Violence, Fear And Horror - 1747 Words

Paula lived in a violent marriage for years. She was very naà ¯ve at first and really did not know people like him existed. He would kick me, slap me, throw things at me, the list goes on and on, but he never punched me. In fact he would say to people that he couldn’t stand â€Å"wife bashers†. He tried to isolate us from all those who loved us and new people we met would go through character assassinations by him. Life was continuous hell, fear and horror and he always blamed me for his violence. Towards the end of the relationship he threated to run us off the road in the car and kill us. The violence became a daily occurance if not several episodes a day. Paula is one of the thousands of women worldwide that are in relationships were domestic†¦show more content†¦During the 1800’s domestic violence against women was acceptable behavior unless it was life threatening. There was a widespread belief among ordinary people, male and female, and that it w as every man’s â€Å"right† to beat his wife so long as it was to â€Å"correct her† if she did anything to annoy him or refused to obey his orders. The editor of the Hull Packet stated that â€Å"Wife-beating being accepted as the habit of the nation (Wojtczak 2009)†. Women were raised to believe that they â€Å"deserved† a certain amount of violence against their wives. Women that tried to take their husbands to court in order to stop the domestic violence was viewed as a challenge to his authority that violates her role as the submissive wife. In court the man would be fined or sent to prison. By the man being sent to prison, his dependents lost their only means of subsistence. So, wives could not report the abuse. Domestic violence is a deviant behavior because it is a significant social problem. â€Å"According to national surveys, approximately 11% to 14% of married women in the U.S. are victims of domestic violence each year and the prevale nce of domestic violence among young couples is approximately double that of the general population (Jourile n.d.)†. Women who experience domestic violence report higher levels of physical injury, depression, and trauma symptoms compared to women who do not.