Kyoto treaty?

While trying to find sources I found an article that contained information that I was not sure of.  It said:

“Almost 15 years from the Kyoto treaty (1995) that created a global framework for preventing and addressing violence against women in general, and intimate partner violence in particular, high rates of abuse against women persist.”

It then went on to discuss how the Kyoto treaty changed many policies and services for women that were victims of  intimate partner violence.  From anything that I have previously heard, or found so far while trying to research this, the Kyoto treaty was a protocol that was aimed at combating global warming.  I found it strange that these to things may have been named the same thing or this author was just confused.  Just thought it was interesting and wanted to see if anyone had any input!

Stronger laws- not the entire solution

My last post gave  a couple examples of laws that could be changed to try to combat domestic violence.  I thought that stronger laws would be a good way to reduce the occurrence of violence until I found another article that brought up a counterpoint.   In some of my other posts I brought up factors that may lead to violence such as cultural expectations.  My other post on teaching alternatives to domestic aggression also goes hand-in-hand with this post in that it talked about programs that men can be a part of to help with aggression.  I still believe that we could benefit from creating stronger laws, but that should only be a part of the solution.

The legal system punishes the violent individual for their behavior, but it does not deal with the underlying problems.  Putting an individual in jail does not address the broad range of emotional or psychological problems that may have lead to the abuse in the first place.  As discussed before there are innumerable factors that go into each individual case of domestic violence.  I can not imagine that many people go home with the intent to harm one of their family members.  Stressors from all aspects of their life can build up into a situation that results in domestic violence.  There should be laws that hold people accountable for their actions, but also mandatory programs to help these individuals deal with situations appropriately.   There can not be a generic rule guide that all abusers and victims follow.  Instead cases should be assessed and dealt with accordingly.

Stronger Laws to fight against domestic violence

Many statistics  provide the proof that something needs to be done about domestic violence.  One way to try to minimize domestic violence would be to alter laws and punishments of those who commit these crimes.  There is a broad range of steps that legislatures could take to change laws dealing with domestic violence.  Changing the laws would hopefully have a dramatic effect on the way this violent behavior is dealt with in our society.  Laws that deal with child abusers could be made tougher to try to protect children against physical, as well as emotional harm.  Another law that could be changed is that courts could be required to deny custodial or visitation rights to a parent that has been convicted on charges of domestic violence.  Legislation could allow courts, criminal and family, to issue orders of protection.  These would include a court order aiming to protect actual along with potential victims of domestic violence and would remain active the duration of the threat of violence.

Family Justice Center

The Family Justice center hopes to be a “one stop shop” for women who need assistance dealing with domestic violence. The center along with the Safe Haven Shelter have recognized the issue of domestic violence and they work toward supplying support when abuse happens as well as preventive education and awareness.  The ‘vision’ for a center such as The Family Justice Center was first created in 1989.  Since that time they have created centers around the globe. [2]. The idea of the Family Justice Center is that victims would have an easier time receiving needed services if they only had to go one place to get all the necessary help.  Victims would benefit greatly from having all of the necessary resources located in one building in ways such as not having to worry about transportation or the frustration of retelling their story over and over to separate organizations.

Safe Haven Shelter

The Safe Haven Shelter is operated here in Duluth to help women and children who are victims of domestic violence.  Women who are affected by emotional, physical, or sexual abuse can receive a wide-range of assistance through the Safe Haven Shelter along with the Family Justice Center.  The shelter is built on the idea of empowering women.  Emergency shelter is available 24-hours a day for women and children.  They also offer support groups, community education, individual advocacy, and information and referrals.  The Safe Haven Shelter has four main components that they structure their organization on.  The first is their shelter program.  The shelter can house up to 39 women and children at a time.  During their stay at the shelter women receive food, shelter, and a supportive environment.  Women are given assistance and then supported to make their own decisions throughout their stay at the shelter.  The second component of the Safe Haven Shelter is their Legal Advocacy Program.  This program gives assistance to women who are not staying at the shelter.  They offer assistance such as transportation and support for court hearings, help gathering and documenting evidence, and communication to probation officers, counselors, and legal professionals such as prosecuting attorneys.   The third component is the Education Program.  The Safe Haven Shelter not only wants to better educate the women who are victims of domestic violence in order to empower them, but also the community in which the shelter resides.  They organize speeches and demonstrations for high schools, colleges, and the general public.  They also work to develop education programs to be taught in high schools.  Volunteering is the last component.  The shelter welcomes and trains volunteers who want to have any commitment level.  Volunteers can be trained in numerous areas of the programs.  A volunteer can be trained as a GED educator, victim historian or an activity leader.  They can also work in areas of administration, fundraising, childcare, weekend cooking, or tutoring.  The endless opportunities for helping others are only limited by the amount of time you have to give to this organization.

http://www.safehavenshelter.org/index.html

Domestic violence laws inconsistent

Cosby: Domestic violence laws inconsistent

With the recent passing of Domestic Violence Awareness Week at the end of October many people have taken a closer look at the laws behind domestic violence.  Many of these people, such as assistant district attorney Eve Kemple and Attorney Kenzie Singleton have found these laws to be inconsistent with their punishments.

They have noted that an abuser who beats his or her significant other will more than likely only be charged with a misdemeanor domestic battery charge and at the maximum, end up spending a day or two in jail. But, on the other hand, a verbal threat such as “Get away from me or I’ll kill you” results in a felony charge.  They further explain that the more appalling crimes such as an actual physical beating should receive harsher punishments and that the current legal procedures are insufficient in preventing or rehabilitating abusers.

http://www.kansan.com/news/2009/nov/10/cosby/

Alternatives to Domestic Aggression

Many organizations are founded to help women with domestic violence issues.  From giving them shelter to helping them with legal issues, organizations do a tremendous amount to help with the problem of domestic violence.

An alternative way of dealing with domestic violence is programs for the men that aggressively victimize these women.  These programs, such as ADA, holds the men accountable for their actions and teaches them new positive ways to deal with problems.  Men can learn interpersonal skills and learn to identify, label, and acknowledge their battering behavior.  These types of organizations often hold group meetings for the men to interact with each other and learn how to put their newly learned skills to work in their everyday lives.

http://www.csswashtenaw.org/ada/resources/wheels.html

I looked up some of these programs to learn more about how common these programs are and what they want to accomplish.  One of the programs that had a lot of information was Amend.  Here is a little bit of information from the website:

AMEND is a nonprofit organization working to end domestic violence by providing counseling to men who have been abusive, advocacy and support to their partners and children, and education to the community.

AMEND’s mission is to help men stop their violence and break the cycle of abuse so that they and their partners, children, and families may live in safe and peaceful homes.

AMEND’s philosophy of treatment centers around responsibility: we are responsible for what we feel, how we act, and the consequences of our actions.

Many men who abuse their intimate partners feel that they have been provoked to be violent, that what they did wasn’t really so bad, that anyone would have done the same, or that the whole event was caused by the police or someone outside the family.

At AMEND, we know that minimizing and denying violent behavior is really the same as deciding to continue to be violent towards your partner.

We encourage you to browse our web site to:

• Become informed on new issues.
• Become inspired by what you learn.
• And then, take whatever steps you can to make a difference.

Please contact us if you need help, to volunteer your time and talents, or to make a tax-deductible contribution.

Cultural expectations a factor?

“Violence against women will cease when men renounce the thinking and practice of dominance. We can begin to do this on an individual basis at home, at work, and in our community. I hope men will take the initiative and work with other men to confront sexism and violence, not to get approval from women, but because it is the right thing to do for women and men.”

–Michael Paymar, Training Coordinator, Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, Duluth, Minnesota

This is a quote I found on a website I was using and thought it was worth including in my post.  The article I read that was connected to it discussed the idea of our society being one that throughout history has been male dominated.  Cultural expectations of how a man is supposed to be in charge adds to the many other factors.  Some other factors are history of abusive relationships, loss (e.g. loss of  job or death), and stress outside the home.  Often times batterers fear losing control in the relationship with the victim.  Batterers are also often out of touch with emotions other than anger and have a lack of trust in others.

Here is the link to the article   http://pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/vawc/vawc_4_pg4.htm

Project Status Report

Social problem claim

Domestic violence is a growing, widespread social concern that is prevalent across all races, ages, and socio-economic classes in America.[1] Communities need to give their support to victims of domestic abuse and help make the necessary resources available for victims to leave abusive relationships.

Grounds

A common misconception is that domestic violence seldom happens and the media exaggerates is exaggerating claims about it.  The reality is that approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner in the United States annually. [3] Of all nonfatal violent crime experienced by women in the United States in 2001, domestic violence made up an astonishing 20%. [3]

Warrant

Victims would have an easier time receiving needed services if they only had to go one place to get all the necessary help.  Victims would benefit greatly from having all of the necessary resources located in one building in ways such as not having to worry about transportation or the frustration of retelling their story over and over to separate organizations.  [2] Domestic violence is a serious issue that women face and is a problem that effects more than just the immediate victim.  Children in the homes where domestic violence is present are greatly affected.[1]

Location in social problem process

The Family Justice Center is in the social problems work stage in the social problem process.  The center along with the Safe Haven Shelter have recognized the issue of domestic violence and they work toward supplying support when abuse happens as well as preventive education and awareness.  The ‘vision’ for a center such as The Family Justice Center was first created in 1989.  Since that time they have created centers around the globe. [2] The issue of domestic violence is in the policy outcomes stage.  Laws such as the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 have been making progress to improve victim services and new laws continue to be passed in states across the country. [4]

Specific direction

To move my project forward I will need to find more information on the Family Justice Center.  When visiting the Family Justice Center I hope to learn about the services they provide and about the legal struggles that victims of domestic abuse go through.  After spending time at the Safe Haven Shelter I have a better idea of what they do at their location and what is done in our community to protect victims of domestic violence.  I would like to learn more about the current laws that affect victims as well as the people who are charged with domestic violence.

[1.]  http://www.safehavenshelter.org/information/MythsAboutDV.html

[2.]http://www.familyjusticecenter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12&Itemid=26

[3.]  http://www.abanet.org/domviol/statistics.html

[4]http://www.stopvaw.org/State_and_Federal_Domestic_Violence_Laws_in_the_United_States.html

Domestic Violence Opposing Viewpoint Video

While watching videos on youtube in search of a decent one to add to my blog I watched one video that was so offensive in its beginning I coudn’t help but to add some comment on it.  The video was titled ” domestic violence- women are half the problem.”  The video talked about how men are not completely to blame, which in some cases may be true but as the video went on it made many offensive and ridiculous statements.  It described our modern belief of domestic violence as “brutish thugs beating the crap out of Mary Poppins for burning the toast.”  When they talked about how we view battered women they stated that “too many of them are being propped up like the starving children you see on your tv at 2 in the morning.”  The video had some good points about the lack of support for men but domestic violence is too serious of an issue to be making crude comments about it.  Women, and men as well, need all the support they can get when trying to get out of an abusive relationship and I do not see how an advertisement such as this one will be helpful to anyone.

I included the url in case anyone wanted to see the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOu_BszChIE