Violence Against Women is becoming a huge known issue in the World and our society. This term is technically known as violent acts, primarily or exclusively, against women. Some subtopics of violence against women that are discussed below are: The Criminal Justice Response, VAW Role in the Media, International VAW, and Dating and Stalking.
The Violence Against Women Act
The Violence Against Women Act, commonly referred to as VAWA, is part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Before VAWA was enacted, there wad little federal response to violence particularly directed towards women. The National Office on Violence Against Women was created in 1995 and is responsible for oversight and implementation of the federal mandates included in VAWA. Some of the specific goals are to strengthen protective orders through interstate enforcement,prohibit those with restraining orders from possessing a firearm, bolster restitution orders and rape shield laws. VAWA gives funds to strengthen and streamline the Criminal Justice System's approach to helping victims. These include: Education for law enforcement officers, prosecutor and judges, encourage pro-arrest policies, and community policing techniques.
The Violence Against Women Act
The Violence Against Women Act, commonly referred to as VAWA, is part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Before VAWA was enacted, there wad little federal response to violence particularly directed towards women. The National Office on Violence Against Women was created in 1995 and is responsible for oversight and implementation of the federal mandates included in VAWA. Some of the specific goals are to strengthen protective orders through interstate enforcement,prohibit those with restraining orders from possessing a firearm, bolster restitution orders and rape shield laws. VAWA gives funds to strengthen and streamline the Criminal Justice System's approach to helping victims. These include: Education for law enforcement officers, prosecutor and judges, encourage pro-arrest policies, and community policing techniques.
The Criminal Justice Response
Mandatory Arrest became the preferred response to domestic violence. If convicted of Domestic Violence it is considered a Class 1 Misdemeanor which means there can be a fine of $2500 and up to 12 months in jail. If that individual has two prior convictions then the punishment becomes a class 6 felony which is $2500 and 1 to 5 years prison. The mandatory arrest policy gets funding through VAWA, which was established in 1994. This new procedure is part of the Omnibus Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.
Benefits
• Burden on the police not victim
• Confirm their status as a victim of a crime
• Access to support systems
• Protect the victim
Negative
• Can lead to retaliatory violence
• Dual arrest
• Takes all sense of power away from victim
VAW Role in the Media
Violent crimes against women are a common staple of news and the media. The media shows these huge cases of extreme violence, but never the small cases that happen to many women every day. The media uses these extreme cases for entertainment, information, and to sell products. Although the media portrayal of violence against women may undermine the frequency of the violence, it does benefit society by raising awareness. This is a benefit only if the information presented is accurate. A huge problem with the media is that it may support biases and myths. In 1992, Helen Benedict published a book called Virgin or Vamp. This book is about how the press covers sex crimes with relations to the stereotypes of a virgin (conservative, good girl) or vamp (aggressive, sexually promiscuous, prostitute). The book analyzes the press coverage of four well know cases and argues that the press tries to stereotype female victims of sex crimes as either a seductress or an innocent. Some of the rape myths covered in the book are:
· Myth: Rape is sex
o Rape is an attack, an assault, an abuse of power. A crime motivated by power and control, not lust
· Myth: the assailant is motivated by lust
o Rape is usually motivated by anger or the need to control
· Myth: The assailant is crazy or perverted
o Rape is rarely caused by mental illness. Most men that rape are psychologically normal
· Myth: The assailant is either black or lower class
o Rapists are usually the same race and social class as their victim
· Myth: Women provoke rape
o Again, this shifts the responsibility away from the rapists
· Myth: Women deserves rape
o Victim blaming
· Myth: Only loose woman are victimized
o Bad things do happen to good people
International VAW
Types of international violence against women include:
• Dowry deaths
• FGM
• Acid burnings
• Honor killings
• Self immolation
• Conflict crimes- such as rape/ genocidal rape
• Post conflict crimes
• Trafficking
Honor Killings
Honor Killings are when relatives kill, and commit acts of violence against wives, mothers, daughters and sisters to restore honor to the family. Family honor may have been lost as a result of real or perceived actions that have compromised it. Honor killings can restore the honor and usually come from cultural beliefs that women are property. This idea is to embody the honor of the men to whom they belong because women’s bodies are the repositories of family honor. The whole idea is deeply rooted into the patriarchal belief systems.
Prevalence
• The united nations population fund estimates that 5000 die as a result of honor killings worldwide
• Egypt: femicides indicated that 47 percent were killed after the woman had been raped
• Jordan and Lebanon 75 percent of the perpetrators of honor killings were the woman’s brothers
Acts that Precipitate Honor Killings
• Talking with an unrelated male
• Consensual sexual relations outside of marriage
• Being a victim of rape
• Seeking a divorce
• Refusing to marry a man chosen by one’s family
• Suspicion alone constitutes justification
Dating and Stalking
Dating violence can occur during a dating relationship or a relationship that has already been established. Date rape is a commonly known crime that occurs during a date. Intimate partner violence starts early in relationships. It is often experienced by teens that first start to date because at this age they are at an elevated risk for both the perpetration and victimization. Research has suggested between 2 to 9 percent of males and 4 to 20 percent of females have been victims of physical or sexual violence at the hands of a partner. Some of the reasons for this findings are couples in a relationship tend to exaggerate gender roles, subscription to fantastical ideas of romance, more easily influenced by media, and violence and love have become increasingly intertwined.
Studies
• Carlson: 1990 study- found that the majority of adolescents supported the use of violence against a dating partner
• Bergman 1992- study of high school students –79 percent of females who had experienced dating violence continued to date the perpetrator
College campuses
On college campuses most victims don’t label their experience as rape. Many of the attacks use alcohol or date rape drugs which render someone incapable of saying no or asserting themselves. These drugs include alcohol, street drugs, designer or club drugs, and some over the counter sleeping pills, and antihistamines. Typically date rape drugs makes reference to Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate (GHB), Rohypnol and Ketamine Hydrochloride. These date rape drugs appeal to sexual predators because they are virtually undetectable, all traces of the drug leave the body within 72 hours of ingestion and are not found in a routine toxicology or blood test, easily slipped into food/drink and are fast acting, they render the victim helpless and passive, and victims typically have little or no memory of what happened. Without any memory of events, the victim is often unaware that they have been raped, and if they are aware or have suspicions, they make very poor witnesses. The number 1 date rape drug is alcohol.
• 75 percent of college students who are raped are under the influence of alcohol
Stalking
The general definition of stalking is threatening or harassing behavior this is engaged in repeatedly. The legal definition includes a credible threat threshold, i.e. the victim must be put in reasonable fear of death, sexual assault, or injury.
• There are four types of stalkers:
1) Erotomaniacs
• They have a delusional disorder and believe they are loved by the victim
• Infatuated by the victim
• Destined to be together
• Average duration is 125 months
• Resistant to legal and therapeutic interventions
• Often have other mental illnesses
• May have met the subject of their stalking casually or through media coverage
2) Borderline Erotomaniacs
• Similar to Erotomaniacs
• Lack of delusion of being in love with the victim
• Usually total strangers
• “Love obsesionals”
• Victims are typically celebrities
3)Acquaintance Stalkers
• Previous relationship exists between stalker and victim
• May be a social or professional relationship
• Rarely suffer from mental disorders
• Immature, socially inept, unable to maintain relationships, jealous, insecure, paranoid
• If your stalker says “you are my life” he/she usually believes it, and will often go to extreme measures to “get you”
4)Estranged Lover
• Stalker feels he cannot let go of a terminal relationship
• Largest category of stalkers
• Most violent category
• Victim is viewed as a possession he has lost and seeks to recover in order to regain control over the victim
• Former husbands and boyfriends are the most common stalkers in this category
How it can be stopped
Most frequent successful intervention:
– Victim relocation
– Stalker begins a relationship with someone else
– Police warning or arrest