Family violence is a phenomenon that has alarming costs for society and that generates irreparable damage to the people who experience it and suffer it.
I. Initial definitions
- Family Violence.
Any action or omission that causes physical or psychological damage, mistreatment without injury, including serious and / or repeated threat or coercion, as well as sexual violence, that occurs between spouses, former spouses, partners, former partners, ascendants, descendants, Collateral relatives up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and second degree of affinity, who live in the same home, provided that there are no contractual labor relations and who have procreated children in common, regardless of whether they live together or not, at the time of the violence (Art. 2 of the law on protection against family violence).
- Physical Violence.
Any action carried out against a family member or person with a family relationship, which can range from a push to stronger and more harmful blows. Physical violence damages the physical health of the person attacked, since when the legal medical examination is carried out, they will be given days of rest-assistance and medical assistance.
- Psychological Violence.
It refers to the psychological damage that is exerted on a person, who is not physically hit, but is morally diminished, since he is attacked in a systematic way, in which the objective is to make him believe that he is a person weak and useless.
- Sexual Violence.
From the experiences of women, sexual assaults are all non-consensual sexual contacts. Each experience of sexual assault is unique and only each woman can truly give an account of her true dimension. Sexual violence is a fact: A) Much more frequent than most people think. B) Much more frequent than the media spread. C) Much more frequent than statistics and official records establish. Although it does not mean that there is only sexual violence against women, since there is also talk of sexual violence against men, against children…
II. Description of the problem itself.
The problem of family violence is an issue for which this work barely shows: A) The tip of the iceberg of this new millennium, in addition, projections indicate that the statistics are increasing more and more. B) Below this point is submerged emotional violence, abandonment, neglect, control, brainwashing, isolation of 25% percent of women from almost 50% of their children, depression, states severe confusion, chronic panic, dissociation, memory problems, eating and behavior disorders, non-existent self-esteem, emotional restriction, running away from home, learning difficulties, among others. C) The submerged part of this iceberg includes the re-victimization that occurs when a victim consults the health system and is accused of being a masochist,or when she consults the legal system without finding the appropriate legislation to protect her, by informing her that an episode that does not occur repeatedly is not family violence.
Family violence is as old as humanity itself, and the serious mistreatment exercised against members of this primary group, considered from the social imagination and concomitant practices, as "the weakest", has been incredibly until the mid-twentieth century, no only, an accepted behavior, but even encouraged, belonging to the private life of the families, and on which the community, and therefore the state, should not have any interference.
Starting, only since then, just to be considered in a totally opposite way. and it is that, to begin with, the family, like any social organization, is necessarily hierarchically structured in unequal positions of power. thus, we have that its own organization generates a not very auspicious climate.
The incidence of this family dysfunction is not influenced by social class, educational level, marital status, race, religion, age, or the bond that unites the members that make it up. In other words, we can all suffer from it and / or exercise it and in fact we experience it in our homes to a greater or lesser degree.
Family violence is a phenomenon that has alarming costs for society and that generates irreparable damage to the people who experience it and suffer it. And it is that in the face of violence anguish invades us and worse if we understand that in the face of it, there is no solution, at least immediate.
People who experience this problem are often impeded in their personal development, they experience radical changes that range from loss of appetite to loss of will to live… limited to contribute positively to their community, they are seriously damaged in their self-esteem and they live so overwhelmed that this prevents them from advancing, in addition, in their personal goals. This type of violence flourishes and develops in any hierarchical society, founded on unjust, unequal and oppressive power structures, where its basis is domination.
The factors that originate family violence are found in poverty, machismo, irresponsibility, infidelity, lack of culture, lack of communication in the family, discrimination, fears, complexes, misinformation and above all in the indifference; without these being necessarily exclusive, appearing in the lower, middle and upper classes, although to a lesser extent in the latter.
III. Man is also a victim.
In Argentina, the problem is just becoming visible and obviously in a much lower percentage than that of women. in them it reaches, in Peru, up to 40%. Out of shame, so as not to hurt their children, or simply because they have nowhere to go, many men who are abused, say nothing and endure all kinds of insults.
There is no doubt that this problem that has just come to light, hides more cases of men who endure abuse and who do not report them for the fear of ridicule they feel is very great. Talking about this is a way of opening the doors for other men, not only Peruvians, in similar situations, to be encouraged to share their experiences. thus allowing the design of intervention strategies and specialization of the people who care for and guide the victims.
IV. Importance of detecting family violence.
- Like all problems that can be treated, family violence requires, in order to make assistance strategies viable, to be detected as soon as possible.
- The attitudes, myths and prejudices that health professionals have in relation to this issue constitute a critical component. the lack of information, stigmatizing, disbelieving and punitive beliefs, in conjunction with the lack of recognition of the influence that family violence has on the health and quality of life of victims (understood as any member of the family, including man), are factors that lead to the fact that in practice many cases are not detected.
- These cases are not identified, therefore, they do not receive the medical, psychological, social and legal assistance that the specificity and complexity of the picture requires. Consequently, the victims continue in situations of helplessness and increasing risk, even more so, if in many cases, not even they themselves are able to determine that they suffer from it.
V. Prevention of family violence.
Current legislation, to a large extent, only affects the issue of combating family violence and not the issue of preventing it, therefore, we wanted to suggest some guidelines regarding its prevention:
- Causes and consequences, affected population, mistreatment of women and children mainly, sexual abuse and others, are aspects of a comprehensive task that must be carried out to prevent family violence, considering the articulation of support networks and group actions of high population impact. It is about a family strengthening that involves a long and sustained process, because unfortunately deeply rooted cultural patterns that are related to machismo, job insecurity, overcrowding, poverty, health problems, among others. This process must involve aspects such as health, family, communication, myths and prejudices of family violence, affected population, sexual abuse, child abuse, infidelity, civil and criminal rights, and community and state articulation,basically oriented towards its prevention. Although the attention should be directed to all social strata, it should be kept in mind that the most depressed strata and places; They not only suffer from greater social difficulties, but also have a very weak economic situation and a complex family structure; They represent a demand with little assistance, with limited or very limited training on this type of violence, covert and reserved with silences and fears to each household, most of the time. Detecting cases of family violence is very difficult, because there is a whole network of fears, complexes and erratic values that make this type of violence in most cases not come to light. And when it happens, it is because some of the actors, in particular the affected person or close people,they assume that the situation requires urgent help and support; This generally occurs when the violence, exerted on the subject or passive subjects thereof, has reached very high levels of cruelty and abuse. Contribute to the transformation of the social and cultural conditions in which family violence takes place, from a gender, comprehensive and multidisciplinary perspective decidedly aimed at preventing it. Provide families living in these situations with the necessary elements to put into practice equitable, democratic and just human relations. such as: social and psychological assistance, counseling, training courses (which should be aimed at victims and interested in this problem, including the entire social spectrum such as police, health, education, justice, churches,public entities, etc., so that in each locality there is specialized personnel, duly trained to address the issue in their community), free legal sponsorship, etc., with a determined and permanent coverage by the different media Communication; Consequently, the victims will know the legal resources they have to face the problem in comment, gradually achieving the recovery of their self-esteem, with the reception of the different cases, the visits to the homes and the social monitoring in order to contain conjunctural situations, achieving a comprehensive knowledge and subsequent monitoring of each case in particular in the different areas.duly trained to address the issue in their community), free legal sponsorship, etc., with determined and permanent coverage by the different media; Consequently, the victims will know the legal resources they have to face the problem in comment, gradually achieving the recovery of their self-esteem, with the reception of the different cases, the visits to the homes and the social monitoring in order to contain conjunctural situations, achieving a comprehensive knowledge and subsequent monitoring of each case in particular in the different areas.duly trained to address the issue in their community), free legal sponsorship, etc., with determined and permanent coverage by the different media; Consequently, the victims will know the legal resources they have to face the problem in comment, gradually achieving the recovery of their self-esteem, with the reception of the different cases, the visits to the homes and the social monitoring in order to contain conjunctural situations, achieving a comprehensive knowledge and subsequent monitoring of each case in particular in the different areas.The victims will know the legal resources they have to face the problem in comment, gradually achieving the recovery of their self-esteem, with the reception of the different cases, the visits to the homes and the social follow-up in order to contain conjunctural situations, achieving a comprehensive knowledge and subsequent monitoring of each case in particular in the different areas.The victims will know the legal resources they have to face the problem in comment, gradually achieving the recovery of their self-esteem, with the reception of the different cases, the visits to the homes and the social follow-up in order to contain conjunctural situations, achieving a comprehensive knowledge and subsequent monitoring of each case in particular in the different areas.
SAW. State policies and actions to combat it.
- Strengthen at all educational levels the teaching of ethical values, the unrestricted respect for the dignity of the person and the rights of women, children, adolescents and the family, in accordance with the political constitution of the state and international instruments ratified by Peru. Undertake dissemination campaigns in order to sensitize society about the aforementioned social problems and to condemn acts of family violence. Promote study and research on the causes of family violence and measures to be taken to correct it. Establish effective legal processes for victims of family violence,characterized by the minimum of formalism and the tendency to provide precautionary measures and compensation for damages caused as well as facilitate free care in medical examinations required by the police, the public prosecutor or the judiciary. Promote the active participation of organizations, public entities at the central, regional and local level and private institutions dedicated to the protection of children and adolescents, the elderly, women and family matters in general, for the development of preventive activities and control over the execution of precautionary measures, as well as for support and treatment of violence and rehabilitation of the aggressors. Promote prevention, care and rehabilitation policies, programs and services at the municipal level, such as women's advocates,temporary shelter homes, counseling services, mutual aid groups, municipal child and adolescent ombudsmen, and rehabilitation services for offenders, among others. Train prosecutors, judges, medical examiners, health agents, education agents, as well as the personnel of the national police, the ombudsmen for children and adolescents and municipal services to take an effective role in the fight against family violence. these actions being coordinated by the ministry for the promotion of women and human development. Establish measures in order to implement actions for the prevention and care of family violence in rural areas of the country (Art. 3 of the law on protection against family violence).municipal ombudsmen for children and adolescents and rehabilitation services for offenders, among others. Train prosecutors, judges, medical examiners, health agents, education agents, as well as the personnel of the national police, the ombudsmen for children and adolescents and municipal services to take an effective role in the fight against family violence. these actions being coordinated by the ministry for the promotion of women and human development. Establish measures in order to implement actions for the prevention and care of family violence in rural areas of the country (Art. 3 of the law on protection against family violence).municipal ombudsmen for children and adolescents and rehabilitation services for offenders, among others. Train prosecutors, judges, medical examiners, health agents, education agents, as well as the personnel of the national police, the ombudsmen for children and adolescents and municipal services to take an effective role in the fight against family violence. these actions being coordinated by the ministry for the promotion of women and human development. Establish measures in order to implement actions for the prevention and care of family violence in rural areas of the country (Art. 3 of the law on protection against family violence).as well as the personnel of the national police, the ombudsmen for children and adolescents and municipal services so that they assume an effective role in the fight against family violence. these actions being coordinated by the ministry for the promotion of women and human development. Establish measures in order to implement actions for the prevention and care of family violence in rural areas of the country (Art. 3 of the law on protection against family violence).as well as the personnel of the national police, the ombudsmen for children and adolescents and municipal services so that they assume an effective role in the fight against family violence. these actions being coordinated by the ministry for the promotion of women and human development. Establish measures in order to implement actions for the prevention and care of family violence in rural areas of the country (Art. 3 of the law on protection against family violence).Establish measures in order to implement actions for the prevention and care of family violence in rural areas of the country (Art. 3 of the law on protection against family violence).Establish measures in order to implement actions for the prevention and care of family violence in rural areas of the country (Art. 3 of the law on protection against family violence).
VII. Final thoughts.
The problem of violence in the Peruvian family is a worrying social institutional problem, even more so, because of how paradoxical it is that it occurs in the space where its members should be more protected, it continues to be a dangerous place, in its diverse social sectors and it is only the reflection of the social disorganization produced by a set of historical, economic, political, social, cultural elements, of disinterest and ignorance of rights; which is not always perceived by its members.
It is very difficult to detect it and even worse that it can be reached on time or when the levels of violence are lower, once a specific case is known. most of the time… in the first place, not only the victim and the perpetrator are the ones who allow, keep quiet, etc. the existence of family violence; since they are joined by nothing less than those who are in their environment, the professionals who should be there to help and also the state itself for its certain degree of indifference.
It is that, we ourselves star in violence, at every moment, either as aggressors or attacked. violence is legitimized by the institutions that could do something to prevent it and we are not referring only to the political or police. We refer to the media, schools, health institutions, companies, etc., more than adequate legislation, legislation that is actually applied, the lack of institutional support, impunity And in all this, furthermore, we must not deny that we have our fair share of responsibility.
We suggest, therefore, a rapprochement between the state and the community, in order to work together in order to prevent and combat it, since only a comprehensive and adequate theoretical, methodological and technical articulation will allow real possibilities of transformation; since as long as the detection of cases continues to be limited and we do not assume the commitment to this problem, the victims of family violence will continue to be unprotected. We must, therefore, confront it nationally.
Thus, if we accept that there is insecurity in the streets, well, there is also insecurity and fear inside the houses. We need, then, at the highest level an organization that not only cares about this issue, but that actually prevents, protects, rehabilitates and takes decisive and correct public policies and measures and that does not carry out one more management, with a program, that getting moth-eaten, hang from the organizational chart in the last corner.
Without losing sight, as a premise, that a family with problems of family violence engenders individuals with deviant behaviors, among them: drug addiction, alcoholism, gangs, juvenile delinquency, prostitution, etc.; that does a lot of harm not only to the members of the family that suffers it, but also to society as a whole.
It is not necessary to always agree, it is in the difference that matures. and precisely this difference allows us to break the circuit formed by the gears of family violence. Thus, we are not only part of this problem, we are also part of its solution. Perhaps another more important point on this issue is that all the aforementioned or all the investigations and forums that are done to provide alternative solutions to this type of violence, would be useless if we do not put it into practice, at least individually or as a family group. Thus, we must not encourage or allow violence to become another member of our families.
