domestic violence

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence refers to any harmful or insulting behavior which is being repeatedly employed by an individual on his or her intimate partner in to be in control . Such behavior could be physical (slapping , punching , hair-pulling , psychological (threat of physical harm , or emotional (name calling or nonstop criticism . In some situations , domestic violence even takes the form of a sexual abuse (marital rape or demeaning a partner sexually ) or an action which harms the other partner economically like exercising complete control over the source of income , thereby preventing the victim from

having any access to money . Domestic violence victimizes men , women , gays and lesbians regardless of age , skin color , or religious affiliation who are either living together or merely dating , including their relatives and friends (U .S . Department of Justice , Office on Violence Against Women According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics , around 700 ,000 instances of domestic violence are being reported every year . Meanwhile , data available at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI ) show that a of 57 ,000 deaths have already occurred during the last 25 years because of domestic violence (Ashcroft , John

Claims as to the origin of the organized attempt to denounce violence against women vary . Referred to as Take Back the Night ' rally , some quarters believe that it was started by a group of women in London sometime in 1877 when they decided to gather together one night and speak against the violence that they had been experiencing in the streets of London at night . There are others , however , who believe that it first took place in 1976 when women delegates to the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women , bearing lit candles , held an evening march in the streets of Belgium and denounced the spread of violence against the women sector . Regardless of whether that rally in Belgium should be considered the root of the Take Back the Night rally , the fact is that it sparked the worldwide tradition when it was directly followed by thousands of rallies and marches held elsewhere around the world adopting the name Take Back the Night (takebackthenight .org

The tradition finally reached American soil by 1978 . A rally which was held one evening in San Francisco right after a conference against pornography used the slogan Take Back the Night ' Those who witnessed that rally were treated to the sad experiences of the very individuals whose lives were negatively affected by the evils of pornography . That San Francisco rally started the practice of letting victims of violence against women speak during every Take Back the Night rally to share their sad experiences with other women . It is believed that talking about their experience in front of people represents a public affirmation of their desire to evolve from being victims of pornography and violence to gallant survivors . Nowadays , every Take Back the Night rally features survivor speakouts ' in addition to its regular elements like candlelight vigils [and] empowerment marches (takebackthenight .org

With its emergence in the United States...