Domestic Violence: An Examination of Causes, Rights, and Protection

This essay provides an overview of domestic violence, focusing on its causes, legal definitions, and the impact on victims. It explores various forms of abuse, including physical, emotional, psychological, and economic abuse, highlighting the complexities and underreporting of such cases. The paper discusses the Australian legal framework, including the Family Law Act 1975, and examines risk factors associated with perpetrators and victims, such as substance abuse and poverty. It also analyzes the procedural rights available to victims and emphasizes the need for improved legal measures to protect them. The essay concludes by summarizing key points and advocating for comprehensive strategies to address domestic violence, including public awareness campaigns and political agendas to tackle gender inequality and promote victim support.

Running head: CRIMINAL LAW
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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Domestic Violence is considered to be a serious issue which impacts millions of
individuals in this world. The most persistent kind of violence, which has been experienced by
the women living in Australia, is considered to be the type of violence executed by the male
partner upon the female partner which is commonly understood as violence. Nevertheless, it is
necessary to comprehend and acknowledge that at times men along with certain same sex
partners also suffer and experience this issue. The causes of the domestic violence as a crime are
considered to be complex and the key determinants of such have been considered to be the
gender inequality along with certain power imbalances and other controlling behaviors which are
prevailing within the relationships (Afdal et al. 2017). Therefore, such needs to be recognized
and dealt with, which would help in preventing this form of crime.
This paper discusses the violence against women, which is considered to be increasing
day by day and such are at crisis levels. In addition to such it also discusses the certain
procedural rights, which would help in protecting the vulnerable victims from such violence. In
conclusion, it summarizes the points that have been discussed in the paper.
Discussion
Domestic violence is considered to refer to a type of violence, which occurs between the
individuals who have or who used to have a certain kind of an intimate relationship within the
domestic settings. In the Australian legal system domestic violence is considered to be defined
under the Family Law Act 1975 as violent threatening of any individual or any other behavior by
any individual that coerces or forces and controls a member of the individual’s family and tries
to instill fear in the mind of a family member. These particular acts involve physical, sexual,

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emotional and psychological abuse in the Australian communities. This kind of violence is most
popularly committed and effected by males against the various female partners however, there
are times when the female partners also abuse the male partners. The traditional associations
relating to domestic violence are the different kinds of acts, which involves the physical violence
that happens in home. Majority of the individuals fail to understand and grasp the difficulty or
the complexity relating to the phenomenon. The National Council to Reduce Violence against
Women and Children are considered to comprehend that an essential or integral element of
domestic violence is the various ongoing patterns relating to behavior which aimed at regulating
and controlling one’s partner by instilling and inculcating fear by being violent in order to exert
power and control which can be considered to be criminal as well as non-criminal (Bacon 2013).
There are certain kinds of violence that are considered to be domestic violence which
includes emotional abuse where the victim is blamed for all the problems concerning a
relationship and the self-esteem of the victim is considered to be bought down which would be
through withdrawing of the interest and engagement from the emotional blackmail. It can also be
through verbal abuse, which would be through swearing, and humiliation, which would be in
private, as well as public and such would be concentrating on the abuse related to intelligence,
sexuality, body image or the capability of the victim to be a parent or spouse. In addition to such,
there are certain social abuse which also falls under the purview of domestic violence where the
victim would face a systematic isolation from their families or friends and such would provoke
the victim to relocate to a place where the victim would not be a part of any social circle or
would not get any employment opportunities (Grewal 2010). Furthermore, the victim might also
face economic abuse which would be due to regulation of money along with being forbidden to
access any kinds of bank accounts which would provide an inadequate allowance that would

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prohibit the victim from seeking or holding any kind of employment by taking some kind of
wages which are earned by the victim. Psychological abuse is also one of the significant forms of
domestic violence as the victims get certain kinds of threats regarding the custody of their
children, which would likely cause a psychological impact on the victim and ruin their mental
balance (Dimovski and Kostić 2015). Spiritual abuse is considered to be the form of domestic
violence where the victim is considered to be in denial and they misuse the religious beliefs or
the practices in order to force the victims into certain subordinate roles and misuse the various
religious or spiritual traditions in order to justify the physical violence along with some other
abuse. In addition to such it can also be through the physical abuse where the victim would
endure direct assaults on their body through the use of weapons or through the assault of children
by locking the victim out of the house without any food or sleep and such would be considered to
be a deprivation. Lastly, the victim can also be sexually abused where they would be pressured
into having unwanted sex or through sexual degradation, which would cause a certain amount
pain during such act, or through forceful or coercive sex among other things.
Due to the scope of the definition of domestic violence and the private nature of the
relationship most of the cases regarding domestic violence is considered to go unreported
therefore, it is difficult and unmanageable to measure the extent of the problem. It has been
understood that the offences related to domestic violence are widespread and common in
Australia but the women are less likely to report such crimes as it involves going against their
male partners therefore, the violent reports fail to get reported to the police as the perpetrator or
the offender is considered to be the male partner involved in the violent and gruesome act (Arief
2017). There have been various surveys conducted in Australia through the Australian Bureau of
Statistics Personal Safety Survey 2005 along with the Australian component relating to the

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International Violence Against Women Survey which has been conducted in 2002 and 2003. The
recent statistics are considered to be limited as the ABS releases the Recorded crime-victims data
on a regular basis which have been derived from the administrative systems as such are
maintained by the state as well as the territory police. Although, these are considered to include
the information on the sexual assault along with the relationship of the offenders to the victims
such does not include any kind of analysis relating to the other forms of the domestic violence
data. The Gillard Government is considered to commit 14.9 million in order to repeat the
Personal Safety Survey along with the National Community Attitudes towards various violence
against women survey during their election campaign in the year 2010.
There are certain risk factors that are involved with the domestic violence which are in
relation to the perpetrators or the offenders and the victims of such violence. For instance, the
offenders of such violence commit the crime due to the influence of alcohol and other drug abuse
which effect and influence their physical aggression. Several research has been conducted which
shows that the perpetrators have experienced child abuse and therefore, from such experience has
experienced victimization as an adult. Through the research conducted by Women’s Safety
Survey the individuals who have a history of violent victimization would also experience
victimization and violence in the future. The attitudes along with beliefs are also an integral part
of domestic violence as such are considered to influence the prevalence, which shapes the
community responses and the help-seeking behavior of the victim (Taylor, Fraser and Riggs
2019).
While domestic violence is considered to strike the couples of all kinds of races, social
economic status, religions and sexual orientations there are certain risk factors for the women
becoming the victims for the abusers due to poverty or lack of any education or due to a low

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sense of self-worth. It is considered to be a crime or offence and therefore the average term for
the punishment or imprisonment for the offender involved in committing the act of domestic
violence would be 4.6 months. If the offender had committed the offence recklessly by causing
serious bodily harm then the period for imprisonment would be for 12.6 months. The act of
domestic violence is considered to be underreported due to the various social stigmas. This
offence is considered to directly affect and impact the victims along with their children and
families and has certain repercussions or consequences for the quality of life which is considered
to be prevailing in a local community. These would also in turn impact the financial, social,
health and other psychological problems. Therefore, such kind of violence has an impact on the
indirect costs along with the costs in the community for bringing the offenders to justice and the
medical treatment which would be required by the victims. Although there have been steps or
measures implemented by the legal system to reduce the rate of such crime there has been lack of
reducing such due to ineffective measures as most of the cases go unreported. There have been
campaigns to reduce violence and such are done through creating large-scale public awareness
programs but screening these programs are considered to be difficult to measure (Ayob and Rauf
2019). Therefore, the procedural rights in the legal system needs to be improved which would
help the victims of such violence to come up and take a stand or an action against their male
partners. This particular form of violence is not considered to be an issue which is tied to any
specific political outlook but these can be tackled and handled through the overarching political
agendas. The violence against women are considered to be a consequence as well as a reason for
gender inequality.

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Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that domestic violence is a very
serious crime by which male partners torture women and sometimes this violence includes same
sex relationship as well. It has been observed that in all over the country, especially in Australia
several initiatives are taken by the Australian government in order to prevent these types of
violence from the society and protect the rights and interests of the women. For instance, the
Australian government in 1975 in order to protect the women has enacted the Family Law Act.
However, several records prove that in spite of taking various initiatives the government cannot
protect the women from domestic violence completely. The main thing is that domestic violence
also has a negative impact on the children (Rupande 2010).

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Reference
Afdal, A., Alizamar, A., Ifdil, I., Erlamsyah, E. and Taufik, T., 2017, September. Guidance and
counseling services for women victims of domestic violence. In 9th International Conference for
Science Educators and Teachers (ICSET 2017). Atlantis Press.
Arief, H., 2017. Legal Protection Against Women Victims by The Indonesian Domestic
Violence Act 23, 2004. Sriwijaya Law Review, 1(1), pp.110-121.
Ayob, N. and Rauf, S.H.A., 2019. Level of Knowledge Among Community on Domestic
Violence: Pilot Test. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 4(7),
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Bacon, W., Dalley, E., Price, J., Posetti, J., Frost, L., Griffiths, J., Widdowson, R. and North, L.,
2013. Women have their say on the media. New Matilda, pp.1-1.
Dimovski, D. and Kostić, M., 2015. Psycho-social Treatment of Domestic Abusers as a Form of
Prevention of Domestic Violence1. Revija za kriminalistiko in kriminologijo/Ljubljana, 66(4),
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Grewal, K., 2010. Rape in conflict, rape in peace: Questioning the revolutionary potential of
international criminal justice for women’s human rights. Australian Feminist Law
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Rupande, G. 2010, Domestic Violence: The Old Age Family Problem in Kushinga Phikelela
Farm Community and its Effects on School Children.

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Taylor, N., Fraser, H. and Riggs, D.W., 2019. Domestic violence and companion animals in the
context of LGBT people’s relationships. Sexualities, 22(5-6), pp.821-836.