Domestic violence Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Domestic violence - Case Study Example Common assault has been made an "arrestable offence1", in the sense that the police can arrest a suspect at the scene of the assault without possessing a warrant. This is in variance to the previous practice where the police had to leave the suspected assailant with his victim. Common assault is now an alternative verdict in the Crown Court. There are a range of criminal offences, including sexual and physical assault, harassment and criminal damage, which can be used in cases of domestic violence. However, most offences2 do not take into account the cumulative pattern of violent behaviour, some of which may not constitute a criminal offence. There remains a significant problem with consistent implementation however and the judiciary still fails to treat crimes of domestic violence seriously3. The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill received Royal Assent in November 2004 to become the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004. Domestic violence occurs when a family member or a partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate or harm the other. Domestic violence has many forms, including physical violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation, economic deprivation or threats of violence. Domestic violence includes physical violence, which consists of direct physical violence, ranging from unwanted physical contact to rape and murder; and indirect physical violence, including destruction of objects; throwing objects near the victim. It also, consists of mental or emotional violence; verbal violence, including threats, insults, put-downs, attacks, and nonverbal threats, including gestures, facial expressions, body postures, economic and social abuse, controlling victim's money and other economic resources. Moreover, it could also comprise of preventing the victim from seeing friends and relatives, actively sabotaging victim's social relationships and isolating victim from social contacts, spiritual abuse. Colleen is married to Wayne, a violent and abusive man. After the birth of their baby, Sven, Wayne put a lot of pressure on Colleen to lose weight, which she did. However, she became anorexic due to this. In this case, the husband Wayne is characterised as a violent in nature and abusive man. Subsequent, to the birth of Sven, Wayne pressurized Colleen to lose weight for which she had to follow the diet restrictions etc, and because of these, she became anorexic. A pattern of behaviour characterised by the misuse of power and control by one person over another who are or have been in an intimate relationship is termed as domestic violence. It can occur in mixed gender relationships and same gender relationships and has profound consequences for the lives of children, individuals, families and communities. It may be physical, sexual, emotional or psychological. The latter may include intimidation and harassment. Thus, the attitude of Wayne comes under controlling behaviour, which prevents someone by force from acting freely. This can include keeping them from seeing relatives and friends and so on. The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 introduced