Dynamics of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault are criminal acts and must not be tolerated. Domestic violence occurs within the home and/or in intimate partner relationships. Sexual assault can be perpetrated by a stranger or by a known person. Sexual assault can occur outside of the home as well as in the home. Systems and groups throughout local, state, national and world communities frequently respond to domestic violence as a family instance as opposed to treating it as a criminal act. However, the same violence perpetrated on an individual with whom a relationship does not exist is recognized as a violent crime and is thusly prosecuted by the criminal justice system.
Many groups, systems and individuals believe that sexual assault crimes are based on an individual’s uncontrollable sexual drive. The truth is sexual assault, like domestic violence, is founded in one person’s desire to execute power and control over another person. Sexual assault crimes are sometimes shrouded in victim blaming i.e. “the way she was dressed", "how she walked", or "what did she expect would happen”? Every person has the right to say no!
Many individuals, groups and systems strongly believe that the dynamics of domestic violence are founded in differences in belief systems, anger management and/or blurred gender roles. Another common mythical belief is that only physical abuse constitutes domestic violence.
On the contrary, domestic violence is a pattern of assaultive or coercive behaviors which include:
- physical injury
- psychological abuse
- sexual assault
- progressive social isolation
- stalking
- deprivation
- intimidation
- and threats
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These acts are perpetrated by an individual’s desire to exert power and control.
Because power and control are the major dynamics of domestic violence, the batterer makes concerted efforts to keep the victim isolated from family, friends, community groups and systems who may offer help and/or information. Power and control can and does take many different forms.
| Forms of Power and Control: |
- Controlling all finances and/or denying the victim access to money.
- Accompanying the victim everywhere she goes (medical appointments, shopping, church, visiting family members and friends).
- Verbally demeaning the victim (i.e. “you are stupid”, calling her negative names).
- Making unrealistic demands on housekeeping and personal choices.
- Using religion selectively to control (“scripture says you must be submissive”), eliminating the full context where husbands are called to care for their wives in the manner in which Jesus cares for the church with love and compassion.
- Harming or threats to harm children, family members or pets (“If you defy me I will take the children, kill your parents, shoot the dog").
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| Sexual Assault Facts and Information: |
The medical literature has generally supported the view that sexual assaults by strangers are more serious and more violent than assaults by people known to the victims. A comprehensive, retrospective study was conducted to compare characteristics of sexual assaults by strangers and those by people known to the victims in a community-based population of women. Study patients were females, age 13 years or older, presenting to a sexual assault clinic during a 40-month study period. The clinic is associated with a university-affiliated emergency medicine residency program and is staffed by forensic nurses trained to perform medical/legal examinations using colposcopy with nuclear staining.
Case files of 849 patients were reviewed; the age range was 13 to 82 years (mean, 22.5 years). Sexual assault by a person known to the victim accounted for 646 (76%) cases. The majority of these assailants (68%) were described as acquaintances; 139 (21%) were current or previous boyfriends or spouses; 33 (5%) involved other family members. Sexual assault by a stranger was more likely to occur in the home of the victim (43% v 28%, P < .001), involve weapons or physical coercion (58% v 31%, P < .001), and was associated with more non-genital injuries (61% v 40%, P < .001). However, the overall frequency of anogenital trauma (77% v 71%, P = .10), the mean number of anogenital injuries (2.0 v 2.3, P = .05), and the types of genital trauma were similar in both groups of women. These results demonstrated that 71% of the victims of acquaintance rape sustain anogenital trauma and that these injuries may be as extensive as those caused by unknown assailants. [1]
[1]Grand Rapids MERC/Michigan State University Program in Emergency Medicine, Spectrum Health Hospital-Butterworth Campus; YWCA Nurse Examiner Program, Grand, Rapids, MI, USA Received 18 May 2003; accepted 23 July 2003