Partner abuse is the aggressive belittling or violent behavior directed to one person in a relationship such as marriage. It includes physical, emotional, sexual, or economic abuse, all of which can cause catastrophic effects to the victims, such as depression and bodily harm. Domestic violence, on the other hand, is a pattern of behavior involving the expression of violent attacks by one person against the other in a local setting, such as cohabitation or marriage. Partner and domestic abuse can occur in both transgender and heterosexual relationships. It can also involve direction of such acts towards children, parents, or the older adults in an extended family. Women are mostly the victims of partner abuse and domestic violence, which are sometimes fatal. This paper looks at the repercussions and implications of violence and partner abuse.
Partner abuse has various social implications towards not only a given family but also the community as a whole. In addition to that, the effects of partner abuse influence not only the direct victim but also relationships with other people in the environment instead. Such as children, other family members, and neighbors (Wallace & Roberson, 2016, p.23). Partner abuse has many potential medical effects which can be experienced by the victim. First, physical harm and pain is a common phenomenon. Every year, many people get bruised in domestic settings. The victims are beaten, stabbed, burnt, or even restrained in homes. Physical abuse makes up a high percentage of female homicides across the world. In the year 2016, 37% of females were murdered in the United Kingdom involving partner abuse (Wallace & Roberson 2016, p.20). It also causes emotional suffering, leading to many suicides of partners who are hurt psychologically. Rape is also a common characteristic of partner abuse, mainly involving domestic and date crimes by an intimate person. If the violations are not well-handled they lead to great pain and distress to the victim which can be hard to heal (Widom, Czaja, & Dutton, 2014, p.652).
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"Partner Abuse and Violence".
All countries in the world today recognize partner abuse especially in marriageswhen a spouse can accuse the other of inflicting physical harm on them. There are family laws in every nation which monitor and protect vulnerable persons such as women and children from partner abuse in the community (Widom, Czaja, & Dutton, 2014, p.652). A weak person who cannot take legal measures against an abusive partner can report them in various human rights organizations which have been legally set up to address such issues as they are more accessible to the local community. Wallace & Roberson (2016, p.22) argues that when most of the partner abuse cases go unaddressed legally, they tend to increase in intensity and frequency, which can tear families apart. Many homicides being reported today are a culmination of years of partner abuse. Abusive partners can go to jail for an extended period for as minor violations as slapping a spouse (Hines, D. A., Douglas, E. M., & Berger, 2015, p. 300). Marriages today are protected and regulated by various laws and acts which aim at eliminating partner and domestic violence. This violence can be referred to as a pointer on the social disintegration of a community.
Many social implications arise from partner abuse in a relationship. It is not that hard to identify a person going through partner abuse due to their general presentation, attitude to relationships, and sometimes the corrupted perception of the opposite gender (Ouellet et al., 2015, p.316). For example, a woman who has been date rapped will have a different reaction and affiliation towards men. Domestic abuse robs the society of its vibrancy and joy as many people in the community do not rejoice significantly in their relationships such as marriage. In addition to that, partner abuse divides the society along gender lines. It makes each gender be more focused on liberating itself from the jaws of the members of the opposite sex (Ouellet et al., 2015, p.316). The abuse also affects the social ways of life in the community such as interaction, education, and economic activity. The bruised ego of the children at school makes them feel inferior, demotivated and discouraged by the events and general status of their lives. This negative attitude lowers their performance at school. The working members of the family cannot perform efficiently at work at well. The abuse also bruises their social life in the community. The battered or affected family members are belittled, gossiped about, and even condemned, which is counterproductive for their welfare and social life. Due to this reason, most people who are abused by their partners are lonely, isolated, and unfriendly.
Domestic partner abuse has a direct effect on the family. Besides physically and emotionally hurting the victim, the children in that family are subject to a lot of pressure which they may not handle. Many cases end up with the father going to prison leaving the children to be brought up by a single mother. Other children grow up to hate men due to the conditions which they were subjected to as kids, thereby repeating this cycle. Many are killed in these confrontations. In some cases, there are instances when they end up killing their spouses on accounts of events such as unfaithfulness, unsatisfaction, or other petty mistakes. Children, therefore, end up in foster homes or as orphans, which is not only financially tricky but also psychologically challenging. Partner abuse should, thus, be addressed as early as it is done the first time. Abusive relationships are more destructive than constructive to the personalities of the victims.
- Hines, D. A., Douglas, E. M., & Berger, J. L. (2015). A self‐report measure of legal and administrative aggression within intimate relationships. Aggressive behavior, 41(4), 295-309.
- Ouellet‐Morin, I., Fisher, H. L., York‐Smith, M., Fincham‐Campbell, S., Moffitt, T. E., & Arseneault, L. (2015). Intimate Partner Violence and New‐Onset Depression: A Longitudinal Study of Women’s Childhood and Adult Histories of Abuse. Depression and anxiety, 32(5), 316-324.
- Wallace, P. H., & Roberson, C. (2016). Family violence: Legal, medical, and social perspectives. (8th Ed.) Routledge.
- Widom, C. S., Czaja, S., & Dutton, M. A. (2014). Child abuse and neglect and intimate partner violence victimization and perpetration: A prospective investigation. Child abuse & neglect, 38(4), 650-663.
