Why violence

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The State of Victoria and the Department of Health shall not bear any liability for reliance by any user on the materials contained on this website. Skip to main content. Home Relationships. Family violence explained. Actions for this page Listen Print. Summary Read the full fact sheet. On this page. Common factors in family violence Family violence and the alcohol myth Resistance to seeking help for violence Getting help for family violence Rehabilitation after family violence Where to get help Things to remember.

Although family violence can affect anyone, regardless of their social or economic status, or their racial and cultural background, some women are at greater risk, including: Indigenous women women in regional or remote areas young women women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds pregnant women women living with a disability. Family violence is an under-reported crime. Common factors in family violence Gender inequality between men and women is a significant factor that contributes to the high rate of violence by men towards women in relationships.

Some perpetrators have grown up in an abusive household themselves, but the majority have not. Family violence and the alcohol myth It is commonly thought that family violence is primarily caused by alcohol abuse.

Some of the reasons men do not seek out help include: Acceptance of violence — a man who thinks that he is entitled to dominate family members, and that it is okay to solve problems with violence, may not believe that he needs help. Notions of masculinity — for many men, the idea of what it means to be a man includes silence and strength.

Fear — feelings of shame can prevent many men from seeking help. Getting help for family violence Regular counselling with a trained counsellor can help family violence perpetrators to understand and change their behaviour. Rehabilitation after family violence Women and children who live with violent men live in a constant state of anxiety and fear. For women: Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre: the Victorian statewide service for women experiencing violence and abuse from a partner or ex-partner, another family member or someone else close to them.

Phone 24 hours, 7 days. Twelve years later, that paid off. The biggest difference was the importance of society itself. In Ghana, for instance, when the government fell apart in the s, people ate grass to avoid starvation. There was tension between a poor, Muslim north and a richer, Christian south—the kind of fissures that could have cracked open. And traditional leaders—chiefs, pastors, imams—all supported a strong, cohesive society.

So there was no violence, despite the state lacking nearly any way to keep order for a few years. Violence takes root in highly unequal, polarized democracies. Politicians and business leaders want to keep power. They also have to keep the violent groups that help them out of jail. So they politicize the police. Instead of promoting officers on merit, top jobs go to people who will follow their orders. This makes the force corrupt and brutal. Murder rates grow—in Mexico, more than 95 percent of murders go unsolved.

Violence becomes normal. In these countries, violence begins with the government and with organized, professional criminals. But it metastasizes into widespread social violence between regular people. If an honest politician is running, and the middle class votes for a unified society, then the country has a chance.

If a new government decides to fight organized violent groups while simultaneously convincing people that it wants to keep them safe and govern fairly, society can start to self-police. Then social violence—the kind of murders that start with someone drunk in a bar or angry with a boss—begins to decline.

The process is messy. At first, any new government must work through corrupt security services and bureaucracies, and offer sweetheart deals to violent groups. Sometimes these are formal peace treaties, sometimes criminal amnesties, or plea bargains with despicable people. These deals have to happen—there is no other way for weak states to gain breathing room.

But the agreements are unjust, and open up the possibility that the government could fall back into corruption. So they must be overturned quickly, before the rot leads to a fresh round of violence. That helped reduce violence at first, but led to such immense corruption that terrorism and organized crime began to take root. So a new government needed to take the next steps.

Mikheil Saakashvili launched the Rose Revolution to overturn the old order. This approach was necessary and worked stunningly well. But such tools are hard to wield just right, and politicians often go overboard and become repressive. So society has to rise up again to keep their governments on the path to security, not repression. Accusations of prison torture and rape were rife. Pervasive violence desensitizes. In the United States, while we have been spared the horrors of war in our land and plague, we will self-expose ourselves to remarkable violence.

We will watch , graphic violent acts on TV by age Too many of us have become desensitized to violent acts, not realizing the true effects of a bullet passing through a human body. Look at his head explode. His aggressive behaviors in school were so disruptive that he was placed in a special classroom.

Being part of the solution : Don't watch so much violence. It is everywhere, but try to watch less. Certainly if you are watching and someone younger is in the room, turn the channel, get them out and help younger children see less violence.

You may be able to understand something is "just television," but a young child cannot. Try to learn something about the real impact of violence. Listen to the mother of a murdered child. Your community may have a Survivor of Violence group; see what they can tell you. Try to see what a bullet really does. A little research can teach you more about violence than a lifetime of TV or movies.

When we become more detached from each other and from common unifying beliefs, violence increases. Without being connected to others, we care less for their welfare. When we share common bonds of belief and value with others, we are less likely to be aggressive or violent to others in our community. When individuals become isolated, marginalized, and without some connection to those around them, violence increases. Spend time with friends, in structured and non-structured activities.

Talk, listen, laugh and be together. Time with friends, family, teammates, and classmates promote healthy social or emotional relationships. Reach out and include them in something. Look them in the eyes; talk to them between class; sit with them at lunch.

You will be surprised at how much you both can grow up. When we allow hateful ideologies to make groups or classes of people to be viewed as different, bad or even less than human, violence increases. All too often, violence is linked to hate. Hateful beliefs such as racism, anti-Semitism and misogyny allow whole groups to be dehumanized. The more any group is misunderstood, the more the unknown can fuel fear and misunderstanding.

Fear and misunderstanding can lead to hateful words and violent behaviors. They don't belong in this country anyway. I don't see what the big deal is.

It's not like we robbed a priest. Being part of the solution : Be intolerant of intolerance. Learn more about other religions, cultures, and worldviews. Be wary of individuals with hateful beliefs. Prevent degrading, humiliating, or bullying behaviors. Don't be afraid to call someone on a hateful or degrading comment about another group, religion, or culture.

These hateful beliefs are like a cancer; they are never benign. They can spread, invade, and destroy. Stop them before they spread. At the heart of this tolerance is respect. If we treat each other with respect, we will be enriched by each other's beliefs rather than diminished.