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CFAW Making Headlines

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Violence still suppresses women (Green Bay Press-Gazette, Essay by Faye Wattleton)

Over the last half century we have witnessed revolutionary changes in women’s lives. Indisputably, women have made significant gains in politics, education, economic status, and reproductive health. Nevertheless, issues like domestic violence linger, like ghosts from an old past, to thwart women’s advancement toward full equal status and trusted citizenship.

Despite reports of an overall decline in relationship violence over the past decade, women across American have told the Center for the Advancement of Women that domestic violence and sexual assault top their list of concerns. In “Progress and Perils,” a two-part landmark study of 3,300 women by the Center for the Advancement of Women, 92 percent of women cited this as the number one priority for a new women’s movement.

Last summer, through in-depth discussions, in five cities, with more than 100 adult women and teenage girls of diverse background, age and ethnicity, we learned domestic violence remains the silent struggle in most women’s lives.  The depth and pervasiveness of this problem also is illustrated by figures from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics.  According to the Bureau, there were 627,400 reported nonfatal intimate partner victimizations in 2004, with 30 percent involving serious violent crimes.  A significant number of these crimes were against pregnant women.  In the same year, more than 1,000 females were murdered by their spouses or partners.

Women told us that verbal, emotional and psychological hostility, often overlooked forms of abuse, are far more damaging to their self-esteem than physical aggression, and the effects persist long after the relationship ends.  Years of public education campaigns seem to have reached their audience, as most women know that shelters, hotlines or legal action are available to treat and shelter victims of physical violence.  However, women told us that those who experience psychological abuse often don’t know where to go for help, and that the accompanying stigma causes them to be reluctant in acknowledging or denouncing their situation.

Prevention and treatment resources must address women’s cultural perception of an attitude toward domestic violence.  In our discussions, Latino women described how pressure from family and church often prevents them from leaving abusive relationships.  Asian participants explained the importance of keeping relationship violence a private matter to avoid bringing negative attention to their families.  And African-American women agreed that domestic violence could be solved if stronger community and neighborhood networks were developed to offer protection to women and teenagers.

Teenage girls nationwide spoke about the absence of peer support systems and the competition that exists with one another for male attention as potential factors for engaging or staying in an abusive or violent relationship.  Across the board, teen girls expressed a lack of clarity in defining intimate partner abuse in their lives.

Domestic violence is a multifaceted problem that requires the continuing pursuit of widespread solutions.  National, regional and local organizations must continue to deploy valuable educational, prevention and treatment programs.  But it is urgent that all of us, female and male, share in the responsibility and act in unison against this dangerous epidemic.

  • Women must not tolerate abuse of any form

  • Contact your local domestic violence prevention agency and learn more about what they do and how you can help.

  • Community institutions, including churches, must utilize their influence and reach to assist in the effort

  • Our governments must enhance and realign resources, so that more attention is given to the legitimacy of psychological abuse.

The Center for the Advancement of Women will continue tracking the experience of domestic violence in women’s lives through compelling research and will disseminate the information as widely as possible to promote changes in the values that tolerate abuse against women.

--Faye Wattleton