Abused Wives
“Every three minutes a woman is raped! Every fifteen seconds a woman is battered! Every six hours a woman is battered to death!” (Mckenzie, Cover) Research indicates that half the women in this country will experience some sort of violence, from a husband or boyfriend, in one form or another and more than one-third are battered repeatedly every year. (Wilson, pg. 8) Domestic violence is often dismissed as a problem that affects only a small group of women, however, as the facts show, the problem is not rare.The term “wife abuse” has many definitions: One of these is the use or threat of physical violence against a partner in a primary relationship. Physical violence is defined as an act that has the potential for physical injury to occur. According to this definition the abused person does not have to be married to the abuser to qualify as an abused victim. In most states, if a woman does not want to press charges against her husband/boyfriend, the case is dropped. Often a woman will not press charges because she is scared of further abuse and/or economic deprivation for her and her children. (Felder, Victor, pg.20) Wife abuse is not a “private matter”. Its presence undermines society. Furt
Felder, R., Victor, B. Getting Away With Murder. New York: Simon Straus, M.A., Gelles, R.J., Steinmetz, S.K., Behind Closed Doors: The Constitution of the United States did not address issues regarding spouse relations, except for the fourth amendment which secures the privacy of the home. Thus, it was left up to state legislature to determine what was legal or illegal in regard to wife abuse. In 1864, North Carolina overturned the “finger-switch rule”. However, the court cautioned that a “man’s home is his castle” and that it was best to “draw the curtain’s” so that the spouses could “forget and forgive”. In 1871, Alabama and Massachusetts enacted a similar policy. In 1883, Maryland was the first state to outlaw wife beating. By 1910, 35 of 46 states granted divorce on the grounds of physical cruelty and many states made wife beating prosecutable as an illegal assault. However, police and courts often overlooked wife-abuse as the custom of chastisement still prevailed. (Okun, pg.5-6) Okun, L., Women Abuse: Facts Replacing Myths. New York: Slate The first shelter in the U.S.A. for battered women was opened in 1974. Currently there are over 600 shelters for battered women throughout the United States. Studies have been made regarding social policy in order to help and protect abused women. However, the problem is not yet resolved. (Okun, pg.7)
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2002
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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