The obvious effects of spousal abuse are injury and unhappiness, but spousal abuse actually ripples through all aspects of a person's life and affects the abused person in dramatic and profound ways. Abuse affects a person's self-esteem, mental health, income and ability to be self-supporting. It also takes a heavy toll on children, increasing their risk for diseases and setting them up for their own struggles with abuse as they mature. If that's not enough, many women pay the ultimate price, losing their lives at the hands of their abusers.
Death and Serious Injury
More than 1,500 people die each year due to intimate partner violence out of 4.8 million assaults on women and 2.9 million assaults on men, according to a 2007 U.S. Department of Justice report. Women accounted for 75 percent of these deaths. Women who sustain life-long spousal abuse injuries (or even just one attack) can suffer severe prolonged head trauma, broken bones, facial disfiguration, blindness and a host of other physical as well as mental injuries. In some cases, abusive spouses intentionally murder their partners, but many of these deaths are unintentional (the partner meant to hurt, not to kill) or result from cumulative injuries over a long span of time. Because spousal abuse doesn't usually stop after one incident, death and serious injury are two very compelling reasons for women to seek intervention.
Depression and Low Self-Esteem
Abused partners are often isolated, tightly controlled and forced to live in fear of their actions and opinions. According to the Crisis Support Network, women who experience spousal abuse commonly suffer from psychiatric disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. In an attempt to exert control, spousal abusers often try to make their partners feel like inadequate parents and spouses and worthless human beings. Abused women learn to internalize these accusations and believe them to be true.
Poverty
Abused persons miss enough work each year to equal 32,000 full-time jobs, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Some abused partners aren't permitted to work or to attend school outside the home. Abusive partners may control the family resources, such as money and transportation, making it difficult or impossible for women to earn their own livable wages or to get educated. This situation sets up a barrier to leaving. Women who are able to work or to attend school often suffer poor performance or attendance due to the physical, mental and emotional toll of abuse.
Effects on Children
The effects of family violence on children are widespread. Post-traumatic stress disorder leads to nightmares, bed-wetting and anti-social behavior, according to the Family Violence Prevention Fund. Abused children are also at increased risk of developing depression, having diabetes, suffering from intestinal disorders and experiencing unintended pregnancy, among other serious medical conditions. These children are also more likely to be victims of spousal violence themselves as they mature or to perpetrate violence against their own partners.
Member Comments