Paste yourAn act of domestic violence occurs every fifteen seconds; more frequent than any other crime in the United States (FBI). This is an alarming statistic because of how common it is. Although domestic violence is not a matter of international interest, such as wars and wars between countries, or the rampant terrorism that advances like a shadow over innocent civilians, domestic violence is an almost silent predator because it is denounced as the other crimes, but it kills and destroys the self-esteem, courage, morals and dignity of women and children. These acts of violence can have many causes that can cause the attacker to take these actions, and many effects on the victim’s life and health, both physically and mentally. Childhood traumas, substance abuse, and male chauvinism lead to aggression and violence which have effects on the victim’s mental health, physical health, and can lead them to abuse substances. Domestic violence is defined as any assault, hit, aggravated assault, aggravated hit, sexual beating, discomfort, aggravated discomfort, abduction, false imprisonment or any criminal offense that results in physical injury or death to a family member made by another member of the family or someone residing under the same roof. These acts of violence have many causes, the main ones of them being childhood or adult traumas, substance abuse, and male chauvinism. A person is more likely to become violent if they witnessed this violence in their own homes growing up. For example, if their father was abusive to them, it can lead to them being abusive towards their couple and/or kids. This is because of what is known as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). This factor does not only apply to traumatic experiences related to childhood. Men that have gone through a traumatic experience are more likely to be aggressive in their households. Furthermore, studies have found that men who have experienced physical abuse, sexual abuse, or emotional neglect in childhood may be more likely to be abusive in intimate relationships as compared to people without a history of childhood trauma. The attacker can see aggressive behavior as a way of easing tension, anger, anxiety and depression associated with other undesired unpleasant emotions originated from a traumatic event, like shame, guilt or anxiety. This of course is not effective in the end and it brings even more unpleasant emotions to the attacker, and this behavior damages their relationships.
The second important factor leading to domestic violence is substance abuse. Violence can be originated as a consequence of substance consumption, where drugs trigger a lack of control of impulses, the most common being stimulants, which increase paranoia, and alcohol, which decreases control of impulses and inhibitions. Because these substances alter the natural chemical processes in the brain, they make the mind deficient. The attacker does not think straight, meaning that he doesn’t measure his actions nor the consequences of them. The latest international investigations point that in three out of ten cases, on average, alcohol or drug abuse was involved. In terms of drugs, Special mention must be made of ecstasy and cocaine by the damage they produce not only in neuronal physiology (levels of neurotransmitters), but also in anatomy, especially in the brain regions linked to the deployment and inhibition of the aggressive response of the individual. Specifically, the consumption of cocaine causes alterations in neurotransmitters and in the receptors themselves, which has a serious impact on cognitive functioning. the neurotransmitters affected are dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin, whose concentrations increase in the synaptic space after consumption. The increase in dopamine levels produces a continuous stimulation of the receptor neurons, leading to the appearance of euphoria, self-confidence, egocentricity and megalomania. A main characteristic of cocaine is the speed with which it is metabolized by the organism, so that in order to maintain positive feelings the consumer falls into abusive intakes that correlate with typically psychotic behaviors. this type of anomalous reaction in a person who feels extremely powerful and who at the same time suffers an alteration of his reasoning capacity, can cause a paranoid psychosis in which the consumer loses the sense of reality and suffers auditory hallucinations, being able to appear dangerously violent behavior. As of MDMA, both the physiological and anatomical effects that this substance has on the brain, that is, the artificial reduction of the concentration of serotonin in certain regions and the anatomical modification of some of the components of the serotonergic neurons, in structures that are part of the circuit of the aggressiveness, such as the occipital and frontal regions of the cerebral cortex or some areas of the emotional brain such as the amygdala, predispose the consumer to behave violently and are linked to neuropsychiatric complications such as, for example, anxiety, psychosis and depression. The third and most common factor leading to domestic violence is male chauvinism. Male chauvinism consists in the disqualification of man towards women, in which they treat women as if they were invisible beings and as if they only exist to serve the masculine gender. This belief sounds irrational, but the reality is, many men think like this. This feeling of superiority some men have, leads them to force themselves on women as their superior, or leader. And if the woman doesn’t budge, or doesn’t agree to the man’s conditions, he would turn violent towards her, to “show her who’s boss”. Because men are scientifically proven to be physically stronger than women, they know that they can overpower the victim by using physical strength to get whatever they want from them. As there are many causes for domestic violence, there are many effects on the victim’s life as well. The abuse they receive affects their mental health, physical health, and it can lead the victim to abusing substances. The first effect would be on the victim’s physical health. Violence against women increases their risk of ill health. An increasing number of studies exploring violence and health systematically report on the negative effects. The true measure of consequences is difficult to assess, however, because medical records generally lack vital details as to the violent causes of injuries or poor health. The consequences of violence against women may not be fatal and take the form of physical injuries, from minor cuts and bruises (bumps, bruises) to chronic disability or mental health problems. They can also be deadly; whether due to intentional homicide, death as a result of permanent injuries or AIDS, or due to suicide, used as a last resort to escape violence. This leads to the second consequence of domestic violence which is damage to mental health. Women physically and psychologically abused can become dependent and suggestible and find it difficult to make decisions for themselves. The relationship with the abuser aggravates the psychological consequences that women suffer from abuse and the financial and effective legal ties that victims have with the abuser, accentuates their feelings of vulnerability, loss, deception and hopelessness, originating all that the woman Isolate trying to hide the evidence of the abuser. These effects make the mistreatment of the wife an elementary context for many other health problems. The relationship between abuse and psychological dysfunction has important implications with respect to female mortality due to the increase in suicides. In this context, rape is found that has malignant effects for women, considering the physical, psychological and moral violence that it implies. There are studies carried out by specialists that show that women victims of sexual abuse and aggression are the largest single group with post-traumatic stress problems. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), is a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, rape or other violent personal assault. In this case, the acts of severe violence and abuse, both psychological and physical, would provoke this disorder in the victim’s mind. People with PTSD have intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings related to their experience that don’t go away after the traumatic event has ended. They suffer from flashbacks and nightmares, and this disorder can lead to severe depression, severe anxiety and social detachment. The severe depression the abuse can cause on the victim can even lead them to take their own lives just to escape the nightmare they live in. According to NCADV, “Physical, mental, and sexual and reproductive health effects have been linked with intimate partner violence including adolescent pregnancy, unintended pregnancy in general, miscarriage, stillbirth, intrauterine hemorrhage, nutritional deficiency, abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal problems, neurological disorders, chronic pain, disability, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as noncommunicable diseases such as hypertension, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Victims of domestic violence are also at higher risk for developing addictions to alcohol, tobacco, or drugs”. This leads to the third and final consequence of domestic violence, which is substance abuse. Who is a victim of violence loses their self-esteem, isolates themselves and tends to silence their fear and helplessness, so it is very common to seek "refuge" in drugs. A woman who becomes a victim of abuse is at risk of abusing alcohol and other drugs to escape the pain and shame of abuse. Some abusive couples force a woman to drink or take drugs under the threat of further violence. Most women do not realize that drinking alcohol (in any amount) puts them at risk of violence. In conclusion, domestic violence is a serious issue with as many causes as effects. These acts of abuse are caused by traumas that the attacker went through in their childhood or adulthood, the abuse of substances such as alcohol, cocaine, and MDMA, and the current culture’s point of view that men are superior than women and that women only exist to serve them (male chauvinism). Domestic violence has many negative effects on women’s lives, the main ones being that they get hurt physically and the range of how hurt they get varies on the abuse, their mental health is compromised by making the victim prone to mental disorders such as PTSD, depression and anxiety, and last but not least, it can lead the victim to turn to substances and abuse them to get some sort of “escape” from their reality and not remember the abuses they go through.