beaten each
year in our country. A study conducted in 1995 found that 31% of women
surveyed admitted to having been physically assaulted by a husband or
boyfriend. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between
the ages of 15 and 44 in our country, and the FBI estimates that a woman is
beaten every 15 seconds. Thirty percent of female homicide victims are
killed by partners or ex-partners and 1,500 women are murdered as a result
of domestic violence each year in the United States.
MYTH #2: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OCCURS ONLY IN POOR, UNEDUCATED AND MINORITY
FAMILIES.
FACT: Studies of domestic violence consistently have found that battering
occurs among all types of families, regardless of income, profession, region
, ethnicity, educational level or race. However, the fact that lower income
victims and abusers are over-represented in calls to police, battered women'
s shelters and social services may be due to a lack of other resources.
MYTH #3: THE REAL PROBLEM IS COUPLES WHO ASSAULT EACH OTHER. WOMEN ARE JUST
AS VIOLENT AS MEN.
FACT: A well-publicized study conducted by Dr. Murray Strauss at the
University of New Hampshire found that women use violent means to resolve
conflict in relationships as often as men. However, the study also concluded
that when the context and consequences of an assault are measured, the
majority of victims are women. The U.S. Department of Justice has found that
85% of the victims of spouse abuse are female. Men can be victims, but it
is rare.
MYTH #4: ALCOHOL ABUSE CAUSES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
FACT: Although there is a high correlation between alcohol, or other
substance abuse, and battering, it is not a causal relationship. Batterers
use drinking as one of many excuses for their violence and as a way to place
the responsibility for their violence elsewhere. Stopping the abusers'
drinking will not stop the violence. Both battering and substance abuse need
to be addressed separately, as overlapping yet independent problems.
MYTH #5: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS USUALLY A ONE TIME, ISOLATED OCCURRENCE.
FACT: Battering is a pattern of coercion and control that one person exerts
over another. Battering is not just one physical attack. It includes the
repeated use of a number of tactics, including intimidation, threats,
economic deprivation, isolation and psychological and sexual abuse. Physical
violence is just one of these tactics. The various forms of abuse utilized
by batterers help to maintain power and control over their spouses and
partners.
MYTH #6: MEN WHO BATTER ARE OFTEN GOOD FATHERS AND SHOULD HAVE JOINT CUSTODY
OF THEIR CHILDREN IF THE COUPLE SEPARATES.
Fact: Studies have found that men who batter their wives also abuse their
children in 70% of cases. Even when children are not directly abused, they
suffer as a result of witnessing one parent assault another. Batterers often
display an increased interest in their children at the time of separation,
as a means of maintaining contact with, and thus control over, their
partners.
MYTH #7: WHEN THERE IS VIOLENCE IN THE FAMILY, ALL MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY ARE
PARTICIPATING IN THE DYNAMIC, AND THEREFORE, ALL MUST CHANGE FOR THE
VIOLENCE TO STOP.
FACT: Only the batterer has the ability to stop the violence. Battering is a
behavioral choice for which the batterer must be held accountable. Many
battered women make numerous attempts to change their behavior in the hope
that this will stop the abuse. This does not work. Changes in family members
' behavior will not cause the batterer to be non-violent.
MYTH #8: BATTERED WOMEN ARE MASOCHISTIC AND PROVOKE THE ABUSE. THEY MUST
LIKE IT OR THEY WOULD LEAVE.
FACT: Victim provocation is no more common in domestic violence than in any
other crime. Battered women often make repeated attempts to leave violent
relationships, but are prevented from doing so by increased violence and
control tactics on the part of the abuser. Other factors which inhibit a
victim's ability to leave include economic dependence, few viable options
for housing and support, unhelpful responses from the criminal justice
system or other agencies, social isolation, cultural or religious
constraints, a commitment to the abuser and the relationship and fear of
further violence. It has been estimated that the danger to a victim
increases by 70% when she attempts to leave, as the abuser escalates his use
of violence when he begins to lose control.
MYTH #9: MEN HAVE A RIGHT TO DISCIPLINE THEIR PARTNERS FOR MISBEHAVING.
BATTERING IS NOT A CRIME.
FACT: While our society derives from a patriarchal legal system that
afforded men the right to physically chastise their wives and children, we
do not live under such a system now. Women and children are no longer
considered the property of men, and domestic violence is a crime in every
state In the country. |
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