Rihanna was beaten by her boyfriend, Chris Brown. Lady Gaga spoke out about her sexual assault. Pamela Anderson’s husband physically and emotionally abused her. The latest is Kesha and losing her court case against her producer when he sexually assaulted her. Domestic violence still occurs in America today and us as religion and laws taught a country that it was okay to stay in the vicious cycle. There have been cases that have explored what domestic violence is and what the outcomes become show how violence against women is an ongoing social issue.
That is to say; religion has played a raction in the history of domestic violence against women. In the article, “Violence Against Women and the Role of Religion”, it discusses the different verses that enable women to be victims of domestic violence. The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), says in Ephesians chapter five verses twenty-two through twenty-four, “Wives be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior.
Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. On may interrupt this as telling women who are being battered that they should remain in their abusive relationships, attempt to better themselves to please their husbands, and follow the famous phrase, “forgive and forget. ” (Fortune and Enger, 2013). Other verses in the Bible have such as Ephesians chapter five verse twenty that mentions the subservience in marriage, and the prohibiting of divorce mentioned in Malachi chapter two verses thirteen through sixteen(Fortune and Enger, 2013).
The last verse to suggest about the role of religion and domestic violence comes from Deuteronomy chapter twenty-two verses twenty-eight through twenty-nine. It says “If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay her father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives. ” This verse is implying that if a man rapes women her father will accept money, and she will be married off to him.
Another underlying message is that women should be submissive and not have a voice in what happens to them. Religion, however not all terrible, has made mplications that women must stay with her abuser, and in some cases, depending on the father’s decision, having the man who raped his daughter marry her (Fortune and Enger, 2013). In a like manner to religion, laws that Americans created in past have played a larger portion in the violence against women. In the year of 1641, the early Puritan settlers of Massachusetts Bay Colony had established the law to prohibit spousal abuse.
With the timing of this law and where we are today, you would believe that there would be more progress in the world now. In the 1800s, numerous state courts supported that husband had right to discipline, and that domestic problems were expected to remain hidden and dealt with by husbands and wives themselves (Depoy & Gilson). In the year of 1824, the English common law allowed a man to beat his wife with a rod no thicker than his thumb, which evidently is how we created the term, “the rule of thumb.
A few years later in 1868, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that a husband cannot be prosecuted for assault and battery if his wife’s injuries were not permanent. In the 1880s three states, Maryland, Delaware, and Oregon that made any domestic violence acts against women, owever, they were not often enforced. In all the states in America, rape within marriage was legal until the nineteenth century (Doe). Up until the 1920s, women were not able to vote in this country, which implied that their thoughts did not matter and whatever their husbands or male figure in their life says is what is done.
Domestic violence is rarely reported, and often it is too late to save someone. There was a case in North Carolina about a school teacher, Laurrissa Armstrong. She asked two different judges for a restraining order, but, unfortunately, was denied. Her husband was hitting her, and he had recently slashed her tires (Mantel, 2013). Laurrissa had mentioned that his behaviors were escalating, and he even admitted to abusing her but claimed that he was not a violent person. In the month of September, Laurrissa Armstrong had passed away after her husband shot her in a parking lot outside her home (Mantel, 2013).
With the adverse outcome of Laurrissa Armstrong, there were two court cases made a significant difference to help fight the violence against women. These were the Bradley vs. Mississippi and Meritor Savings Bank vs. Vinson. Mechelle Vinson was a victim of sexual harassment by the vice president, Sidney Taylor, of the Meritor Saving Bank. Mechelle was terminated from her job at the bank after being on medical leave. She went and pressed charges of sexual harassment that she had undergone for the years she worked there.
In 1986, the case of Meritor Savings Bank vs. Vinson was one instance that changed the course of sexual harassment against women in the workplace. The court ruling was that sexual assault in the workforce is discrimination and banned by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Cochran). A side note of the decision was that the arassment was not only illegal when a career is terminated, but when it has a hostile environment in the workplace. In the Calvin Bradley vs. The state of Mississippi, a man, could not be prosecuted for assaulting his wife, however, in this case, Calvin Bradley attack had gone too far that he was found guilty of assault and battery.
This became the first legal ruling of reasonable chastisement in America (Swanson, 2014). “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit” is one of the most famous quotes from the domestic violence murder trial of Nicole Brown Simpson, the ex-wife of O. J Simpson. O. J Simpson was an American icon who was arrested after a car chase and who was charged with the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend Ronald Goldman. Nicole Brown Simpson was being harassed, beaten, and stalked by OJ Simpson. Throughout the case, they had the footprints, blood evidence, gloves at the sight, phone calls, and even hair evidence O. J Simpson was not found guilty of the murders. The families did not stop there and went on to another lawyer. They had recorded him answering questions, and when they had gone to trial the second time in civil court, O. J Simpson was found guilty of murdering both Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman although he did not go to prison (Linder, 2000).
However, when he was arrested for robbery and kidnapping, he was sentenced to thirty-three years in jail. This case brought the awareness of domestic violence which brought the passing of Violence Against Women Act. n domestic violence situation often have a difficult time escaping their abuser. Many victims of this abuse have a family with their abuser, or it is possible they share a house and are financially depend on one another. In some states, such as New York and New Jersey if there is the police that has documented he abuse, or if there is a restraining on the person who is abusing them they allow for lease to be terminated early without having to pay the rest of rent (State Domestic Violence Legislation).
Most states have decided that when there is a domestic violence dispute that the police are required to arrest at least one of the people involved, or to write a report that gives a valid reason for choosing not to make an arrest. Three states, New York, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, have it so that the People who are police are obligated to make an arrest during a domestic iolence dispute, but only if the argument meets the standards they have )State Domestic Violence Legislation). Having to report is becoming more and more mandatory.
In the majority of the states, a medical professional must make a call to the police and file a report if they suspect there is domestic abuse going on with a client. In the state of California, any counselor or psychologist do not have to report if they know about a domestic violence situation (State Domestic Violence Legislation). They have it this way because they believe that can better the victim to get help without having to go to the police, r until they are comfortable enough to do so. In Wyoming and New Jersey, the medical professionals do not have to report if they suspect a domestic abuse.
This is because in the laws anyone who suspects that there is domestic abuse going on is to report. They are the only two states have their laws set up this way (State Domestic Violence Legislation). When the act was first in place in 1994 by Joe Biden, it was meant to increase the funding for investigations and prosecutions of the crimes against women. According to Rosemary Chaplin (2011), the purpose of The Violence Against Women Act is “To fund direct ervices for sexual assault victims, screening for exposure to domestic and sexual violence and increase the enforcement of protections to immigrants victims.
To create healthcare initiative that trains healthcare professionals and medical students to recognize and identify domestic violence (p. 242). “. The Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act in 2000 was the reason the act was updated (Chaplin, 2011, p. 242). In The Violence Against Women Act, the goal is to “address domestic violence dating violence, sexual assault and stalking” ( Modi, Palmer, & Armstrong, 2014, p. 253). It stresses that community care is necessary within attorneys and persecutors, law enforcement, and victim services (Modi, Palmer, & Armstrong, 2014, p. 53).
Public Law number for the Violence Against Women Act is number 109-162. This Act’s benefits and services are to provide facilities for the victims of the violent crimes (Chaplin, 2011, p. 242). To receive the services the only eligibility requirement is that a person has to be a victim of a violent crime (Chaplin, 2011, p. 242). The services are delivered from the Department of Justice along with the services at the state and local levels Chaplin, 2011, p. 242). The Violence Against Women Act is funded through federal grants.
The funding comes from the Department of Justice and also Human Services (Laney,2010, p. 2). The most recent funding total from both was $667. 50 million, which was then divided into the different programs(Laney, 2010, p. 12). The most funded program, however, is the called STOP (Services Training Officers Prosecutors), which have grants that help the state governments provide to strength their communities and educate not only themselves but everyone on the issues of domestic violence (Laney, 2010, p. . Funding for the policy focuses on the education of the issue as well as creating social programs to prevent domestic violence. One of the main concentrations of the funding goes to more local government programs. This is because the local governments appeared to have a better way of reducing the violence (Laney, 2010, p. 4). In summary, on Wikipedia, it states “Violence against women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions.
At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime with the abuser usually someone known to her. ” Domestic Violence is within all cultures, ethnics, religions, and even gender. It is crucial to understand that domestic violence can happen to anyone at any time. This is a crime that is has been impacted by religion and laws that were created in America. There have been a few cases that have shed light domestic violence and also bring awareness to what serious social issue it is.