Download Almost all cases of abuse occur within a stable relationship

Semestre di Presidenza Italiana
MINISTERO PER LE PARI
OPPORTUNITÁ
Programma Operativo Nazionale
Sicurezza per lo Sviluppo del
Mezzogiorno d’Italia
Seminar
“VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: INSTITUTIONAL ACTIONS ”
The anti-violence network of URBAN cities
Catania, Palazzo degli Elefanti, 25-26 November 2003-12-07
A psychological interpretation of domestic violence
Fulvio Giardina
President of the Sicilian Association of Psychologists
Honourable Stefania
Opportunities
Prestigiacomo,
Minister
of
Equal
Thank you for holding a seminar of such importance in Sicily, on an issue
that psychologists, whom I am honoured to represent, are actively dealing
with.
Psychology is one of the privileged positions from which people’s behaviour
can be interpreted in the new millennium; individuals who on the one hand
are empowered by sophisticated technologies, causing them to be ever more
arrogant and self-centred, are, on the other hand ineluctably a “group animal”,
forced to live out their emotions in ever more confined spaces.
We must not forget that only decades ago, in our country, the relationship inside the
family between “husband - wife”, but also that between “father - son”, was
characterised and accepted by the community as a relationship of possession: father and
husband “padrone”.
The figures on marriages and births are indicative of a long process, which started over
one hundred years ago, of change, of evolution.
A steady decline in the number of marriages compared to the population, which has also
determined –in a restructuring of values - a drastic reduction in births: in 2001 the
natural growth rate was still a negative -0.2.
year
population
marriages
births
1861
1900
1950
1970
1990
1995
1996
22.300.000
32.900.000
49.000.000
53.300.000
56.950.000
57.200.000
57.300.000
189.000
255.000
328.000
385.000
310.000
266.000
272.000
946.000
1.089.000
860.000
906.000
580.000
488.000
526.000
Births x 1000
inhabitants
36,6
32,7
18,7
16,3
9,6
8,8
9,9
The European Union Observatory report on employment in 2000, reveals qualitative
and quantitative physical and psychological problems, such as intimidation, mobbing,
sexual harassment and violence.
Unfortunately, work is not yet divided equally among women and men. In fact, 32% of
women work part-time, against 6% of men.
This determines a set of values in relation to legitimate job ambitions which are very
different between the sexes, but are very developed for men, and can, when they do not
achieve what they were seeking, bring about a lessening of self-esteem and a sense of
frustration, which is sometimes compensated by violent behaviour.
In other words, women who work - even when they are highly skilled and competent tend to limit themselves to short term professional ambitions and desires compared to
men, who have long-term career ambitions
Women’s work load is further burdened by family commitments:
 41% of working women dedicate at least one hour a day to caring for their children,
against 24% of men;
 64% of working women spend at least one hour a day cooking, against 13% of men;
 63% of working women spend at least one hour a day doing housework, against 12%
of men;
The European Union report confirms that sexual harassment and violence are persistent,
even though they are often not reported.
On average in Europe 9% of the work force is subject to intimidation (Italy and
Portugal 4%, Finland, Holland and Britain 14.5%).
So, it is not enough just to talk about this sad phenomenon, but it must be approached
professionally, taking into account all the different aspects.
For example, given the frequency of cases of violence presented on television
programs, the absence of women “experts” is striking; women who study the issue of
violence, and are therefore able to provide more complex interpretations and a more
high profile image, at least to balance out the frequency of female “victims”, who bring
only their own testimony: every woman, day after day, tells a story which is unique and
personal.
1 ora al giorno è dedicata ...
70
60
donne
50
40
30
64%
41%
63%
20
10 24%
0
uomini
cura dei figli
13%
cucinare
12%
faccende di casa
Fulvio Giardina, 2003
Women
Men
1 hour a day dedicated to….
41
64
63
24
13
12
Childcare
Cooking
Household chores
lavoratrici oggetto di molestie sessuali
15
10
5
9%
14%
4%
0
UE
Italia, Portogallo
Olanda,Gran Bretagna
Fulvio Giardina, 2003
Female workers subjected to sexual harassment
EU
9%
Italy, Portugal
4%
Holland, Great Britain 14%
Very rarely are the roots of these sick relationships looked into in depth, or is the
violence inside a culture studied in the light of the “man-woman” relationship.
Usually it is confronted only very emotionally.
Psychological assistance is then a useful support tool for the operators who deal with
the problem.
Forensic psychology reveals that often critical situations are dealt with very
inadequately, especially in the initial stages, for example, when gathering information
essential to reconstructing the crime.
Often the operators themselves become emotionally involved in the cases they are
treating, thereby becoming so called “second-degree victims”.
The most frequent consequence is a resurgence of violence and rigidity, almost an
addiction, which they in turn reproduce in their private lives.
Tasso di disoccupazione femminile in Italia
e nella UE nel 1995 e nel 2000
40
%
30
20
10
0
Centro-Nord
Mezzogiorno Italia
UE
Fulvio Giardina, 2003
Female unemployment rate in Italy and EU in 1995 and in 2000
Central-North
South
Italy
EU
Data on the phenomenon’s diffusion in Italy
In Italy 20% - 30% percent of women suffer abuse from their partner or former partner.
Sexual violence is still very much undisclosed: only 32% of women who have been
raped over the past three years and only 1.3% of those who have experienced attempted
rape, have reported it.
Since the 80’s a growing number of incidents of street violence have been reported, by
unknown perpetrators, especially in urban areas 1.
Contrary to what is normally believed, most violence against women is committed by
people known to the woman, and inside the home.
This helps to explain the low number of cases reported, the high number of accusations
withdrawn and why the phenomenon is still largely unknown and difficult to quantify.
In Italy violence against women is more frequent because the threshold of social
tolerance towards this crime is higher.
Italy is still slow in taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the European
Union in relation to the prevention of violence against women.
Diffusion at a social level
Domestic violence is a cross-cutting phenomenon, affecting all social, economic and
cultural levels, Italian or immigrants, married or co-habiting, or even already seperated.
Many women are employed: as labourers, shop keepers, employees, teachers,
craftswomen; but there is also a significant number of women who only live off
irregular/short-term employment, or who are unemployed, housewives or retired.
If it is true that violence is a cross-cutting phenomenon, it is evident that not being
economically independent is a huge obstacle to any efforts to break up a violent
relationship, particularly when the woman must support not only herself but also her
children.
The violence reported is physical, psychological, economic, sexual, and sometimes
spiritual; in most cases, the women undergoes a combination of different types of
violence inflicted at the same time on different levels, which makes it difficult to
classify the gravity.
Almost all cases of abuse occur within a stable relationship: the perpetrator is almost
never a stranger, but it’s the husband, the partner, the boyfriend, sometimes even the
father or the brother.
Different forms of domestic violence
Some forms of violence are to be found in many cultures (rape, domestic violence,
incest), others are specific to certain contexts (sexual mutilation, murder for an
endowment).
There can be a link between different types of violence; violence against children for
example, often goes together with violence against the mother.
Men and women’s positions with regard to this phenomenon are not the same; women
are much more often victims and men are the perpetrators; some forms of violence are
inflicted almost exclusively on women (rape).
A distorted interpretation of violence against women
A correct interpretation of the main indicators of domestic violence brings us to debunk
some myths.
Often the media show women from a low socio-cultural extraction, who tell dramatic
stories of violence, whereas statistics show that violence against women and girls does
not occur only in the lower classes: it happens at all social levels.
Domestic violence is not caused by drug or alcohol consumption. There are non-violent
alcoholics and drug addicts, just as there are violent men, drug addicts and alcoholics,
who become violent without the use of alcohol and/or drugs: however, the majority of
violent men are not alcoholics nor drug addicts.
Violence is almost never an irrational act, but it is almost always premeditated.
Domestic violence is not caused by occasional and sporadic loss of control: it responds
to a desire to exercise power and control over women; that is why, with an almost
“pedagogical” (!!!) attitude, the aggressors themselves claim that beating their women
up is a way to modify their behaviour.
The World Bank considers domestic violence a public health problem, as it seriously
affects women’s psychological and physical well-being, as opposed to those who think
that it does not compromise their health.
Only 10% of the perpetrators have psychiatric problems. To attribute violence to
psychotic subjects is just a ploy to keep the realm of violence separate from that of
normality, it is a form of exorcism.
Violent partners have not always undergone violence as children: there is not
necessarily a cause-effect relation between violence suffered during childhood and
violence inflicted as an adult.
Lastly, there are some who even claim that women choose to undergo violence because
they, so to say, actually like to be beaten up (sado-masochist relationships).
There are many factors and bonds that keep women from making the decision to break
off a violent relationship within a brief period: fear of losing their children, economic
difficulties, isolation, disapproval of the family, being condemned and stigmatised by
society.
Obviously, however, in any case and without any doubt the hypothesis of choice, of a
free choice by the woman who suffers violence must be refuted.
The culture of male-female relationships
When speaking of violence agaisnt women it is important to always keep in mind that
violence agaisnt women is gender violence, recognised today by the international
community as a fundamental violation of human rights 2.
Women suffer violence at the hands of men. Obviously not all men use violence agaisnt
women, but it is nevertheless gender violence, ie. violence by men agaisnt women and
children.
Men usually use violence to maintain or enforce their power over women, or to block a
regression of this power.
Gender violence has long been invisible: it took place in the shadows in as far as it
coincided with the prevailing values, traditions and laws, to the point that it was
considered a fact of nature, common, normal!
Just think how readily visible this is in our society, especially in the south, where the
family culture is so strong as to justify any abuse against women.
Men have power; “the good wife” is the woman who tolerates, who suffers in silence in
the name of the family: submissiveness is elevated to virtue.
How it develops inside the family
Domestic violence can erupt at any moment in a relationship: sometimes it starts
immediately, sometimes in coincidence with the birth of a child; sometimes after many
years of marriage; the frequency and gravity of violent episodes are extremely variable.
Domestic violence consists of a series of strategies on the part of the perpetrator who
wants to exercise control over his partner, and often also on their children.
The violent partner first creates an atmosphere of tension and isolation, through threats,
prohibitions, feelings of guilt, and denigration of the woman: then he inflicts violence.
Usually the frequency and gravity of the episodes increase over time, until the women,
after various attempts at mending and recovering the relationship (using various
survival strategies such as minimising the episodes of violence and blaming
themselves), decide to pull out of the situation of abuse, with their children.
Consequences for the woman
The consequences of domestic violence against women manifest themselves on various
levels, which are often correlated.
On a psychological level there can be a loss of self esteem, anxiety and fear with regard
to her situation and that of her children, self incrimination, a deep sense of helplessness,
of depression;
At a physical level, besides traumas which can heal, there can be psycho-somatic
problems, sleep disorders, permanent articulation damage, scars, partial loss of hearing
and/or sight, etc.;
From an economic and social point of view it can cause women to lose their jobs,
homes and other property, as well as a certain standard of living; isolation, lack of
communication and relations with the outside world, loss of friendships.
Consequences for the children
Episodes of violence against women inside the family are on the increase: therefore it is
important to remember that often the direct and indirect victims of these situations are
the children.
This type of violence has very serious effects on children, whether they themselves are
abused, or whether they are witness to episodes of violence.
Children who are witness to or the victims of domestic violence, manifest physical and
psychological health problems, as well as behavioural problems such as weight, food
and sleep disorders; they may have difficulties at school, not make positive friendships,
and try to run away from home, or have suicidal tendencies.
[email protected]
With the kind collaboration of Alesia Magnano
Citizens’ safety – sexual harassment and violence. ISTAT 1998
Council of Europe-Group of specialists for combating violence against women, Final Report of Activities, Strasbourg,
1997
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