Domestic Violence: Old Crime, Sudden Interest
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059304000406 |
| Published date | 01 December 1993 |
| Date | 01 December 1993 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
193
Domestic
Violence:
Old
Crime,
Sudden
Interest
Andrew
Stelman,
Assistant
Chief
Probation
Officer
with
Merseyside
Probation
Service,
reviews
recent
belated
attention
to
abusive
adult
relationships
and
the
practice
and
prosecution
implications
if
women
are
to
be
properly
protected
and
empowered.
Intervention
will
fail
unless
programmes
for
victim
survivors
and
perpetrators
run
in
tandem,
together
with
a
firm
resolve
to
prosecute
rather
than
divert.
All
studies
that
exist
indicate
that
(domestic
violence)
abuse
is
a
common
and
pervasive
problem
and
that
men from
practically
all
countries,
cultures,
classes
and
income
groups
indulge
in
the
behaviour.
The
issue
has
serious
implications
from
both
a
short-
term
and
a
long-term
perspective
and from
an
individual
and
societal
perspective.
Many
victims
suffer
serious
physical
and
psychological
injury,
sometimes
even
death,
while
the
economic
and
social
costs
to the
community
are
enormous
and
the
implications
for future
generations
impossible
to
estimate.’
Violence
Against
Women
in
the
Family,
United
Nations,
1989
ictim
Support’s
best
estimate
is
W
that
domestic
violence
accounts
for
25%
of
all
assaults
and
Metropolitan
Police
research
shows
that,
on
average,
a
woman
endures
30
to
35
assaults
before
she
contacts
the
police.
A
Merseyside
Probation
survey
of
298
cases
revealed
that
over
10%
of
the
sample
had
experienced
some
kind
of
domestic
violence.
The
extent
of
the
crime
is
subject
to
marked
incidence
and
sentencing
differentials
by
gender.
In
Britain
each
year,
an
average
of
70
women
are
killed
by
their
male
partners
compared
to
12-15
men
being
killed
by
their
women
partners.
Yet,
according
to
the
CPS,
40 %
of
these
women
are
found
guilty
of
murder
compared
with
25 %
of
the
men.
In
this
article
domestic
violence
is
defined
as:
the
emotional
economic,
mental,
physical
and/or
sexual
abuse
by
one
adult
partner
on
another
or
on
an
ex-partner.
While
it
is
important
not
to
minimise
the
trauma
of
acts
of
domestic
violence
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