Stand up, speak out and act to stop domestic violence and abuse

To end men’s violence against women we must stand up, speak out and act. Silence and inaction will let this violence continue. To stop domestic violence and abuse sometimes it is hard to know what to say when someone makes an inappropriate statement about women or behaves inappropriately towards a woman. This cycle of violence is explored from home only.

Cycle of violence

You may have heard people asking “Why doesn’t she leave?” when they hear about a woman experiencing domestic violence. The cycle of violence explores why women stay in abusive relationship for reasons beyond low self-esteem, isolation, family pressures and lack of community support.

What is the cycle of violence?

The cycle of violence looks at the repetitive nature of perpetrator’s actions that hinder a victim’s ability to leave an abusive relationship. The cycle of violence theory provides an insight into this by illustrating how the behaviour of a perpetrator can change very dramatically, making it difficult for the woman to leave. Women who have experienced violence may recognise this cycle.

The cycle of violence theory was developed in 1979 by Dr Lenore Walker. It describes the phases an abusive relationship moves through in the lead up to a violent event and its follow-up.

📷

What are the three stages of the cycle of violence?

Phase 1: Tension-building Phase

· Build Up: Tension between the people in the relationship starts to increase and verbal, emotional or finical abuse occurs.

· Stand-over: This phase can be very frightening for people experiencing abuse. They feel as though the situation will explode if they do anything wrong. The behaviour of the abuser intensifies and reaches a point where a release of tension is inevitable.

Phase 2: Acute Explosion

The peak of the violence is reached in this phase. The perpetrator experiences a release of tension and this behaviour may become habitual.

Phase 3: Honeymoon Stage

· Remorse: At this point, the perpetrator may start to feel ashamed. They may become withdrawn and try to justify their actions to themselves and others. For example, they may say: “You know it makes me angry when you say that.”

· Pursuit: During the pursuit phase, the perpetrator may promise to never be violent again. They may try to explain the violence by blaming other factors such as alcohol or stress at work. The perpetrator may be very attentive to the person experiencing violence, including buying gifts and helping around the house. It could seem as though the perpetrator has changed. At this point, the person experiencing the violence can feel confused and hurt but also relieved that the violence is over.

· Denial phase: Both people in the relationship may be in denial about the severity of the abuse and violence. Intimacy can increase during this phase. Both people may feel happy and want the relationship to continue, so they may not acknowledge the possibility that the violence could happen again.

Nowadays women are taking position against all the ill-practices of the society. Due to increase of literacy rate women are standing equally to men in all field. But still there are many other changes are required.