BATTERED WOMAN

What is WIFE ABUSE ?

Defining wife abuse or wife battering is

not easy. Any woman who maintains an
intimate relationship with a man could
become a battered or abuse wife.

Abused or Battered

It is the violence that can cause serious

injury and even death. The injuries were
to the head and neck bruises, strangle
marks, black eyes, split lips, eye damage,
fractured nose, permanent hearing loss,
broken ribs and internal bleeding.

A woman who has been abused over a long

period of time is always afraid. Not only is she
afraid that she, herself, is seriously hurt, but if
she has children, she also fears for their safety.
Violence and various types of abuse against
women still remain as problem in the
Philippines. Despite the signs of progress and
womens groups apparently advocating their
right and status, it seems that women have
remained basically inferior and subordinate to
men.

Battered Women on a
Surge

Researchers say that women who are not

educated, unemployed, young and poor
may be more likely to be abusive
relationships than others.

Risk Factors for Future

Abuse

Male is unemployed.
Male uses illicit drugs at least once a year.
Male and female have different religious
backgrounds.
Male saw father hit mother.
Male and female cohabit and are not married.
Male has blue-collar occupation, if employed.
Male did not graduate from high school.
Male or female use severe violence toward
children at home.
Total family income is below the poverty line.

Why do men abuse their wives?

Wife abuse occurs in wealthy, as well as

in poor communities in middle class, as
well as in poor families.
Men often abuse as children or saw their
mother abused.
The aggressive partner is filled with
anger, resentment, suspicion and
tension.
He feels insecure and hopeless.
He may also use violence to give vent to
the bad feelings he has about himself.

He believes that the home is a place

where he can express those feelings
without punishment to himself.
In the office, if he were angry with his
boss and struck him, he would pay the
price, but often, he gets away without
penalty when he beats his wife that
becomes the target of his vengeance.

Patterns of Wife Abuse

There are familiar patterns of wife abuse and these

often develop in three stages: the tension-building
stage , the explosion or the actual beating stage ,
and the loving stage.

There are several studies on the forms of battering

against women and were categorized into four
types.
1. PHYSICAL. This type of battering may consist of
single, manual act or a series of different acts, or a
combination of assault with the use of weapons.
Specific methods include slapping, kicking,
punching, strangling etc.

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL. This type of battering

consists of various three intimidations and all
sorts of verbal abuse. These include threat to
kill, physical harm through lethal weapon,
abandonment, ordering her out of the house,
use of degrading words, public humiliation by
accusing her of infidelity etc.
3. SEXUAL. This type of battering includes
demanding for sex regardless of her condition,
forcing her to perform an unacceptable sex act,
forcing her to watch pornographic materials or
lewd video shows, catching him performing sex
with another woman in their own house and
forcing her and his mistress to live and sleep
with him together.

4. ECONOMIC. This type of battering

includes denial or withdrawal of financial
support or prohibiting her from handling
money, husbands total control over
conjugal financial resources, even
controlling the womans earnings and
using the household money for gambling,
drinking or drugs.

3 Behavioral Types of
Abuser

They look ordinary, and they are more

likely to feel remorse after an attack.
Usually, when they use violence it
reflects some lack of communication
skills, combined with a dependence on
the wife.
A second group of men are intensely
jealous of their wives and have fear for
abandonment. Most likely, they grew up
with psychological and sexual abuse

The third group, the smallest and most

dangerous are men with an antisocial
personality disorder. These men are just
like criminals who beat up anybody else
when they are not getting what they
want.

Why Women Stay in Abusive

Relationships?

Some women who have been in terror

because of terrifying relationships say
that it isnt that easy because of the
children, the financial and emotional
bond that are difficult to break.
Another reason is that a woman that
loves her partner very much believes that
his behavior will change.

Furthermore, there is ample evidence

that trying to leave an abusive
relationship may precipitate brutal
attacks or murder. Despite the many
difficulties of leaving abusive
relationships, attention is still focused on
why a lot of women stay rather than on
why men batter and on what
interventions will prevent the battered
women from being brutalized or even
killed when they do leave.

Agencies that Protect Women

from Violence

The Department of Social Welfare and Development

has intensified its programs and services to protect
disadvantaged women from all forms of violence
and exploitation. There are substitute homes for
abused women nationwide, including the Haven in
Alabang.
The Womens Crises Center is another organization
that provides services for the victims battering. The
program includes intervening counseling which
includes emotional support by accompanying the
victims to the hospital for medical treatment or to
the police station if they wish to report their case
for appropriate action.

Kababaihan Laban sa Karahasan

(KALAKASAN), is a private Womens
organization that is very much involved in
counseling battered housewives and help
them find the right solutions to their
problems.
The problem of wife battering has been
perceived that women are subordinate
and inferior to men; and therefore, the
man has the rights over the woman.

Domestic violence are likely happens

between two persons who may have the
notion that they love each other but
somehow feel they are unequal in person,
position and power.

Stopping Women Abuse

1.

Stopping starts with people changing their attitudes

toward violence and women. No one deserves to be
beaten or physically abused, no matter what the
excuse.
To ensure protection of women from violence, the
Womens Crises Center has suggested these
recommendations:
The immediate legislation of Domestic Violence
Act, network composed of seven womens
organization focusing legislative advocacy. This
provide for: a.) allotment of portion of the abuser
husbands salary for the needs of his abused wife
and children.

b.) insurance of protection orders or

injunction to protect women from further
abuse.
c.) mandatory arrest which would empower
the police officer to arrest the offender
when he has reason to believe that the
abuse has just occurred.
d.) empowering local officials to warn the
offender of committing further violence
and abuse.

2. To conduct a national campaign of Family

Violence to raise public awareness.
3. To provide support to existing service center,
crises centers and encouragement for putting
up similar centers in different places.
4. To provide adequate support for the battered
woman and their children like livelihood
programs.
5. To conduct gender sensitivity seminars for
professionals assisting woman victims like
barangay officials and police.

6. To support community-based family

violence prevention programs.
7. To encourage and support existing media
programs and efforts to pro-women
practitioners and propagate womens
right.
8. To support moves to amend, revise or
add provisions in the Revised Penal Code
and New Family Code to recognize and
protect womens rights, particularly the
domestic violence victims.

Serious Cases of Battered

Women

Case No. 1
Ayoko Na.
After 3 years of marriage, 22 years old Marilyn Baber
(not her real name) has decided to terminate her
stormy relationship with her aggressive husband. Since
she was married to him, there were several occasions
were she has been abused because of her jealous
partner. In one instance, her abusive husband punched
her on the left eye. When she tried to explain her case,
he kicked her several times. Not contented, he grabbed
her by the hair and slammed her head against the wall.
When the mother of Marilyn confronted Efren, the
violent husband, he shouted saying: Huwag kang
makialam dito, away naming mag-asawa ito.

Case No. 2
A 33 year old woman was hacked and wounded by
her drunken live-in partner after a heated
argument over the suspects vices. Domingo
Carillo, 36 years old, a construction worker,
surrendered to police authorities after the incident.
Juanita, confronted her live-in partner, saying that
she could no longer stand his vices. She started
shouting invectives at her lover. Domingo got mad
and attacked the woman with a bolo. The
commotion caught the attention of neighbors who
rushed to the couples house and brought the
victim to the hospital.

Potential Wife Beater

The Kababaihan Laban sa Karahasan

(KALAKASAN) Foundation a womens NGO
believes that violence against women are
deep and widespread. The best way to
deal with this problem is to inform young
women of the rights to be respected.
Here are some pieces of advice on how to
spot a potential woman beater.

He hurts you on purpose. He hits you, twist

your arm, pulls your hair, breaks your favorite
things.
He has a scary temper. He blows up at the
slightest provocation, picks fight with waiters
or security guards.
He puts you down. He tells you nobody else
will want you because youre ugly and
undesirable.
He cuts you off from your friends. He gains
control of you by isolating you from others.

He swings back and forth from sweet

to mean, then back again. Hes nice and
sweet one day, tough and mean the next.
He blames you for his anger. He doesnt
take responsibility to his hurtful actions. If
he slaps or kicks you, its always not his act,
but some mistake that you did.
He panics at the idea of breaking up.
He breaks down and cries when youre
about to end the relationship. Its a tool he
used to make women emotional prisoners.

He encourages you not to enjoy life.

He doesnt want you around other
people, which is why he will ask you to
stop going to the gym, quit your job and
stay home.
He checks up on you. Hes extremely
jealous and suspicious. He keeps track of
where you are and who you hang out
with.
He calls you name. He lashes out at
you and calls you cruel names in private
or in front of other people.

If your boyfriend hits you, curses or

shames you in public, stops you from
seeing your friends and wants to control
you, forces you to have sex with him, and
you dont like it, even just once, drop
him.