Intimate partner abuse/violence (IPA or IPV) as defined by Mallicoat and Ireland is “the physical, sexual or psychological harm by a current or former partner or spouse” (2014, p. 105). The perpetrator as the definition suggests is an individual who has a close or personal relationship with the victim. IPV may be characterized as physical harm (e.g. inflicting pain, hitting, kicking, choking), sexual harm (e.g. unwanted sexual contact, rape), and/or psychological harm (e.g. emotional abuse, verbally degrading the victim, threatening, controlling). IPV is a very serious issue among women – as they represent the typical victim representation in most cases of IPV. Mallicoat and Ireland (2014) state that 1.3 million women are physically victimized
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In the beginning their relationship was everything any women would have dreamed of – he showered her in gifts, love, and laughter. Their relationship quickly developed as they got engaged, married, and pregnant within a very short period of time. Soon after, Kate began to notice small red flags in their relationship that she immediately brushed off. He started with small lies, jealousy, talking of abuse and hatred in his previous relationship, and controlling her actions (e.g. not allowing her to join Facebook for fear of cheating on him). They then moved to a Military base where she became completely isolated. She was far from her family and friends, and when she did make friends she barely saw them. Her husband began taking complete control over their finances – making her almost entirely dependent on him for money. Again, they moved – this time in a house in Florida. Kate states that it was here that most of the abuse began. Kate was not allowed to hang out with any male friends and when she hang out with any of her female friends her husband became suspicious, controlling, and manipulative. He would blow up her phone with texts and calls, all of which made her extremely cautious and anxious. One day, he raised his fist, threatening to hit her – in response, she called the cops. He told the cops she was being dramatic and made himself out to be the victim. At this point, …show more content…
There are definitely issues in the arrest policies - including victim blaming, learned helplessness, and dual-arrests, which in turn target the victim and further their pain and suffering. It is essential that we educate others and learn how to overcome these issues by avoiding such concerns. Finally, as the book states – we must also attempt to provide resources and services to individuals of specific characteristics because we now understand that not all victims or stories are the same. That being said, we must provide services to individuals of all races, ethnicities, sexualities, and genders – in order to respect the idea that not all treatment/programs will work for each victim. More exclusively, although uncommon, I believe it is crucial that we offer specific resources for male victims of IPV. Because IPV is so prevalent among women we tend to focus our services solely on them and due to this, I believe we should create specific responses to men in
In the beginning their relationship was everything any women would have dreamed of – he showered her in gifts, love, and laughter. Their relationship quickly developed as they got engaged, married, and pregnant within a very short period of time. Soon after, Kate began to notice small red flags in their relationship that she immediately brushed off. He started with small lies, jealousy, talking of abuse and hatred in his previous relationship, and controlling her actions (e.g. not allowing her to join Facebook for fear of cheating on him). They then moved to a Military base where she became completely isolated. She was far from her family and friends, and when she did make friends she barely saw them. Her husband began taking complete control over their finances – making her almost entirely dependent on him for money. Again, they moved – this time in a house in Florida. Kate states that it was here that most of the abuse began. Kate was not allowed to hang out with any male friends and when she hang out with any of her female friends her husband became suspicious, controlling, and manipulative. He would blow up her phone with texts and calls, all of which made her extremely cautious and anxious. One day, he raised his fist, threatening to hit her – in response, she called the cops. He told the cops she was being dramatic and made himself out to be the victim. At this point, …show more content…
There are definitely issues in the arrest policies - including victim blaming, learned helplessness, and dual-arrests, which in turn target the victim and further their pain and suffering. It is essential that we educate others and learn how to overcome these issues by avoiding such concerns. Finally, as the book states – we must also attempt to provide resources and services to individuals of specific characteristics because we now understand that not all victims or stories are the same. That being said, we must provide services to individuals of all races, ethnicities, sexualities, and genders – in order to respect the idea that not all treatment/programs will work for each victim. More exclusively, although uncommon, I believe it is crucial that we offer specific resources for male victims of IPV. Because IPV is so prevalent among women we tend to focus our services solely on them and due to this, I believe we should create specific responses to men in