Why Domestic Violence Should Be an International Crime

Domestic Violence

The Department of domestic violence defines domestic violence as a concoction of behavior that is abusive used by one partner in any relationship aimed at gaining  or maintaining control over another intimate partner. It comes in many forms which include physical, sexual, emotional and economic abuse. This heinous act mainly affects women and children. Women throughout the world are subjected to life-threatening acts of physical violence every day (McQuigg, 2011).

Domestic violence is a crime that stretches across borders, cultures, nationalities and race. The most prevalent form is battering of women by men. Violence against women treated as a human rights violation is an emergent principle in International human rights law. This fledgling jurisprudence manifests two specific forms of gender-based violence- mass rape as a crime against humanity or war crime and female genital mutilation as a human rights violation (Meyersfeld, 2010). This paper seeks to interrogate why domestic violence ought to be treated as an international crime.

National governments all over the world have rendered themselves to the enactment of legislation to address this rampant social vice. However, the implementation of such legislation has faced and continues to face numerous bottlenecks ranging from male chauvinist cultures to the intimate nature of this crime. Honor killing that involves murdering of women in the name of family honor, for example, is a ritual performed each year especially in the Middle East. This practice was condoned under the rule of fundamentalist Taliban government. Moreover, the fact that the murders are conducted by teenage brothers of the victims makes it even more difficult to prosecute the perpetrators because they are minors. There is need therefore to treat domestic violence as an international crime to counter such tailbacks as presented above.

There exists a strong correlation between conflict and rape. During war, children and women are highly susceptible to rape, forced pregnancy, sexual exploitation and trafficking. In fact, rape is used a war tactic intended to destroy women, as well as their families. In 1994, for example, the genocide in Rwanda saw thousands of women and children raped. A similar case has been reported in Darfur. The perpetrators of this injustice have to this day not been brought to book. This underscores the importance of treating domestic violence as an international crime which would see justice served to the victims (Schneider & Dalton, 2008).

Legislative gender discrimination is yet another eminent form of domestic violence. In Iran, for example, many laws that discriminate against women have been enacted over the years. These laws deprive the women of equal rights to child custody, divorce and equal pay. A case of the arrest of Esha Momeni, an Iranian-American student at California State University/Northridge is an example of how women rights activists are treated. They are arrested and charged with "endangering state security" as "agents of Western powers". The state laws coupled with systemic failure by prosecutors necessitates the redefinition of domestic violence as an international crime (Meyersfeld, 2010).

In conclusion, due to the financial, social and political disparities between men and women, the latter mainly occupy the private jurisdiction where violence is apparently more ordinary than other crimes and less obnoxious. Legal infrastructure designed to discriminate between private and public law, are as a result, inept to assist the victims of domestic violence. There is there an urgent need, therefore, to conceptualize domestic violence as a crime in international law to elicit a refashioning of the legal reaction both internationally and nationally.

REFERENCES

McQuigg, R. J. A. (2011). International human rights law and domestic violence: The       effectiveness of international human rights law. Abingdon, Oxon, England: Routledge.

Meyersfeld, B. (2010). Domestic violence and international law. Oxford: Hart.

Schneider, E. M., & Dalton, C. (2008). Domestic violence and the law: Theory and practice.         New York: Foundation Press.

How technology influences modern society and its contribution to social problems such as sexual and domestic violence

Topic: How technology influences modern society and its contribution to social problems such     as sexual and domestic violence

Cross-discipline thinking and argumentatively writing provides a full panorama for problem evaluation and discussion. The topic on how technology influences the modern society is a cross-discipline analysis of two disciplines; computer science and sociology. On one hand, computer science deals with the study of technology. On the other hand, sociology is dedicated to analyzing how the society performs, its core values and norms. Technology in this topic is regarded as a tool, a vehicle that impacts on the norms, values and beliefs practiced in an individual society. The values, standards and practices in a corporation have undergone numerous changes. The changes are influenced largely by the emergence of technology. The changes impact both positively and negatively on the society. The topic focuses on the negative effects of the tool and the social havoc that emerges. To be specific, violence is a point of discussion that correlates the two disciplines. Violence is a social construction and as such, it has undergone numerous changes over time, and it reflects power relationships. The link between the two disciplines is well stipulated as each emphasizes the social setup and the resultant impact.

Like any other correlation, the two areas of study overlap. On one end, the social construction focuses on the vices prevalent in the society where violence becomes a critical issue of interest. On the other hand, as technology evolves, the damaging and widespread challenges it causes become evident and the two disciplines collide and overlap at this juncture. Technology cannot exist outside the bounds of the social structure. As a discovery, it was developed to help curb the challenges that coexist in society. However, like any other man-made tool, it is prone to misuse and for personal interest. It is through the aspect of technology that modern society is founded. In a society where sexual harassment and domestic violence is prevalent, the tool does not mitigate the vice but rather increases its influence. It acts not only as a stepping stone towards goal achievement and enhance better lives, but also as a tool that deploys an imminent threat to curbing the vice. The interaction of the two disciplines is evident, sociology creates a social platform that adopts and applies technology. The vices practiced in the society such as sexual harassment are fueled by the application and adoption of technology.

Like any other research, there are limitations and challenges that face an individual researcher. In this study, a problem arises in finding a cross-sectional relationship between the two disciplines. Since sociology deals with the ways of the people and the social construction of the society, providing a correlation with an intuitive, technology-based training like computer science poses a challenge. The researcher must evaluate the two areas of interest in depth to provide an informative, statistically correct and authentic research. To achieve this, the study must assess the contribution of technology to the social structure. The growth of technology and specifically the internet is attributed to a variety of voices. The social vice that is of concern is sexual and domestic violence. Violence is a major concern to the general public as it instills fear. Determining what causes and triggers violence and who defines its extent is a challenge.