Why Awareness of Domestic Violence and Abuse Is Necessary

The topic of Domestic violence and abuse is generally hushed by the society. Victims usually remain muted; blame themselves for such behavior or attempt to make things normal. Physical assault and abusive behavior along with other elements combined by a partner is regarded as Domestic violence and abuse. Those are technically different but the term violence and abused are interlinked with each other. Generally, this happens in the heterosexual couples but it is not really confined as gay couples go through it too. Around 38,028,000 women have experienced domestic violence from their partners at least once in a lifetime. Though women are majorly the victims, men sometimes suffer too from their partners.

There are several factors that are counted as domestic abuse and violence. Physically hitting a person or abusing are the two main factors. Other characteristics include dominating one’s life, threatening, demeaning another person or even sexual violence. The list is long and is exaggerated to various aspects. The signs of domestic violence and abuse occur gradually. In the beginning of any relation, everything seems well and then the issue arises. The person committing the delinquency, love and apologize profusely, initially. And then domestic violence occurs before the victim realizes it. It happens to people irrespective of their age, religion and community. According to an international report, nearly 10,000,000 children are exposed to domestic violence every year.

The psychological aspects of domestic abuse and violence on victims are life shattering. It breaks their confidence and they develop a psychological trauma which even causes death in severe cases. Physically, domestic violence causes bruises, black eyes and other marks which relies on the area the victim has been hit. It gets very difficult for the victim to hide the bruises especially if it is on the face. Recently, a Moroccan TV show aired a makeup tutorial to hide the domestic violence on a woman with cinematic bruises. This show was aired on the International Day for Violence against women and received ample of rage from people all over the world. Strict action was taken against this episode as people signed petition to higher authority.

Domestic abuse and violence is a hard-hitting topic even in today’s world. Several campaigns and victims come forward to help other survivors, yet there are thousands of people who suffer quietly. Many times the victims stay back because of the emotional blackmailing of the wrong-doer. It is regarded as the third leading cause of homelessness of family members.