A Look At Domestic Violence

Abstract

The purpose or this report is to convince the congregation of Bethel Lutheran Church that there is a serious problem of domestic violence in the country and in Colorado Springs and the surrounding areas. It is also meant to inform them that there is a serious need for funding for the victims of domestic violence. There is some funding for the shelters and other programs and it is being used very wisely, but there is need for more money to make the shelters better and to maybe build more and create more programs to help the victims of domestic violence.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary...............................................................3

Introduction.........................................................................4

History of Domestic Violence....................................................5

Cycle of Violence..................................................................6

The Reforms........................................................................7

Funding..............................................................................8

Conclusions..........................................................................9

References...........................................................................10

Executive Summary

In recent years, feminists have worked hard to pressure society and the criminal justice system into taking domestic violence seriously. These efforts have resulted in more government funding and increased services to victims, such as TESSA, a shelter for women and children to go to get away from their abusers. The problem is that there is not enough funding for these shelters and other programs, so there are not enough of them in the United States to help the victims. Another problem is that without the shelters women and children do not get the education they need about domestic violence and how to get out of the cycle. This paper will discuss the problem of funding for TESSA and the education needed to help the women that go to the shelters. Many women today feel that they are stuck in relationships with their abusers because they believe that if they leave then their abuser will kill them. Many other women feel that their abuser really does love them and that to beat them is how their abuser shows their love for them. Children of these relationships see the abuse and grow up thinking that abusing another person or being abused by another person is okay. By learning about this abusing behavior children repeat the cycle of abuse when they get older. If there is more funding for shelters like TESSA and programs like DVERT then there will be more help and more resources to help the victims of domestic violence.

Introduction

Within the general population of women in the United States, the occurrence of violence against them and intimate partner violence is high. The National Violence Against Women Survey recently reported an estimate that approximately 1.5 million women experience physical or sexual violence from a current or former intimate partner per year (Chang, etc. 2003). According to Chang, etc., there are between 42 and 52 percent of the female victims obtain injuries and of those women, 41 percent require medical attention in consequence of those injuries. According to Chang, etc., fifteen to 30 percent of women coming for care to the emergency room have a history of domestic violence (700).

Women who are beaten by their husbands or intimate partners now have place to go. Battered women's shelters provide immediate and sage shelter for women who are being abused by their partners. The problem, however, does not end there. Shelters are a response to the problem of violence against women in our society, not a solution. Both the problem and the response warrant a critical reexamination (Murray 75). Battered women's shelters are designed to help women in need of a place get away from their abusers. When women leave the shelters most of them return to their abusers and that is not doing anyone any good. Now some battered women's shelters are teaching women how to take care of themselves and live on their own, and how to get out of the cycle of violence. Murray states that teaching women these skills will help cut down on violence in communities across the U.S. One of the battered women's shelters that are teaching women the above mention skills is right here is Colorado Springs. The shelter is known as TESSA. In order to keep teaching women and children about domestic violence and how to get away from it TESSA needs money to keep its doors open to women in need. TESSA gets funding from the government, donations, foundations, and others but it is not enough. If we can raise awareness of the growing problem of domestic violence in our community then maybe we can convince people to give more money to TESSA and other organization so that they can continue protecting the victims of violence.

History of Domestic Violence

Prior to the 1970s there was little or no social recognition of the problem of domestic violence, it was a "private trouble." Subsequently, women began to speak out about the violence in their private lives, and the battered women's movement began. A woman named Lenore Walker did a study of domestic violence in 1979 estimating that 50 percent of all women in the U. S. would be or were being beaten by their husbands or boyfriends. Many of these women had no place to go to escape abuse. The first U.S. battered women's shelter opened in Minneapolis in 1973. By 1982 there were approximately 500 shelters operating in this country (Murray 75-76). Now there are approximately 12,000 shelters in this country.

Self-help methods teach women to take responsibility for themselves. Shelters organized in this form empower women by allowing them equal participation in decision-making and thus demonstrating that they can help themselves (Murray 77). In such shelters, like TESSA, women learn skills, which enable them to lead independent lives. If