Social Issues Domestic Violence

Social problems are much more transparent within cities due to the population volume, yet in contrast, the same problems exist in rural areas just on a smaller scale.

One social problem I would like to focus on is domestic violence. Here is an interesting statistic about domestic violence, “Most domestic violence victims do not report the abuse and do not seek police assistance. According to a 2000 Department of Justice study, only about one-quarter of women who were physically assaulted by an intimate partner reported the incident to the police”. “Problems for the battered woman do not end with the arrest; she also faces the prospect of having her children removed by child protective services, being charged inappropriately, being pressured to plea bargain, being wrongfully convicted, having her arrest and conviction history used against her in subsequent custody proceedings, losing her job, and having the batterer use the threat of criminal prosecution to continue to control her. These prospects can be daunting to all women, but particularly to women of color and immigrant women, who are already disproportionately affected by domestic abuse”.

There are several thoughts to this situation, I am thinking the increased population size of cities is likely bringing the percentage of domestic violence arrests to the public eye. But since this is such a rampant issue, it would not matter where the couples live, many partners will not report any abuse. The statistics stated only twenty five percent on average of people in relationships being abused will ever report the abuse. Domestic violence has also been found to significantly impede growth and development in children who live with parents in domestic abuse situations even if they themselves are not abused. I would say that in rural areas where communities are closer nit, the domestic abuse may be far less likely to go unnoticed, so the couples are more cautious in public, so it’s not as well known. Within a city, there is more anonymity and the couples know the likelihood of people knowing them or being arrested is low. The person being abused is often fearful to leave the relationship as the abuser has threatened their families. Many stays with their abusers as they have a false sense of love. They may remember their partner as someone who shaped them months earlier to think he cared very much for them and the abuse may have started slowly, and he or she is apologetic.

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