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Domestic Abuse

In Spain, the Organic Law 1/2004 of Integral Protective Measures against Gender Violence, on one side extends amongst other victims especially vulnerable that coexist with the author , and on the other hand contemplate exclusively violence of man over woman in the couple range not being especially vulnerable, rejecting violence between homosexuals of either gender , or in general against man. This complex range of application affects the complexity of designing a terminology.

Real Life Case

I am a 32 year old woman, professional, independent, and I cannot take anymore abuse received from my partner whom I lived with 3 years. The house is his and I live with him. He treats me like an idiot, he insults me and he even threw a lighter at me giving me a black eye, he has slapped me in more than once occasion and has pushed me to the floor. I have defended myself.

Once, during an argument in the kitchen he threw me to the floor and while laughing he picked up a big knife and threatened me (later he said he was joking).

I can’t take it anymore, I am going to leave him but he won’t let me. Every time I pack my bags he throws it to the lobby, all the clothes on the floor, so I won’t leave. Shall I press charges? Thank you.

Domestic Abuse, Familiar Violence, or intrafamiliar violence comprehends every act of violence from the employment of physical strength to bullying, abuse or intimidation, that are produced within the family home. Normally this type of violence is not produced in isolated fashion, it follows a constant pattern thru time. Its principal victims are women, children and/ or dependant people.

Domus in latin had an extensive meaning, not only did it comprehend the house, but also the parental rights and family.

Domestic abuse happens in a family environment not only inside the four walls of the home. The term family comes from familiar and must be understood also in its ample meaning. Normally it is considered that domestic abuse is between adults of a similar age or from descendants to ascendants. Violence towards infants is usually called infant abuse. This violence may be exercised by an adults towards its partner or kin, from a son to his parents ( associated frequently with elder parents or drug abuse ). It can also be related to existing homosexual couples.

The terms family violence or intrafamiliar violence with an important presence in South America, have been used since 1988 and 1993 respectively thanks how common it is for this problem happen; and because of the laws that punish violence against women are usually considered a requisite that the woman must be the abuser’s wife or that she maintains an analogue effective relationship with him.

However, in occasions this concept is confused with others in its semantic field. The concept has been called in extensive fashion as gender violence since 1993. The expression gender violence has been formally called gender-based violence or gender violence widespread at the Congress about Women celebrated in Peking in 1995, funded by the United Nations.

In English, it is documented since its ancient use of gender as a synonym of sex, without a doubt related to the puritan way of avoiding the word sex. With the boom of feminist studies in the 1960’s in the 20th Century in the Anglo-Saxon world the term gender was used in the sense of “human sex” from the specific point of view of the social and cultural differences, as opposed to the biological ones that exist between men and women. However in Spanish the word have a gender (and not a sex), while living beings have a sex (and no gender). In Spanish there is no tradition of the use of the word gender as a synonym of sex.

So, while the voice sex designates a category merely organic, biological. With the term gender the word makes a reference to a social and cultural category that implies differences or inequality of social, economical, political nature. And with this pattern the term gender has spread with its association with sex. On the other side, couple’s violence used since 2001, is a concept that is referred to exclusively in the marital environment.

Equally the term violence over women has been employed. However ,the term domestic violence includes the rest of the possible household members and not only the woman as the victim linking her with her husband as the aggressor although she would have the advantage of referencing this abuse and consequences of the violence not only with her but with the other members as well. However, in many legislations it is not a requisite for the victim and the aggressor to share the household. That is way the Real Academia de la Lengua (Royal Academy of the Language) recommends the use of domestic violence or by reason of sex employing the final “reason of sex” to include violence that does not belong to the domestic environment that is applied to or against women.

However, this meaning is including every act of violence that is committed by discrimination against sex which is legally incorrect. On one hand, it is covering every type of violence committed by discrimination when the essential requisite is to apply the penal definition of violence against women that corresponds with the woman that must be a wife or analogue and that violence exists, not that violence is a source of discrimination (which is an aggravating factor in traditional criminal law in comparison with the state of rights). With this, it is limiting in great ways the range of application considering that ALL domestic violence or violence relating sex , because it should only be exclusive to violence within the household environment or acts of violence committed by discrimination reasons, when the law usually considers marital violence also, when there is no common coexistence, and when it is done not necessarily by discrimination acts.

Other ways of referring to this type of violence have been employed such as sexist violence, male chauvinistic violence, or female violence, generally used in feminist groups and associations. However, these meanings treat violence because of acts of sexual discrimination, something not necessary for this type of violence to exist inside the household.

Violence

Not always applied by the physically or financially stronger within the family, frequently being purely psychological reasons that prevent the victim to defend itself. What every type of family violence has in common is that it constitutes an abuse of power and trust. But the complexity and variety of this phenomenon is very hard to know in its global dimensions.

It is also worthy of adding that the Dogmatic considers unanimously the term violence is referred to physical violence as well as psychological and the lesions that arise from these type of violence are considered equal as well.