Domestic Violence: A Public Health Issue in Australia

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Mental Health Nursing
INTRODUCTION
Domestic violence can be defined both locally and globally as an aggressive behavior
within homes and it often involves the violent abuse of the spouse or a partner. The issue of
domestic violence, especially violence against women spouses has been a global issue since 35%
of women worldwide have been subjected to either physical or sexual violence. According to the
statistics in 2016, one out of every five women are subjected to domestic violence (Roberts,
Chamberlain, & Delfabbro, 2014). This trends are worrying. Domestic violence is both a
socioeconomic and psychological issue. There is need to fight or rather work out on how
incidences of domestic violence can be reduced both globally and in Australia.
Domestic violence usually begin the moment one of the partner feels that they need
control or dominance over the other partner (Othman, Goddard, & Piterman, 2013). In most
cases, the abusers feel the need to control their spouses due to low self-esteem, mere jealousy,
being temperamental or whenever they feel they are inferior to their spouses in terms of
education and the socioeconomic backgrounds.
In Australia for example, some of the individuals who subject their spouses to domestic
violence holds those primitive traditional beliefs that it is okay or right to take full control of
their partners and that women should always be under men (McPhedran, Gover, & Mazerolle,
2017). Other men subject their women to domestic violence due to undiagnosed personality
disorder. Others learnt the habit of domestic violence while growing up in homes whereby
domestic violence was the order of the day.

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Domination over someone’s partner may take several forms. The many forms include
emotional, physical and sexual abuse. According to several studies carried out in Australia,
Violence arise whenever situational and individual factors come together (Brown & James,
2014). This implies that those who subject violent behaviors to their spouses often learn this act
from their families or certain people in the community and to further extent, cultural influences
while they were growing up.
According to another study, children from families where domestic violence is practiced
might grow up believing that the best way to solve conflicts is violence and this is why the act
might continue to be a problem in Australia. The study found out that those boys who learn that
women should not be valued or respected are more likely to expose their wives to violence
(Kanev & Angelova, n.d.). Further, those women who grew up witnessing domestic violence are
as well likely to be victimized by their husbands than those who did not.
Alcohol, drug and substance abuse are key players in domestic violence. According to
research, a man who is drunk is unlikely to exert control over his behavior and might fail to limit
his violent impulse against his wife and children (Mathews & Kenny, 2008). It is therefore
important to minimize on alcohol and substance abuse. There is no single logic however that
justifies domestic violence within our society.
Negative impacts of domestic violence.
Domestic violence often instill fear among the children who witness the vice. Depression
is another effect that the children and the women subjected to domestic violence go through.
Other negative effects include anger and the Post traumatic stress disorder. Studies have
established that persistent exposure to domestic violence leads to the above conditions and they

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are often expressed through nightmares, insomnia, anxiety as well as increased alertness to the
environment and difficulties in concentrating.
Mental health and well-being.
Mental health and well-being can be well defined as the ability of an individual to realize
his or her own potential and be able to cope with stress of life, work productively and fruitfully
and then be able to make meaningful contribution to their community.
Domestic violence as health issue
According to the world Health Organization, health is defined as the state of full physical,
mental and social well-being and not just the perception about the absence of disease or
infirmity. Based on this simple definition, it is apparently clear that domestic violence is a
serious health issue especially in Australia (Lumsden & Morgan, 2017) .This was first declared
by a surgeon in the United States of America in 1984.
The most common form of domestic violence is physical violence and it leads to
extensive injuries, abortions and even murder to a further extend. According to statistics in
Australia, 62% of women die as a result of murder that arise from domestic violence. These
deaths are caused by a simple social problem which can easily be controlled.
Both physical and psychological violence as well as denial of both the physical and
economic resources has a very big impact on the mental health of women .According to research,
victimization alone is a very big risk factor towards the development of a woman’s mental health
(Clancey, 2015) .These problems come in different forms but they all affect the woman’s ability
to get good quality life both to herself and her family. According to Facts About Domestic
violence, alcoholism and drug abuse are the leading causes of violence in women. Besides, they