Nature and Extent of Domestic Violence

Nature and Extent of municipal ViolenceIt is important to point settle out here that an adult is classed as any person over the age of eighteen years old. Family members ar said to include mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters or grandp bents. It is also important to point out that using the term family members does not only mean that those directly link up ar included in this explanation of interior(prenominal)ated help rage, as in-laws or step-family members are also defined as being family members (Home Office, 2010).The Association of old-timer Police Officers (ACPO) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) also use this rendering of interior(prenominal) furiousness (ACPO, 2008). It is not uncommon, however, for various other agencies to have contrary definitions of national craze. This can prove to be a considerable worry when attempting to design and deliver services specifically aimed at tackling the paradox of domestic wildness (Humphries, Hester, Hague, Mullender, Abrahams and Lowe, 2000). This is a problem that will be considered in to a greater extent depth in Chapter 4 when examining the implications of taking a multi-agency approach to tackling domestic ferocity.The extent of the problemAccording to the Home Office (2010) municipal delirium accounts for 14% of all violent incidentsOne incident of domestic violence is reported to the police both minuteOne in cardinal wo hands and angiotensin-converting enzyme in six work force will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime with women at a greater risk of double victimization and serious injuryDomestic violence currently claims the lives of around two women a weekThe victimsThe definition of domestic violence given by the government states that domestic violence issue forths regardless of gender (Home Office, 2010 ACPO, 2008). This would suggest that victims of domestic violence are equally likely to be male as they are female. However, whilst it is true that twain men and women can be victims of domestic violence, statistics show that in to the highest degree cases of domestic violence the victims are women. On top of this, the government come the statistic one in four women and one in six men will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime with with women at a greater risk of repeat victimisation and serious injury (Home Office, 2010) but fail to point out that the actor part of the statistic is based on one-off events (Womens Aid, 2010a). With women being at an increased incident of repeat victimisation, the gap between the extents to which women experience domestic violence compared to men is probably ofttimes wider than government statistics tell us. It is for this reason that the main localize throughout this piece of work is on violence against women. In summation to all of this, it is once again vital to focus that, given the hole-and-corner(a) nature of domestic violence, it will al ways be diffic ult to eff exactly how many people men or women are exploited in their lifetime because of domestic violence.The nature of the problemIt is firstly passing significant to point out domestic violence is rarely a one-off event and, as mentioned previously, women are particularly likely to experience repeat victimisation (Home Office, 2010). Secondly, in every case of domestic violence world-beaterfulness and accommodate over the victim are remarkably evident. These points alone stress the fact that domestic violence is a devastating problem however, by looking further into the nature of the abuse it is clear that this devastating problem is also awfully complicated.It would be fair to say that physical violence is the first thing that comes to mind when considering the type of abuse that a victim of domestic violence may suffer. However, by looking at the government activity definition of domestic violence it becomes clear that most cases are much more complicated than this, as physical violence is just one element of domestic violence and domestic violence can occur with or without it. Other attributes of domestic violence, as stated in the political relation definition, include threatening behaviour and/or psychological, physical, sexual, financial or aflame abuse (Home Office, 2010 ACPO, 2008).The Wheel of Violence (or sometimes referred to as the Wheel of queen and Control) reiterates this idea as it has been developed to show the different types of behaviour that bring into being domestic violence (Womens Aid, 2007) and all of these behaviours are based on power and control. The Wheel of Violence suggests that there are eight different ways in which a perpetrator can gain power and control over their victim. These are using coercion and threats, using intimidation, using excited abuse, using isolation, minimizing, denying and blaming, using children, using male privilege and using frugal abuse. A Wheel of Non-Violence (or sometimes referred to as the Wheel of Equality) has also been developed to show what a non-violent partnership looks like in comparison (Womens Aid, 2007). This vagabond is also made up of eight components which include negotiation and fairness, watch over and trust and support. Both of these wheels have been developed by the Duluth Domestic hollo Intervention Project but are widely utilise by many agencies in the United Kingdom in an attempt to condone the nature of this complicated problem. During a three-day period of observing the work of the sunflower Centre, a multi-agency support centre in Northampton, a copy of these wheels were provided and are included in Appendix 2.The point that is trying to be conveyed here is that in every case of domestic violence devastating terms is caused to the victim and when considering just how many victims there are, it is clear that something needs to be done to tackle this huge and complicated problem. However, because of the complicated nature of this p roblem, it often requires a response frequently involving more than one agency (Dominy Radford, 1996 43). This is why, beforehand discussing any multi-agency initiatives that attempt to tackle violence against women, it is important to consider which agencies come into take on with victims of domestic violence, why they may come into contact with them and how they, as a single agency, attempt to tackle the problem.Agencies concerned with tackling domestic violenceGill Hague, Ellen Malos and Wendy Dear (1996 23-28) give an insight into who the major players are when it comes to relations with domestic violence. They state that there are numerous agencies that come into contact with victims of domestic violence including those agencies who specialise in the issue and those in which domestic violence work forms only a small percentage of their duties (Hague et al, 1996 23). The agencies listed in the work of Hague, Malos and Dear is provided here, however, a variety of sources will be used to explain why these particular agencies regularly come into contact with victims of domestic violence and how they attempt to tackle the problem.Womens Aid and local womens refugesWomens Aid are a core agency in attempting to tackle domestic violence as they are a national charity that specialise in violence against women. They work hard to help women who have suffered or are suffering violence in numerous ways. Firstly, they work hard to nurse victims of domestic violence by ensuring that there are adequate laws, policies and practices in place for victims of domestic violence. Secondly, they try to prevent violence against women through their on-going publicity campaigns and educational programmes and thirdly they provide numerous services for victims of domestic violence both locally (such as local refuges) and nationally (such as the National Domestic Violence Helpline). Womens Aid help approximately 250,000 women and children every year(Womens Aid, 2010b)