Domestic violence is one of the widespread social problems in United States and Afghanistan.
Almost a third of women in America are reported either sexually abused by men or physically abused.
Many people take domestic violence as a matter that privately involves couples, without considering it as a criminal offence. Domestic violence is a rude or rather criminal act where by women, youth or children are battered or mistreated by husbands, parents or relatives. Domestic violence occurs when a member in a family, partner physically attempts to dominate over the other. It also involves the psychological torture. The abuse can be made by either men or women to the same sex or opposite sex regardless of culture, ethnicity, class or religion.
Domestic violence has many forms and these include violence, threats, emotional abuse, physical violence intimidation or sexual abuse. Though domestic violence is a very serious problem in US, it can be prevented basically by creating awareness to all people in the world.
Social problems include the murder, rape and other abuses. These can be directed to either women male youth or children. When physical violence is used there is the potential of injury, causing disability and or even death. The sexual violence can be referred to the use of physical force to engage an individual in sexual act without their willingness, or attempted if not complete involvement of an individual who do not understand the condition for the act and or the abusive sexual contact to an individual.
A person is abused psychologically when he or she is humiliated, or deliberately embarrassed.
A person can be abused economically where someone gets total control over the victim’s money or resources. A victim can also be stalked and all these gang up to domestic violence.
Domestic Violence Policies in US, and Afghanistan
In United States, a Policy has been developed in rural health to facilitate in responding to Domestic Violence. National health project has been implemented to evaluate the Domestic Violence resource manual utilization to enhance the use of strategies mentioned in the manual and to analyze the ability of the manual to be used in various settings. Each hospital in the United States recruits a multi disciplinary team as a policy to advocate for Domestic Violence in the local Domestic Violence Program, in contrast to Afghanistan, where neither the Afghan government, nor organizations have implemented these kinds of policies.
The protection from Harassment Act of 1997, started being used in the 16th day of June 1997, and was involved with sorting out anti-social crimes involving human rights. The Act mainly deals with all sort of harassment not caring about the behavior lead to the harassment. Despite social confinement, the Act deals with individual case.
The welfare policies are involved with housing of the homeless, providing social securities of the members of the community including in the workplace, introducing hunger and nutrition programs which enables the victim to get food and good nutrition. The children are given special care and supported.
In United States there are agencies which enforcement Law, social service agencies and correction agencies which combined to try and respond to domestic violence. The agencies have standard operating procedures which they usually use when sorting out domestic calls. This is because in the past, the domestic violence reports were not taken as a major public issue on the bases that it was private and involved couples. It has been agreed that the suspect should be arrested and charged with the crime is a victim, has recent evidence of abuse. The US Policy Enables the children and any other victim of Domestic violence to be given priority when deciding on whether prosecute, unlike in Afghanistan. A Project to intervene Domestic Abuse was formed to address the domestic violence issue. This project involved agencies concerned with domestic situation, form the streets starting with police officers to the shelters for battled woman or any other victim of abuse and officers supervising offenders. This program has set a model, to other jurisdiction, and in many areas there has been supervision of domestic violence offenders in a closer manner by the correction agencies. (Dworkin&Schipani, 2003, p.30).
In United States, the welfare for able workers engaged CCC and WPA, which got scraped off after employment being brought back during Second World War. The states did not cease to non working people and Disabled people. Disability started being insured, and welfare grew rapidly.
An Aid to families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was formed in United States, through which welfare payments were channeled. This program got many criticisms, with rumors spreading that some women cheated the system by getting double payments on monthly basis thus made them grow richer and richer without working. This program was attacked seriously from 1980s to 1990s, when the president (who by then was Bill Clinton) he moved people from state where they only waited to be cared for and put them to work through waiver programs. The programs enhance the ability of the states to test and analyze many measures from the welfare reform. Under the law, the maximum number if five years was set such that no person could get the payment for more than these years. (Coney&Mackey, 1999, p.78).
In Afghanistan, women’s rights are violated, and the much they have done to help victims, is providing few shelters in its capital city which act as homes for women and girls who escape violence in their home or who flee to seek legal support. The Ministry of Women Affairs (MOWA) in Afghanistan also supports these shelters which accommodate, train, and give health care as well as protection to the affected women and girls. However the biggest challenge is that the shelters are few compared to the number of the fleeing women and girls thus many of them lack the chance to be in these shelters, after being forced and brutally thrown out of their homes. Despite the Afghanistan new constitution stating equality of men and women in the law, some of the victims of Domestic Violence end up being in prison, and even in jail which they consider better and safer than their homes. This brings the contrast between the Afghanistan and the United States Domestic Violence Policies.
Not only women are brutality battered but also children are forced to do very hard works and their rights ignored. Despite the domestic abuse of both women and children, victims of abuse hesitate to report due to the associated social stigma, since by speaking out about the violence against her by the family, she is usually considered to have dishonored her family.
Both of the welfare policies, are insufficient to me, from my own consideration, I think that after the long period of these countries war, poverty, cultural belief and displacement, something need to be done, because if the countries are seeking peace then the first step in attaining peace starts in the home where they live thus domestic brutality should be stopped and have a good relationship understanding and care for each member in the home, despite the gender or age factor to enhance demonstration of the same outside the homesteads thus creating peace.
This requires educating all members of the society and teaching them the need for understanding and caring for each other. Each member of the society has his/her right which others should respect and honor to stop violence.
Both the Afghanistan and United States communities should not only involve men in economical development, but also women thus increasing their total income and improving the countries economy.
In US, September was made a National Domestic Violence Awareness Month since 29th 2006 as away of minimizing the Violence. There has been an American Institute, where training on Domestic Violence in work places giving awareness of the policy and procedures which enhances protection to victims ,employees, and employers, unlike in Afghanistan. In US, there is a National Policy to prevent violence and injury where the Government has created a injury prevention policies which vary in scope and nature, but guides the Nations effort to prevent injury related deaths and disabilities. US promotes the rights for individuals to feel, and be safe in there relationships, because domestic Violence not only gives a bad feeling to the victim, but also their families due to the violence consequences.
Efforts have been made to protect children in US by the use of the UN Secretary General Study on Violence Against Children, and by forming a Injury Prevention and control Program whose mission is to minimize children’ injury in school, at home, as well as in the community.(Muehlenhard,1999,p.34.).
In Afghanistan, no Program is offered by the Afghan Government against Domestic Violence and International Organizations are working together to develop common understanding of Domestic Violence and to coordinate response to social, Medical, and Legal Service Professionals in order to enhance batterers’ accountability and victim’s safety. (Snajdr, 2007, p.161).
As per my opinion, the Afghanistan law should be practiced and not ignored, since the equality of men and women is stated in it. The justice mechanism should be able to help not only the peopled in the urban areas but also the people living in the rural areas since they are affected more by the domestic violence.
References
Coney, S.N. & Mackey, C. (1999).The Domestic Violence Feminization in America; Woozle effect. Men’s study, 8, 75-80.
Dworkin, M.T. & Schipani, A.C. (2003).Gender Voice correlating with Peace.Vnderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 36, 27-33.
Muehlenhard, L.C. (1999).The Social Construction of violence. Personality and psychology Review, 3, 32-35.
Snajdr, E. (2007).Domestic Violence Primordialism in Kazakhstan based on ethnicity. Royal Anthropological Institute, 13,157-163.