Domestic Violence has affected and continues to affect the lives of many individuals, it is not only found among adults, children, and teenagers who are also victims of domestic violence or are the abuser in an abusive violent relationship. Domestic violence is an abusive relationship between individuals who abuse one another, aggressively, physically, sexually, financially, and even emotionally. Although someone might not physically be getting abused, watching their parents or relations getting abused are often very traumatic. In worst-case scenarios, the witnesses turn out to become abusers as a result of what they witnessed, children adapt easily to what they see. This essay informs readers that people need to discuss domestic violence more openly because there are a lot of people in dangerous and deadly situations due to domestic violence yet without many people to inform or any resources to help them. It will put forward reasons for the implementation of laws against domestic violence.
Domestic violence is disruptive to anyone in its path, it affects not only the individual who is being abused but also those around them including children. Ghani and Abdul (2018) carried out a study by interviewing 25 women between the age of 19 and 65 to examine the lives of victims of domestic violence in Malaysia and their children. The research showed that children should not be around domestic violence because it can inflict emotional trauma on a child, resulting in pain and hatred towards the parent who abuses the other, which then leads to bad parental relationships. I agree with the literature, especially concerning parental relationships. The first people children search for love from are their parents and they also are the very first people a toddler learns from. When a toddler physically witnesses violence among parents, that child will get older angry, bitter, hurt, and emotionally unstable amongst many other things which is why the house should never be a hostile and abusive household because the child can pattern that behavior physically or emotionally (O'hara and Namy 2017). It can be concluded that domestic violence affects children no matter the circumstance especially when it comes to parent and child relationships.
Children who visually see domestic violence consistently go through emotional torment because of the behavior they witness from those around them. Some examples of what a child may experience from the age of birth to five years of age may include, being strongly influenced by one of their parent's reactions and a situation whereby an infant may also be easily startled (Days 2016). When they begin to hear loud and terrifying noises accompanied by the few people that the infant knows are either angry or injured. It leaves the child with the knee-jerk reaction of getting scared, most times the infant may cling to the parent being abused due to sharing the same fear and anxiety. Also something as simple as a woman holding her baby in her arms while being abused can cause the child to suffer injuries, (De Jong and Allan 2016 ). In some cases, mothers may attempt to protect the infants by holding them or may think they can use the infant as a type of shield to stop the abusers from physically assaulting them. Regardless of the circumstance or age, a child is still being harmed as a result of domestic violence.
Domestic violence disrupts every developmental stage of a toddler. The next phase is elementary school-age children who are often aged six to eleven. Witnessing domestic violence causes stress, hinders brain development in a child, and can delay normal childhood milestones (Healey and Justin 2014). However, as Healey and Justin (2014) explain, when a house is filled with domestic violence, walking on eggshells along with constant anxiety and fear makes it difficult for children to feel like going back home. As a result, it can cause children to withhold from sharing their emotions because the people close to them such as their family members have caused them to no longer feel safe and secure (Thornton, 2014). I believe this literature shows that there must be more attention to the emotional effects violence features a child because it can cause a toddler to feel as if they have to seek out security and safety in other places to exchange the will of eagerness to feel protected and safe by their relations.
When the child grows into preteen-teen years, their personality and the way they react in society and others may be a permanent personality trait. Ages thirteen to eighteen years of age may experience generalized depression, anxiety, and frequent nightmares increasing the risk of internalizing and externalizing outcomes in adolescence (Carrie et.al (2010). However as Carrie et.al states, when children grow up in a violent household they are twice as likely to be in one when they are older as well. The boys grow into men, having toxic masculinity and therefore the need for a dominant mindset leads to violent future relationships with their future partners. On the other hand, the girls grow into women and have the mindset of being subordinate to men, and therefore become likely to fall into relationships with dominant abusers. While the child may move out when fully grown, the effects of growing up with domestic violence travel far into adulthood (O'Keefe, 1997). It is a lifelong battle to overcome the damage it has done socially, emotionally, and physically.
In conclusion, Domestic violence has and continues to affect the lives of many individuals including children. Therefore, there is a need for a change in the approach to domestic violence to save lives and protect children from being emotionally and physically abused. For there to be a change regarding domestic violence, it has to be acknowledged, addressed appropriately, and spoken up more in schools, jobs, churches, etc