Physically Abusive Relationships
By: Jessica Facundo
Tags: Equality, Trump, Domestic Violence, Bias, Law

Domestic violence is the violent, aggressive behavior which occurs in the home typically the behavior is imposed on a spouse or partner. Domestic violence can cause one to have emotional and physical stress on the body, which can be detrimental to one’s health. Whenever people hear the phrase “domestic violence,” they often think about a man being the perpetrators. One may ask themselves why this may be, and an answer to that may be found throughout history. Rape, murder, abuse, and torture are acts of violence that men, historically and in the present, force upon women. “…Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women in the United States.” (Frontline Feminism page 60) Knowing this information, one can assume correctly that these injuries are caused majorly by men. It is evident that in a courtroom, the male police officers, and prosecutor/judges fail to arrest or convict men who physically abuse their wives or partners. One may ask why this is. Austin Sarat and Thomas Kearns argue that the law itself is violent and that this is one of many factors that contribute to releasing guilty men in a courtroom.

Recently, a public allegation towards Rob Porter, a top aide to President Donald Trump, caused him to resign his position on the 7th of February this year. The reasoning behind his resignation is due to the fact that his two ex-wives publicly accused Porter of domestic violence. Porter states that these allegations are false, despite having seen the photos of one of the ex-wife’s black eye. This particular incident erupted a response to our current President, Donald Trump. Trump says that he is absolutely against domestic violence, which to me sounds a bit hypocritical just because he disrespects women and forcefully touched a few. (That the media knows of) Due to the bravery of these women, it encouraged another woman, Jessica Corbett, to call out her ex husband, David Sorensen, that also works for Trump. David Sorensen was accused of running his ex-wife’s foot over with the car, and burning her with a cigarette. Corbett claims that the relationship was abusive physically and emotionally. Like Porter, Sorensen also resigned his position as speechwriter.

Image of Jessica Corbett’s black eye

One may ask how many more of Trump’s staff take part in the act of perpetrating… The United States government has men who physically abuse women, and are not treated the same way if the genders were flipped. For example, women who abuse their spouses are treated more harshly in the courtroom and are seen as vicious, or aggressive according to Frontline Feminisms. This is why Ann Jones believes that the law only benefits men because it was written by men, it is enforced by men, and the law is used to protect men. For example, marital rape was barely made illegal in the 1990’s, meaning it was legal for husbands to actually force their wives to have sex with them. This is a representation of how the law favors men and was/is used to protect men in cases that will benefit them, and them only. It is important to recognize that the law does not have women’s best interest in mind due to all the cases and incidents that have been reported not only today, but throughout history as well.

The Domestic Violence Hotline receives more than 20,000 calls a day. To have this amount of phone calls shows that people, but more specifically and statistically, men, take advantage of women. In a society where laws are structured to favor men, women begin to feel hopeless and are in search of solutions. The way I see it “resolving” is only until society can accept that genders are equal. Once this concept is embedded in society’s culture, then there would not be this desire to be more powerful than the opposite gender. Perpetrators attack in order to gain power over their partner; it’s all about control and power. Society is centralized around control and power which explains why law is biased to favor men and not women. This obsession drove men to create laws and a “justice system” to scare, and enforce their rules/laws over the weak, the poor, and especially women.

Overall, I believe that because the law is biased, it allows men to “get away” with abusing their wives and partners due to the fact that many of them are only given a slap on the wrist. There are countless amounts of cases that showcase this belief, and it is not a secret to society. People are aware of the unjust treatment between genders when it comes to the law. So why isn’t there anything done about it? Because the government is mostly made up of men. Courtrooms are filled with men. Police academies are filled with men. Every outlet that can be used for “help” is filled with men. I am not saying all men are out to get women, I’m just saying that men are easily let go if they physically abuse their partner because of the fact that they are males. Being male has always been seen as an advantage in society, take China for example. They only wanted baby boys, and aborted if they were female. This extreme case just portrays how important being male in society and culture is. Domestic violence is becoming more prominent each day, and the law is not making it easier for females. Plus females are the majority targets of domestic violence so it is crucial that we find a way to reduce and eliminate domestic violence one step at a time… And the first step is to recognize that all genders are equal to one another.

https://books.google.com/books?id=vViSAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://www.newser.com/story/255218/2nd-wh-staffer-resigns-amid-domestic-abuse-allegations.html

https://ncadv.org/statistics

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-story-behind-the-story-how-the-rob-porter-scandal-broke/2018/02/18/bbcfc68a-1100-11e8-9065-e55346f6de81_story.html?utm_term=.a1d9236db31d