When Struggle Hits Home

by: Charly Oscanoa ‘15

            Domestic violence, an atrocious form of violence, tends to occur in the household usually victimizing defenseless women and children. Incidents of domestic violence have become more frequent through the years, peaking in 2010. The term "domestic violence" previously referred to urban riots prior to 1980, rather than familial unrest. 

            According to a study conducted by Sara Shoener, a public health researcher, "The most common barriers to women’s safety were something I had never considered before: the high value our culture placed on two-parent families.” As a result of this mindset, the majority of women being abused have stayed in contact with their abusive husband. Society has been blinded by the importance of having both a mother and a father but neglects the even greater importance of a mother-child relationship in abuse cases. Shoener recalls a court case that involved a fight over a custody battle. Unfortunately, the mother lost and therefore has to drop her son off at her husband's house every week. The judge is said to have claimed, after the mother's refusal to the order, "You know what? You are just trying to keep this child from his father, aren't you?"

            Shoener's study also gave the audience the notion that society had made a solid correlation between marriage and success. Shame was also a leading factor toward women not leaving the source of their abuse. As one victim said, "I don't want to be this young pregnant mom who they say never lasts with the baby's father. I don't want to be like that."

            Even though it may sound absurd, the majority of abused women choose to stay with their abusive significant other because they believe that being a good mother is one who marries the father of her children and tries to strengthen the relationship between them. In a 2010 Pew report, sixty-nine percent of Americans said that mothers who are without partners to raise their children are bad for society. Sixty-one percent of Americans agree that both parents are essential for the proper development of a child. However, this nation is not the only one that suffers from this epidemic. In every nation there is violence but to different degrees.

            Today, this issue has reached one of the largest incorporations in the world, the NFL. This indicates that if it could happen to individuals who live in luxury, what stops it from affecting the ones living in poverty. This issue knows no boundaries when it comes to social status since anyone can result to violence in order to release his or her anger. Domestic violence is not a minor offense in this country and therefore should be made a national priority to improve our resemblance to the American dream.