Fear of Retaliation, Dependency, and Social Norms
Fear of retaliation, dependency on the perpetrator, and social norms are some of the major barriers preventing victims of domestic violence from reporting such incidents. (Payne & Wermeling, 2009, p. 3). The community must be made aware of the significance of reporting such instances to the appropriate authorities. The police should inform the public about the importance of reporting such crimes by using professionals like peer counselors, doctors, and attorneys. Every victim needs to be aware of how susceptible they are if domestic violence incidents go unreported. The judicial system should also introduce mandatory minimum sentences for the domestic violence offense, like is done with other offenses, such as drug and trafficking offenses. Through this amendments, judges will not be in a position to impose their will on a case.
Family Background of Offenders
Another variable the researchers should consider is the family background of offenders. Research show that majority of domestic violence cases involve offenders who also experienced violence while growing up. Such children, as they grow up, will tend to practice violence, because that is the only form of conflict resolution they understand (Kaur & Garg, 2008, p. 72). Another variable is drug and substance abuse. Many domestic violence cases reported are due to drug and substance abuse. The cases vary from physical assault to even rape whenever a spouse is under the influence of alcohol and other drugs.
Improving Domestic Violence Reporting
To improve domestic violence reporting, law enforcement agencies such as the police department should adopt policies that encourage police officers to treat domestic violence seriously to increase the likelihood that police discover an incident (Gracia, 2004, p. 536). The circumstances surrounding domestic violence should be a strong predictor of arrest than the victim-offender relationship. The police are the best agency to report to since they have the ability to discover and follow up the incident from a number of sources.
References
Gracia, E. (2004). Unreported cases of domestic violence against women: towards an
epidemiology of social science, tolerance, and inhibition. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 58(7), 536-537.
Kaur, R., & Garg, S. (2008). Addressing domestic violence against women: An unfinished
agenda. Indian Journal of Community Medicine , 33(2), 73-76.
Payne, D., & Wermeling, L. (2009). Domestic violence and the female victim. The real reason
women stay. Journal of multicultural, gender and minority studies, 3(1), 1-6.
