Global Problem Of Violence Against Women Criminology Essay

Global Problem Of military force Against Wo hands Criminology EssayViolence against wo manpower moves to be a global problem. It does not pick verboten race, culture, education, age and class. A persons al-Qaida while considered as a rubber eonser known for many an(prenominal) plenty is as well as a concentrate that endangers lives and raises miscellaneous variants of fierceness carried out against women. Many instances are womens rights violated in the internal environment by people (mostly males) who are or have been entrusted with designer and/or intimacy by the women in the household. These people are lay down in the roles of husbands, fathers/stepfathers, uncles, br differents and other(a)wise relatives.Today, various international musical arrangements have pushed through and through with(predicate) the safeguard of women against madness. The Human Rights framework has led to the creation of certain international heavy mechanisms that would aid in the egis of women against wildness. However, how opinionive are these mechanisms? Whose responsibility is it in terms of combating municipal help abandon against women? These are just nigh of the brains that this testify will explore.II. IntroductionIt is state that the home is a fructify where people are so-called to feel a sense of belonging, stability and precaution and where people are guaranteed to receive emotional and physical well-being in the presence of lovely and caring relationships (Hart Ben-Yoseph 2005). However, for many, home has become a place of terror and vehemence, where instead of living in a peaceful and loving environment, people live every day in fear and call out at the hands of somebody close to them or somebody they take down trust (Khan 2000 in Inocenti Digest 2000 1).Despite various evidences that home(prenominal) help craze affects many women, beyond cultural background, ethnicity and geographic locations, the force only surfaced as a signifi trampt international valet right agenda in the early 1980s (Craven 2003 1). However, in the new-made historic period, in that location is verbalize to be a slap-uper understanding of the causes and effects of house servant power (Khan 2000 in Inocenti Digest 2000 1). Moreover, along with the issues growing signifi after partce, various organizations in the international and regional levels, which were concerned with womens rights, grew along and started to pave fashion for a new era in homo rights (Craven 2003 1). Some of the conventions which were products of the global consensus on domestic military unit were the Convention on the voidance of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Rights of the Child and the curriculum for Action (Khan 2000 in Inocenti Digest, 2000 1). In Australia, the three specific conventions ratified by the authorities are the Convention on the Elimination of all racial Discrimination the Convention Against Torture and other Cr uel, Inhuman Degrading or Punishment and CEDAW which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in the 1970s (Craven 2003 2). However, since the ratification of these conventions, health, welfare and legal professionals in Australia were experiencing a great challenge in figuring out how to formulate programs and policies in consent to the newly conceptualized international legal philosophy on gender or domestic abandon (Craven 2003 1). Progress has been boring, not only for Australia plainly in any case for other nations who adopted the international conventions because the process of identifying effective strategies and approaches to appeal domestic emphasis is still in progress of definition (Khan 2000 in Inocenti Digest, 2000 1).Fifteen historic period ago, the first national statistics on the incidence and prevalence of domestic madness in Australia were published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (1996), wherein they were able to analyse a sample of 6,3 00 Australian women and found out the 42% of women who had been in a preceding relationship reported to have experienced force from their partners. In addition, it was found out that half of the women who reported having incidence of craze with their menses partners sustained more than one type of figure of effect ranging from bruises, cuts, scratches, to stabbing, gun shots or types of injuries (ABS 1996 55 cited in Mulroney 2003 1-2). In more recent socio-economic classs, a battlefield conducted by Access Economics (2004) found that in 2002 to 2003, an estimated 408,100 Australians became victims to domestic delirium, of which 87% were women (Access Economics 2004 1). Furthermore, a memorise conducted by Virueda Payne (2010) through the Australian Institute of Criminology, found that in 2007 to 2008, most homicides that bechancered during within that condemnation period were domestic homicides, where the victim usually shared a domestic relationship with the wrongdoe r. match to Virueda Payne (2010), most of the domestic homicides committed during the period of their study were classified as indicate partner homicides which comprised 60% of their subjects.This goes to show that regular(a) with the advent of the covenants and conventions which catered to discussing and formulating policies to prevent or solve cases which involved incidences of domestic hysteria, at that place is yet much work and transformation to do before we can say that the world is finally ready and able to give a full stop to domestic violence and step.III. BackgroundHistory of planetary Human Rights honorTracing the history of human rights would take us back to the time of the conception of the Ten Commandments and the Code of Hammurabi and the Rights of A whenceian Citizens (Weissbrodt de la Vega 2007 14). The earliest efforts to defend people from abuses such(prenominal) as arbitrary killing, torture, discrimination, famishment and forced eviction came from th e belief that individuals have immutable rights as human beings (Weissbrodt de la Vega 2007 1), and thus they deserve to be protected against any form of abuse. In more recent periods, the efforts to identify and defend human rights was said to be an outcome of the violence and refugee problems during wars (Wesbrodt de la Vega 2007 14), more specifically later on the tragedies which occurred in the Second World War (Cazen 2003).In retrospect, during the rise of the nation-states in the seventeenth century, the classical international right favoured state-sovereignty and did not accept the conception of human rights, for they believed that the nation-state was a good in itself and was more than an instrument to shape up welfare and protection among citizens (Wesbrodt de la Vega 2007 15). However, during the eighteenth to nineteenth century, international law began focusing on previously isolated fields such as the protection of aliens, the protection of minorities, human right s guarantees in national constitutions and laws, abolition of slavery, the protection of victims of armed conflict, self-determination, labor and womens rights.It is believed by some, that the formation of the United Nations in 1945 was a proof of our modern sufferk to protect human rights (Weissbrodt de la Vega 2007 3). fit in to Weissbrodt and de la Vega (2007) the most important source of International law are treaties and customs, for they are said to have legal binding legal effect between the states that signed those agreements (Weissbrodt de la Vega 2007 3). Moreover, it was regarded that the most important treaty organise was the United Nations Charter, which was the cause for the establishment of the United Nations (Weissbrodt de la Vega 2007 3). About 188 nations or so the world singed the United Nations Charter which vowed to form an international alliance with a common goal of upholding the rights of humans and encourage peace and cooperation among nations (Cazen 2003). Three years later, in 1948, the Universal result of Human Rights was established and it mint out the international standards for human rights (Cazen 2003).With regard to womens rights, it was said that the efforts to abolish slavery in the nineteenth century awakened the concern for womens rights during that time, thus began the international struggle for womens rights way back in 1948 during the Seneca Falls Convention and the International Women suffrage Alliance in 1904 (Weissbrodt de la Vega 2007 17).Domestic Violence Definition, Causes and Prevalence in AustraliaDefinitionWhat is domestic violence? What are its causes and how does it affect the lives of women who are victims of such dilemma? These are some of the questions which we will address further in this essay. Domestic violence, as defined in the Article 1 of the UN Declaration of 1993 (as cited in Westendrop Wolleswinkel 37) asAny act of gender-based violence that results in, or is in all likelihood to res ult in, physical, sexual or psychological trauma or distress to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occuring in open or private life.In further detail, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) states that any form of domestic violence whitethorn occur in three areas such as(1) In the family, where violence may be in the form of battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation, other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation(2) In the general community where violence may include rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution(3) In the state, wheresoever it occurs, where violence is perpetrated or condoned.Furthermore, according to Laing and Bobic (2002), Australian literature recognizes that domestic violence, whether defined as domestic or family, may include a lean of violent demeanours from physical, sexual, verbal, psychological, to emotional abuse, social isolation and forms of financial abuse (Laing Bobic 2002 14 as cited in Access Economics 2004 3).PrevalenceThe Victorian form _or_ system of government-making sympathies recognizes that women are at greater risks of family violence, sexual violation, harassment and stalking than men ( westbound Region Network Against Family Violence 200316) In addition, the Victorian Government also contends that women are more likely to experience violence in the home rather than in public places, especially in the hands of their previous or current partners, and most especially, the cycle of violence occurs in the scene of an actual continuity of power asymmetry and inequality between men and women in the society (Victorian Government 2002 20 as cited in Western Region Network Against Family V iolence 200316).Over time, various studies have been conducted in order to describe the prevalence of domestic violence in Australia. As mentioned in the previous paragraphs of this essay, the first break through in meeting the largest statistical info with accordance to incidences of domestic violence was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for their Womens Safety field of study in 1996, where they were able to gather 6,300 respondents. According to the results of the survey, one out of twelve Australian women who were married or in a de facto relationship experienced some form of violence from their current partners (Interbreur 2001). The ABS Womens Safety Survey also found that more women experienced violence from their previous or current partners rather another person, stranger or male known to them (Western Region Network Against Family Violence 200318). And in 2005, ABS personalized Safety Survey found that during the 12 month period prior to the time when t he survey was conducted, 38% reported to have experienced the assault from a male perpetrator, particularly their previous or current intimate partners (Parliamentary Library 2009). Moreover, in more recent data, in a study conducted by the Virued Payne in 2010, they found that more domestic homicides occurred in the year 2007 to 2008, wherein the victim usually shared a domestic relationship with the offender and 60% of these incidents were classified as intimate partner homicides. Now the question arises why do men victimize women in abusive behaviour?CausesWomen who are victims of domestic violence have no common factor. The act may occur to anyone, regardless of their socioeconomic status or their racial and cultural background (Better health have a bun in the oven 2011). However, women who are young, indigenous, have a disability, or those who live in rural areas were found to be at greater risk in incidences of domestic violence (Better Health Channel 2011). Furthermore, th e Domestic Violence Resource Victim Victoria, through Better Health Channel (2011), identified some of the prevalent causes or reasons why some men inflict violence and abuse on some women, and it was said that domestic violence may be caused by a late regard for maleness or a firm patriarchal mental capacity of some males, and abusers often tend to blame the acts of violence to intoxication (alcohol), to other people, or other forms of circumstances. However, as what the Victorian government has stated, domestic violence may have roots on the existing power derangement or continuing patriarchal mindset of people.IV. DiscussionInternational Law and Violence against Women The Mechanisms and their EffectivenessAs discussed earlier, the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1993 set out the international standard for protecting the rights of individuals. However, although the UN charter has affirmed the supposed equality between women and men, the gender-blindness often resulted to case s of structural discrimination against women and womens rights were still neglected (Westendorp Wolliswenkel 2005 20). During that time, international human rights law was peculiar(a) to protecting only the public, political legal and social firmament and did not include the private sphere of the home and family (Westendorp Wolliswenkel 2005 20). In effect, using the international human rights law as a framework to look into womens rights entailed certain methods and mechanisms to determine the obligations of governments to protect the human rights of women and to hold the government accountable if they fail to meet their obligations (Westendorp Wolliswenkel 2005 20). For instance, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which was one of the mechanism used to address the issue, required all nation states who ratified the said convention to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women by any person, o rganization or enterprise (Westendorp Wolliswenkel 2005 21). Furthermore, in 1993, the UN finally declared violence against women as a human rights violation which required urgent attention (Westendorp Wolliswenkel 2005 22). afterwards the declaration, more conventions and mechanism were created and another successful mechanism which was an outcome of the continue lobbying of women from different NGOs was the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995 and the capital of Italy Statute in 1998 which included nuisances such as rape, war crimes and other forms of crimes against humanity (Westendorp Wolliswenkel 2005 23).Protecting the Rights of Women, Who is Responsible?Australias commitment to the ratification of CEDAW or the Womens Convention, as what Crazen (2003) was not as smooth and easy as what one mogul expect. Often, the common problem of states when ratifying mechanism or policies of international human rights law concerning womens rights is how to assimilate th ose international policies into their domestic policies without any form of confusion. There were many reservations from some nations when CEDAW was imposed by UN, and primarily these reservations effected to some nations enervating in the commitment to the alliance of upholding womens rights, and by doing so, they have reduced their obligations upon ever-changing their domestic policies. In Australia, the Commonwealth recognizes that it is the role of the government to address domestic violence, so that they have created many committees and organization to cater to issues and incidences of domestic violence. As far as 1986, the Commonwealth of Australia commenced its role in addressing the issue of domestic violence, followed by their efforts to establish the Office of the Status of Women (OSW). From then on, the Commonwealth has helped in the quest for keeping actual and factual records of incidences of domestic violence in Australia through sponsoring series of surveys from 1987 up to 2005 (Parliamentary Library 2009).However, the role of the Commonwealth is limited only to spear-heading standard approaches to policy and legislative reforms in the states and territories in Australia each(prenominal) state then, will and must be the ones responsible in enforcing and implementing policies concerning domestic violence (Parliamentary Library 2009). Policy development in Australia has gone through a long way of reformation and implementation. During the 20 years of those policy making and developments, the government was able to focus on tertiary levels of interjection on domestic violence by providing sympathetic and victim centred fright after the assault (Parliamentary Library 2009). These tertiary interventions exist in the forms of violence reports, law reform, provision of refugees, health care and accommodation and domestic violence services.V. Conclusions and RecommendationsMajority of the Australian literature reviewed for the purpose of this essay r eported that domestic violence and any form of abuse happening in the condition of home and family are regarded as one of the most under-reported crime offenses in various states around Australia. As we have reviewed the figures since the earliest ABS Womens Safety Survey in 1996 to the homicide reports of the Australian Institute of Criminology in 2010, we see that even with the efforts of the government to implement committees and legislative reforms in order to address domestic violence and prevent them, the figures have shown us that the efforts may have had only self-conceited effects on the total elimination of the incidences of domestic violence. Although domestic violence against women have been specifically defined by the UN, the law was found to be limited in addressing all forms of abuse, in such a way that some types of violence such as economic deprivation, excessive possessiveness or jealousy and enforced isolation were found to be not forthwith remediable through l egal measures (Alexander Seddon 2002).Furthermore, throughout the review of related literatures for this essay, it has also been found that policy making was not the only problem with the slow progress for the elimination of violence against women, but also, there were underlying problems which prevented the potency of the international law mechanisms. One of those reasons would be the existing power imbalance and the patriarchal mindset of societies and most specifically, the very high regard for masculinity amongst male offenders. Another would reason was that some societies wherein customs and traditions would often place women in the lower hand often react more defensively against the imposition of the international law mechanisms in their domestic legislation. Thus, throughout the world, there may still be some states that are guilty of condoning violence against women as they will argue that it is part of their customs and traditions.On a positive note, the Commonwealth of A ustralia has been consistent with its commitment towards the battle against the incidences of violence against women, by creating committees and funding surveys in order to check the current situation of the issue in Australia. However, their efforts may also come to waste since most victims of abuse would not be open to reporting the abuse to authorities. As we can see, there is a chain reaction which exists amongst perpetrators, the victims and the legislative reform perpetrators continue to uphold the patriarchal mindset while the victims remain silent close the abuse, and then the government will have difficulty formulating policies for prevention and actions against the crime while they also have difficulty in obtaining spotless data of the real prevalence of domestic violence in Australia.Basing on these conclusions, it is then safe to recommend that a massive effort towards educating people about(predicate) domestic violence be done. This may help in modifying the existing resentment or feelings of indifirrence towards the policies intended to prevent or solve cases of domestic violence. Education or knowing more about issue may provide enlightenment on people and soon modify their sort and beliefs about domestic violence. It is also important to make the victims feel that they have the law to protect them, so that when they come out and report incidence of abuse, they will be assured of their safety and their lives will become frequent again. When finally, victims will feel that it is safe and okay to admit that they are victims of abuse, accurate data will then be acquired and the government will see the real prevalence of the issue. As for the legal framework, there is still a long way to go before we can finally put every policy with regard to violence against in women at place, but the best thing to do would be to focus on the safety actions, such as the tertiary measures provided by the Commonwealth, and to keep on thrust for reformations.