crime type 6 - domestic violence Flashcards
what is intimate partner violence? What does it refer to
What does it cause?
what do these causes include?
what does it cover?
- intimate partner violence refers to behaviours within an intimate relationship that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm
including: - acts of physical aggression
- sexual coercion
- psychological abuse
- controlling behaviours
this definition covers violence by both current and former spouses and partners
home office 2005a p7 defines domestic abuse and violence
- any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality
home office 2013 p 2 defines DVA as
Aged .. or over
Who are or have been …
Regardless of…
This can encompass but not limited to following types of abuse :
- any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercve or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality
- this can encompass but is not limited to the following types of abuse: psychological, physcial, sexual, financial and emotional
what is coercive behaviour?
an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation, and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish or frighten their victim
what is the current definition of DVA
- violence and abuse between partners and ex partners and between other family members but most commonly refers to assaults occurring between people who are currently (or have previously been) involved in a sexual relationship (over the age of 16)
what can encompass all violence and abuse in the definition of DVA, list 5:
- physical
- sexual
- psychological
- financial
- coercive control
legislation for DVA
- DV is prosecuted as part of the CPS violence against Women and Girls strategy
What is the VAWG strategy?
CPS VAWG strategy is an overarching framework to address crimes that have been identified as being committed primarily but not exclusively by men against women
what crimes are included in the VAWG strategy?
- domestic abuse
- rape
- sexual offences
- stalking
- harassment
- so called honour based violence including :
forced marriage
female genital mutilation
child abuse
human trafficking
focusing on sexual exploitation, prositiutition, pornography and obscenity
who does this CPS approach for VAWG target
- used for ALL perpetrators and victims irrespective of gender
- CPS determined to secure justice for all victims, and recently reaffirmed our commitment to male victims
what does s76 of the serious crime act 2015 state?
- controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship
what does coercive behaviour in s76 of crime act 2015 do?
- recognises patterns of behaviour and not just single incidents
-CJ set up to deal with incidents and not patterns
-now must respond and react to patterns of behaviour
what does the domestic abuse act 2021 state:
the act will: create a statutory definition of domestic abuse, emphasising that domestic abuse is not just physical violence but can also be emotional, controlling or coercive, and economic abuse.
it also establishes in law the office of domestic abuse commissioner and set out the commissioners functions and powers
features of intimate partner violence
- behavioural
-experiential - conceptual
behaviour intimate partner violence factors
- physical assault
- threats and intimidation
- sexual abuse
- restriction of money/ access to resources
what is cyber surveillance?
- involves the use of connected devices or apps to monitor places and people
- an abuser could use a computer, tablet or phone to hack their victims devices
- the intention and desire are to monitor, harass, threaten, or harm the victim
technology abuse involves
what is it also termed?
- texts
-photos
-videos - this is done without the victims consent and is also termed ‘revenge porn’
cyberstalking and online harassment
-use of the internet or other electronic means to stalk or harass an individual, group or organisation
what is spoofing?
- this can apply to emails, websites or phone calls
- this is the act of disguising a communication from an unknown source as being from a known source
what is electronic surveillance
-use of cameras and other household devices
factors of technology abuse and coercive control
-cyber surveillance
- revenge porn
- cyberstalking and online harassment
- spoofing
- recording
- GPS monitoring
- electronic surveillance
why do perpetrators of abuse use technology
-technology used to create a sense of perpetrators omnipresence
- used to isolate, punish, humiliate domestic violence victims
- perpetrators also threaten to share sexualised content online to humiliate victims
define technology facilitated sexual violence
-refers to criminal, civil or otherwise harmful sexually aggressive and harassing behaviours that are perpetrated with the aid or use of communication technologies
define image based sexual abuse
- the unauthorised creation and distribution of sexual images
-and the creation and distribution (actual or threatened) of sexual assault images
define revenge pornography
-refers to the non-consensual sharing of sexual images with the explicit motivation of getting revenge on current or ex partners
where is the law regarding revenge porn contained?
s33 of criminal justice and courts act 2015
other types of image based sexual violence
- sexploitation
-sexual voyeurisum
define sexploitation
-perpetrators of sextortion obtain sexually explicit images of a victim, which they threaten to distribute unless the victim sends more images
- this often occurs in the context of domestic violence where a perpetrator will use images to prevent someone from leaving a relationship or to engage in unwanted sexual acts
define sexual voyeurism
obtaining nude or sexually explicit photos for voyeuristic reasons
victims often unaware that their images have been shared by others - upskirting
what are the subjective consequences and understanding of what it is like to experience Intimate partner violence?
- fear - men less likely to have high level of fear
- psychological vulnerability - produced through belittling, intimidation, removing friendship networks
- shame - being made to feel responsible for what is happening
why are experiences of fear, shame and psychological vulnerability internalised far more in IPV?
- due to the intimate relationship
conceptual features of domestic violence that show the process of control and entrapment
- pattern of behaviour = enduring condition
- repeated behaviour
- change over time
- victim learns to comply and change their behaviour so physical violence doesn’t occur anymore
-victim no longer in relationship but still experiencing DVA
uk prevalence of DVA in crime survey for e and w
estimates from CSEW show that 5.7% of adults aged 16-59 years experienced domestic abuse in year ending march 2022
no significant change in march 2021 - 6.1%
victims of DVA
- gender = women more likely
-in UK no difference in different ethnic groups - in US african american experience DVA more than white women
- age = females aged 30-34
- child may be victim through exposure or own involvement
what data showed an increased risk of DVA during covid 19
- ONS report mid may 2020 there was 12% increase in number of DVA referred to victim support
- calls to london police increased during this time but mainly from third parties
- charities such as womens aid highlighted increased risk of harm and isolation fro those affected by DVA during this time
sum up DVA
- DVA is an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour
- including sexual violence, in the majority of cases by a partner or ex-partner, but also by family members or carer
- it is very common
- in the vast majority of cases it is experienced by women and is perpetrated by men (VAWG)
is DVA a gender-neutral term?
yes
it compromises of
- male victims
- bisexual populations
- trans issues
what 3 theories help explain DVA
- biological theories
- sociological theories
- feminist theories
define biological theories for crime
biological explanations of crime assume that some people are born criminals who are physiologically distinct from non-criminals
define sociological theories for crime
sociological approaches suggest that crime is shaped by factors external to the individual: their experiences within the neighbourhood, the peer group, and the family
- focuses on social context and situations in which men and women live and where violence takes place
define feminist theories for DVA
sees domestic abuse is a gendered crime which is deeply rooted in the societal inequality between men and women
what is pathology of perpetrators of DVA?
- Inadequate self control
-sadism or psychopathology - abnormal personality traits (low frustration, tolerance, depression )
- no causal link
influence of alcohol and drug use on DVA
- DVA perpetrators who used drugs more likely to inflict injuries, emotionally abuse their partners, and to escalate the frequency or severity of the domestic violence
why can influence of alcohol and drug use on DVA not be an argument for all cases
- not all intoxicated people commit DVA, and substance use alone cannot explain why or how these violent tendencies orginate
arguments for DVA as a learned behaviour
- the intergenerational transmission of violence or the cycle of violence
- children witnessing DVA sees violence as an appropriate way to handle problems and resolve conflict
criticism of DVA as a learned behaviour
- not all children will grow up to become perpetrators/ victims
what does social structural theories and feminist theories focus on
- moves away from looking at individual cases of troubled perpetrators or conflict ridden families
- focus on context, history and structural issues that contribute to the continued prevalence of DVA globally
what do sociocultural explanations tend to argue with DVA
- that DVA is a product of patriarchal or an aggressive society that facilitates and supports violence to resolve, conflict or control women
- that DVA is a gendered crime, deeply rooted in societal inequality between men and women
-DVA is a deeply embedded social problem and not a family matter
what do feminist theories argue
- VAWG: forces women to remain in a submissive state through use of psychological, physical, sexual and financial abuse as control tactic
- violence used by men to control and retain power over their partners
walker 1984 identified a constellation of psychological factors that she called
battered woman syndrome
battered woman syndrome is
- a product of long term, prolonged, and repeated exposure to DVA - cycle of abuse
- considered a subcategory of PTSD
- symptom: learned helplessness
why is battered woman syndrome used
- theory used when women have killed or attempted to kill their abusive partners
what is battered woman syndrome more likely to result in and why
- suicide
- because number of women globally who have committed violent crimes is very small
what is the cycle of violence
- tension building phase
- explosion: abusive act occurs
- honeymoon phase
what is learned helplessness? martin seilgam definition
- repeated exposure to bad situations creates negative perceptions and ones abilities to deal with such circumstances
- was based on results from controlled experiments using dogs
what is learned helplessness? walker definition
continuous and repeated abuse results in minimizing the abused woman’s motivations to respond and enforces passiveness
criticism of learned helplessness
fails to acknowledge other factors such as: - social economic
-cultural reasons
-fear of retaliation
-inability to financially support herself and her children
limitations of feminist theories
- assumes all violence is one way (male to female)
- assumes all violence warrants a state response
- assumes all women want to leave rather than stay in their abusive relationship
- with doctrine of male perpetrators and female victims it has contributed to the invisibility of all victims
- not helpful when considering male or LGBTQ victims
- gendered assumptions has implications on prevention of overall DV
summary of DVA content
- DVA is multifaceted - repeated, habitual use of intimidation to control partner/ ex partner
- abuse can be: physical, psychological, financial, sexual ,emotional
- DVA is an enduring condition- best understood as a pattern of incidents
- DVA disproportionately affected women but is a non gendered term
how to understand DVA
problem of people and to understand such a complex pervasive issue such as DV we need to know complete picture - encompassing all victims and perpetrators
