Repeat victimisation/Domestic violence

Domestic violence is any behaviour within an intimate relationship between adults that causes harm to one of those in the relationship, varying from emotional, sexual or physical abuse.

Domestic violence is not a crime that occurs in the streets, it is an ongoing crime that occurs with a partner and it tends to go unreported.

Domestic violence falls heavily under repeat victimisation, as usually the act happens approximately 36 times before someone comes forward and reports it. Sometimes, it can go unreported completely.

Domestic violence is often difficult to prevent simply because it is the most unreported crime, and it is estimated that almost half of the incidences are not reported.

Most of the interventions focus on those who have already been identified as a victim of domestic violence and secondary prevention is set up for them.

Secondary prevention involves services such as safe houses, protection orders and counselling services.

Overall, prevention agaisnt domestic violence is limited or non-existent.

There are safe houses that have been put in place for victims of domestic violence, however, these are still limited, particularly for men and those in the LGBT community.

For men, therr are only 16 places available, and the first safe house did not open until 2005, there are, however, 4000 places available to women.

These treatments are also rarely compulsory, and tend to have high drop-out rates and limited evidence of them being effective.

Due to the extent at which domestic violence goes unreported, it is difficult to establish the true extent of repeat victimisation and if the ways of prevention have been successful.

There are organisation that have been put in place as an attempt to stop domestic abuse before it goes too far. 

SafeLives, for example, are an organisation that attempts to cut domestic violence completely so more families are safe.

SafeLives has reportedly saved tens of thousands of victims and children, and will continue their work, however this may not always be enough to prevent domestic violence.

Theories of repeat victimisation includes the boost explanation, which is when one event boosts the chance of another happening.

This is most likely the case for most in domestic violence as it's rarely a one-off chance.

Howeverm te reason this cannot be prevented is because it is very rare for domestic violence to be reported the first time.

Many will just brush off the incident and act like it will not happen again because they fail to believe the person they love would do something like that.

Domestic violence has a long-term impact which can be devastating for some and the lived of the victims and children who may witness it are forever shaped by the events.

Domestic violence impacts lives long after the event has happened and been stoppped. Trauma can be triggered by something seemingly unrelated to the event.

Due to the fact that the effects are long-term, it makes therapy difficult because many will not want to attend for what may be the rest of their lives, and drop-out rates will be high. 

Therefore, long-term support is limited or non-existent.

However, there have been some laws put in place to help reduce domestic violence, or atleast make victims feel a little more supported once they manage to get out of the abusive relationship.

For example, the R v R law that passed in 1991 made **** illegal within marraige. This law was put forth in hopes to reduce sexual abuse in relationships. However, due to the issue of these crimes being unreportedit's hard to establish if it has been successful or not.

Another law is Clare's Law which was put forward after Clare Wood was murdered by her partner. The law allows women to do a background check on a partner through police records to see if they have a history of violence to try and prevent further domestic abuse happening.

There was also the case of Nigella Lawson, who showed that domestic violence can happen to anyone in spote of class, money or cultural background.

She was seen as someone who would not normally be a victim.

It was important because after it all came out, women's aid and campaigns came out in support to raise awareness of domestic violence and recognise that it is a crime that can affect anyone.

There are many reasons why domestic violence is difficult to prevent. 

The first being that emotions tie the victim to the abuser, meaning they could be reluctant to leave them due to the love they feel for them, despite everything they've done.

They also may complex financial issues which could lead the victim to be on the streets if they leave their abuser.

Fear prevents actions, which is one reason some people find it difficult to come forward as they may be scared of the consequences. These consequences could range from financial, emotional, or could lead to curther abuse.

Some victims may not initially recognise the abuse as domestic abuse. They could believe that it was somehting that would not happen again and that the actions of the abuser were justified.

Finally, there can be practical issues to reporting the crime, such as children or pets that complicate the situation, particularly if the children are in the brunt of the situation.

In conclusion, domestic violence is difficult to prevent unless the crime has already taken place and the victim is willing to come forward and report the crime. 

Even then, the support following the report is limited and still may not be able to escape their situation.

The biggest reason as to why domestic violence is difficult to prevent, however, is  because it is the most unreported crime ever due to practical reasons and fear.

Prevention of domestic violence will only be successful once people start reporting the crime happening, and also there are better long-term support in place for the victims.