Domestic Violence
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Joshua TimothyDomestic Violence
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Joshua TimothyThe Ignored Victims of Domestic Violence
Joshua Timothy
Domestic abuse is violence that takes place in a domestic setting. It took a long time for society to realize
that there are few reasons in which committing violence against another person is acceptable. Even
now, the respective laws are still being rewritten from time to time. However, there is still much work to
do. While a lot of progress has been made in the recognition of domestic violence against women and
children, there are groups of people who have been, whether consciously or subconsciously, ignored.
These groups are often ignored because their dilemma challenges existing stereotypes, a lack of
investment in their plight and society considers them expendable.
To many people, the idea of a woman being able to cause anything beyond superficial damage to a man
is simply incredulous. Often, a woman using physical violence against a man will be seen as funny.
Alternatively, female on male violence may be treated as totally justified. Women are stereotypically
seen as inherently nonviolent as well as morally superior to men, therefore if a woman hits a man, the
immediate assumption is that he did something to warrant being hit. Conversely, men are
stereotypically seen as tough so a male domestic victim may be ashamed to admit that a woman was
able to hurt him. Additionally, some male victims who are aware of the stereotypes choose not to report
the abuse because their abuser could easily claim that she was the one being abused. Despite the
difference in size, women are more than capable of severely harming men. Supplementary studies from
2016 onwards have shown that while 27% of abused women have reported to the police, only 10% of
abused men have done so. And while there are many organizations that are dedicated to protecting
women and children, there are few that cater to men at all.
The second group that does not get much attention are disabled people. The lack of investment to this
group is another factor to society’s disregard for them. However, society’s disregard for them is not
intentional. Most people assume that anyone willing to take on the role of caregiver for a disabled
person is a fundamentally good person. What they do not realize is that it is easy to become resentful of
having to take care of another person, especially when the role was forced on them. Because there are
no laws that state that a person must be a professional to be a caregiver, just about anyone could
become one. Some people might not appreciate having to take care of their mentally disabled child
indefinitely or their elderly parent. Disabled people will especially have a hard time reporting the abuse
because their disability, whether physical or mental, makes it difficult to be heard. The fact that the
abuse happens behind closed doors only compounds things. The lack of media attention also contributes
to the general ignorance because people cannot care about something they are vaguely aware of.
Lastly, another group that gets the short end of the stick are homosexuals. In some countries,
homosexuality is one of the worst sins one can commit. Because of this mindset, society may not be
particularly sympathetic to a homosexual suffering domestic abuse. Domestic violence in same-sex
relationships is especially hard to report because the victim risks outing themselves. They may be
subjected to even more abuse, physical or mental. The kind of reaction a victim might get also depends
on their gender. If a woman makes a report, she might not be believed because her abuser is a woman.
If a man makes a report, he might be believed but the police might not necessarily care. After that, they
will have to face an already biased jury. Therefore, a person in a same-sex relationship may have not
many options besides escaping the abusive relationship.
Despite the progress made in recognizing domestic abuse in some groups, there is still a long way to go
in the recognition of domestic abuse in others. Society has, whether consciously or not, labelled these
groups as a low priority. These groups have become a minority in a minority. These groups are often
ignored because their predicament disputes existing stereotypes, a lack of investment in their
predicament and society is apathetic to them.