October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Catholic Charities encourages everyone to take the time to reflect on the devastating and far-reaching impact that domestic violence has on individuals, families, workplaces and communities.
An Overview of Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is any kind of behavior that a person uses to control an intimate partner through fear and intimidation. It includes physical, sexual, psychological, verbal, and economic abuse. Some examples of domestic abuse include battering, name-calling and insults, threats to kill or harm one's partner or children, destruction of property, marital rape, and forced sterilization or abortion.8
Younger, unmarried women are at greatest risk for domestic violence. According to a U.S. government survey, 53 percent of victims were abused by a current or former girlfriend or boyfriend. One-third of all victims were abused by a spouse, while 14 percent said that the offender was an ex-spouse. Women ages 16 to 24 are nearly three times as vulnerable to attacks by intimate partners as those in other age groups; abuse victims between ages 35 and 49 run the highest risk of being killed.9
While abuse cuts across all ethnic and economic backgrounds, some women face particular obstacles. Women of color may not view the criminal justice system as a source of help. Additionally, in some cultures women feel pressured to keep problems within the home and to keep the family together at all costs. Some fear that they will lose face in the community if they leave. Immigrant women often lack familiarity with the language and legal systems of this country. Their abusers may threaten them with deportation.
Women in rural communities may find themselves with fewer resources. The isolation imposed by distance and lack of transportation can aggravate their situation. Isolation can also be a factor for women who do not work outside the home. They may have less access to financial resources and to information about domestic violence. Women with disabilities and elderly women are also particularly vulnerable to violence.
Some who suffer from domestic violence are also victims of stalking, which includes following a person, making harassing phone calls, and vandalizing property. Eight percent of women in the United States have been stalked at some time in their lives, and more than one million are stalked annually.10 Stalking is a unique crime because stalkers are obsessed with controlling their victims' actions and feelings. A victim can experience extreme stress, rage, depression, and an inability to trust anyone.
Domestic violence is often shrouded in silence. People outside the family hesitate to interfere, even when they suspect abuse is occurring. Many times even extended family denies that abuse exists, out of loyalty to the abuser and in order to protect the image of the family. Some people still argue—mistakenly—that intervention by outside sources endangers the sanctity of the home. Yet abuse and assault are no less serious when they occur within a family. Even when domestic violence is reported, sometimes there are failures to protect victims adequately or to punish perpetrators.
First Responders: Priests, Deacons, and Lay Ministers
Many church ministers want to help abused women but worry that they are not experts on domestic violence. Clergy may hesitate to preach about domestic violence because they are unsure what to do if an abused woman approaches them for help.
We ask them to keep in mind that intervention by church ministers has three goals, in the following order:
- Safety for the victim and children;
- Accountability for the abuser; and
- Restoration of the relationship (if possible), or mourning over the loss of the relationship.
We also encourage church ministers to see themselves as "first responders" who
- Listen to and believe the victim's story,
- Help her to assess the danger to herself and her children, and
- Refer her to counseling and other specialized services.
Church ministers should become familiar with and follow the reporting requirements of their state. Many professionals who deal with vulnerable people are required to report suspected crimes, which may include domestic abuse.
In dealing with people who abuse, church ministers need to hold them accountable for their behavior. They can support the abusive person as they seek specialized counseling to change their abusive behavior. Couple counseling is not appropriate and can endanger the victim's safety.
Catholic Family Counseling:
A licensed therapist is on site and available to provide counseling or referrals with a range of problem areas including Domestic Violence.
Contact:
Lupe Garcia, Licensed Therapist
512-651-6139
More information about Catholic Familiy Couseling
Links
Family Violence Prevention Fund: www.endabuse.org
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: www.ncadv.org
National Domestic Violence Hotline: www.ndvh.org
Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence: www.cpsdv.org
Texas Council on Family Violence: www.dvandfaith.org
Resource Documents
- A Checklist for the Religious Community
- Responding to Domestic Violence: Guidelines for Pastors, Rabbis, Imams, Priests and other religious leaders
- Responding to Domestic Violence: Guidelines for Pastors, Rabbis, Imams, Priests and other religious leaders - SPANISH
Notes
- Excerpted from "When Home is Where the Hurt Is," Christopher News Notes, no. 326.
- Confronting a Culture of Violence: A Catholic Framework for Action. A Pastoral Message of the U.S. Catholic Bishops (Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1994).
- See Pope John Paul II, Encylical letter The Gospel of Life (Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1995), nos. 2, 23, and 99.
- National Crime Victimization Survey, 1992-1996. www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/ipvfacts.htm.
- Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women, Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey (November 2000). www.ncjrs.org.
- "Developments in the Law—Legal Responses to Domestic Violence," Harvard Law Review 106 (1993):7: 1608-9. Cited in Carol J. Adams, Woman-Battering (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994), 22. In 1995 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (now United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) addressed one form of child abuse: child sexual abuse in a home or family setting. See Walk in the Light: A Pastoral Response to Child Sexual Abuse (Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1995).
- www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/ipvfacts.htm.
- In regard to sexual abuse, see Catechism of the Catholic Church (Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2000), no. 2356; The Gospel of Life, nos. 3, 23 and 99; and Pope John Paul II's "Letter to Women no. 5, and "Welcome to Gertrude Mongella, Secretary General of the Fourth World Conference on Women," no. 7, in Pope John Paul II on The Genius of Women (Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1997). In regard to verbal abuse, see Catechism nos. 2477, 2479, 2482-2487, and 2507-2509.
- U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Intimate Partner Violence and Age of Victim, 1993-99" (NCJ-187635). www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/ipva99.htm.
- "Stalking in America: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey," Joint report from the National Institute of Justice and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (April 1998).
- Pope John Paul II, On the Dignity and Vocation of Women (Mulieris Dignitatem), no. 15.