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Violence in the Family
Violence in the family is mostly directed towards female members as daughter, daughters in law, sisters, wives or former wives, (former) partners or (former) lovers. The offenders are male family members (with exceptions). This form of violence against women exceeds cultural, religious or regional boundaries. Here are a few examples:
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Physical attacks, for instance hitting, pushing, hair-pulling, scalding, burning, killing; |
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Sexual Coercion and Rape; |
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mental violence, for instance, verbal cruelty, isolation from the family and other close persons; |
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Deprivation of physical and economic resources. |
Domestic violence is a phenomenon which has been given little attention in many countries until now. Domestic violence is frequently not considered a crime. For this reason, incomplete studies are available on individual countries. These studies and also the official figures (e.g. police statistics) usually make up just a small part of the actual extent of violence. A few figures:
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in Germany and the USA, every third woman is abused at least once in her life by a male member of the family, her husband or partner. |
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In Russia 80% of all crimes takes place in the home. |
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In 1992 on Cuba 26.2% of the women interviewed in a study were victims of physical violence and 22.5% victims of physical violence carried out by their husbands or partners. |
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According to the results of a research report in Beijing, one fifth of all wives questioned were the victims of abuse. |
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In Egypt every third wife has been hit at least once during their marriage. |
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In Kuwait approx. 15% of all wives are affected by domestic violence. |
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In Pakistan 80% of women are victims of domestic violence. |
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In Papua New Guinea two thirds of all wives are beaten. |
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In Lithuania 34.5% of all murder victims are women killed by their husbands. |
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In South Africa a woman is murdered by her husband or boyfriend every six days. |
Figures taken from: United Nations: The World's Women 1995. Trends and Statistics. New York 1995]
[Author: Dorette Wesemann, Edited by: Ragnar Müller]
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