 DEFINITION OF FAMILY VIOLENCE:

Family violence (also called domestic violence) is the use of violence, threats, force or
intimidation to control or manipulate a family member, partner or former partner. In such a
relationship, there is an imbalance of power where abusive behaviour or violence is used to
control others and it causes the family member to be fearful.It can include many forms of abuse
including spouse abuse, senior abuse and neglect, child abuse and neglect, child sexual abuse,
parent abuse and witnessing abuse of others in the family.

Figure : An image of family violence

 FAMILY VIOLENCE OCCUR BETWEEN THE RELATIONSHIPS ARE:

Family violence can occur in any familial relationship – for example, between: 
 current or former intimate partners who are or were married or in defacto relationships, in
heterosexual and same-sex relationships
 between parents (or step-parents) and children
 between siblings
 between grandparents, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces and cousins. 
 Family violence can also occur in relationships that are considered to be ‘family-like’–
for example, in certain cultural traditions or between a person with a disability and their
unrelated career.
 This can occur in heterosexual and homosexual relationship and against people who are
elderly or disabled.

 TYPES OF ABUSE:Domestic and family violence includes different types of abuse. A

person doesn’t need to experience all of these types of abuse for it to be a crime under the
law. The abuse can include:
 verbal abuse
 psychological abuse
 emotional abuse
 financial abuse

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  physical abuse
 sexual abuse
 harassment and stalking
 spiritual or religious abuse
 reproductive abuse
 image-based abuse

 CAUSES OF FAMILY VIOLENCE IN WORLDWIDE:

1.Inter-Family Conflict: Family conflict arises in a number of different situations: between

spouses, sibling rivalry, succession issues, between sibling regarding care-taking responsibilities
of parents etc. Our experienced mediators have assisted families in situations of conflict, helping
family members to communicate clearly with each other and to listen to each other around the
issues of concern and difficulty, managing the conflict in order to find resolve and agreement.

2.Male Dominance In Family & Society: In patriarchal  societies males have primary power.
It affects many aspects of life, from political leadership, business management, religious
institutions, economic systems and property ownership, right down to the family home where
men are considered to be the head of the household.

3.Cultural Norms Permitting Family Violence: Rules or expectations of behaviour – norms –

within a cultural or social group can encourage violence. Interventions that challenge cultural
and social norms supportive of violence can prevent acts of violence and have been widely used.

4.Family Socialization In Violence: In the families where parents are violent with each other or
other violent incidents occur, it effects their children and they occurs same violent incidents in
their own families when they grow up.

5.Pervasiveness Of Violence In Society: All forms of violence have damaging short- and long-
term effects on mental, physical and spiritual well-being TV shows, movies edited for television,
and video games expose young children to a level of violence. The average child watches 8,000
televised murders and 100,000 acts of violence before finishing elementary school.TV brings
hitting, kicking, stabbings, shootings, and dismemberment right into homes on a daily basis.

 F ORMS OF FAMILY ABUSE AND VIOLENCE:All forms of domestic abuse have one
purpose: to gain and maintain control over the victim. Abusers use many tactics to exert
power over their spouse or partner: dominance, humiliation, isolation, threats, intimidation,
denial, and blame. 

1. Child Abuse & Violence: For infants and younger children, violence mainly

involves child maltreatment (i.e. physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect) at the hands
of parents and other authority figures. Boys and girls are at equal risk of physical and emotional

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abuse and neglect, and girls are at greater risk of sexual abuse. There are many things that can
cause child abuse. The reasons are often complex, and there’s no single or simple explanation.

Causes of child abuse can include:

 isolation and lack of support — no family members, friends, partners or community
support to help with the demands of parenting
 stress — financial pressures, job worries, medical problems or caring for a family
member with a disability
 unrealistic expectations — a lack of understanding about a child’s developmental stages
and behaviour
 intellectual disability or mental illness — parents may be unable to adequately care for
their child
 lack of parenting skills — parents may not know how to care for their child or may
believe it is acceptable to use excessive physical force to discipline or punish a child
 drug, alcohol or gambling problems — addiction or substance abuse may affect a parent’s
ability to meet their child’s needs
 low self-confidence — parents may doubt their ability to meet their child’s needs and
find it hard asking for help
 past childhood experiences — parents may have experienced abuse as a child in their
own families, which could have caused them to develop an insecure attachment style
 mental health problems.

2.Parents Abuse & Violence:Abuse of parents by their children, also known as child-to-parent
violence is a form of domestic violence, and is one of the most under-reported and under-
researched subject areas in the field of psychology. Parents are quite often subject to levels
of childhood aggression in excess of normal childhood aggressive outbursts, typically in the form
of verbal or physical abuse. Parents feel a sense of shame and humiliation to have that problem,
so they rarely seek help.
‘Parent abuse’ has been defined as ‘any harmful act of a teenage child intended to gain power
and control over a parent. The abuse can be physical, psychological, or financial.’ Though this
type of abuse often takes places during the teen years (often from 12 to 17), it can happen earlier
than that. There have been some reports of children younger than 10 years old. 'The effects of
experiencing abuse from one's child can be profound. In the short term, ongoing parent abuse has
been found to impact on a parent's and other family members’ physical and psychological health,
with specific negative emotions such as fear, shame, guilt and despair commonly reported.

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3.Wife & Female Partner Abuse & Violence:Lifetime prevalence of domestic violence against
women by husband or intimate partner among 10 studies ranged from 20 to 78 %.It takes a
number of forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, religious, reproductive,
and sexual abuse, which can range from subtle, coercive forms to marital rape and to violent
physical abuse such as choking, beating, female genital mutilation, and acid throwing that results
in disfigurement or death. Domestic
murders include stoning, bride
burning, honor killings, and dowry
deaths (which sometimes involve non-
cohabitating family members).Significant
number of women experienced violence
during their pregnancy period. Domestic
violence against women significantly
associated with alcohol consumption, chat
chewing, family history of violence,
occupation, religion, educational
status, residence and decision making Source: Violence Against Women Survey In Bangladesh (2015)
power.

Violence can negatively affect women’s physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health, and
may increase the risk of acquiring HIV in some settings.
Men are more likely to perpetrate violence if they have low education, a history of child
maltreatment, exposure to domestic violence against their mothers, harmful use of alcohol,
unequal gender norms including attitudes accepting of violence, and a sense of entitlement over
women.
Women are more likely to experience intimate partner violence if they have low education,
exposure to mothers being abused by a partner, abuse during childhood, and attitudes accepting
violence, male privilege, and women’s subordinate status.

4.Husband & Male Partner Abuse: Abuse of men by their partners happens when the partner
uses emotional, physical, sexual or intimidation tactics. She does it to control the man, get her
own way and prevent him from leaving the relationship. Women may use weapons — including
knives, glass, boiling water and various household objects — while men may be held back from
defending themselves by cultural taboos against harming woman. The abused man is always
adapting his behaviour to do what his partner wants, in the hopes of preventing further abuse.
The primary motive for abuse is to establish and maintain power and control over a partner. The
abused partner may resist the attempts to control him. In turn, the abusive woman takes
additional steps to regain control over her partner. Our society is beginning to recognize and
study the abuse of men by their partners. Society’s beliefs and attitudes about men have kept this
kind of abuse hidden. Because of these beliefs, men who are abused by female partners may not

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admit it. They may not want to tell anyone. Additionally, sometimes police and other
professionals may not take the abuse seriously.

5.Sibling Abuse &Violence: Sibling abuse includes the physical, psychological, or sexual

abuse of one sibling by another. Almost all siblings fight. Abuse occurs when one sibling
consistently intimidates, terrorizes or controls another.Sibling abuse occurs most often
in dysfunctional, neglectful or abusive homes when parents fail to set boundaries or discipline
abusive children. A 1982 study found that of 60 per cent of children who witnessed abuse
between their parents later acted out the scene with their siblings.They also are more likely to
abuse others when they grow up. As a rule, parents and society expect fights and aggression
among siblings. Because of this, parents often don't see sibling abuse as a problem until serious
harm occurs.
Potential effects of sibling violence include severe symptoms of trauma, anxiety, and depression,
including sleeplessness, suicidal ideation, and fear of the dark, loneliness and psychological
difficulties and aggression and delinquency.

6.Elderly Abuse & Violence: Elder

abuse (also called elder mistreatment,
senior abuse, abuse in later life, abuse of
older adults, abuse of older women and
abuse of oldermen) is a single or
repeated act, or lack of appropriate
action, occurring within any relationship
where there is an expectation of trust,
which causes harm or distress to
an person This type of violence
constitutes a violation of human rights Figure : Impact of elder abuse & neglect in Bangladesh
and includes physical, sexual,
psychological, and emotional abuse; financial and material abuse; abandonment; neglect; and
serious loss of dignity and respect.
It includes harms by people the older person knows, or has a relationship with, such as a spouse,
partner, or family member; a friend or neighbor; or people that the older person relies on for
services.
There are several types of abuse of older people that are generally recognized as being elder
abuse, including: Physical: e.g. hitting, punching, slapping, burning, pushing, kicking,
restraining, false imprisonment/confinement or giving excessive or improper medication as well
as withholding treatment and medication.

 WHO IS MORE LIKELY TO BE ABUSED IN BANGLADESH FOR FAMILY

VIOLENCE :Family or Domestic violence which generally purports to mean the violence
taking place within the four walls of home among the family members has become a

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 common phenomenon in our lives to such an extent that it doesn’t make a big deal whenever
we see news of women/children being tortured, murdered or raped in the
newspaper.Research shows 66% Bangladeshi women are victims of family
or domestic violence. Two thirds of women in Bangladesh, around 66%, have been victims
of domestic violence-and 72.7% of them have never disclosed their experience to others.

Figure: Violence Against Women Survey By Bangladesh MohilaPorishod Source: Ain O Salish Kendra

 CAUSES OF FAMILY VIOLENCE IN BANGLADESH:

1.Traditional belief and ideas

2.Male dominated society systems

3.Massive gender discrimination

4.Dowry problem

5.Widespread poverty

6.Limitations of social security programs

7.Depreciation of values
8.Greed of property

 PRESENT PICTURE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN BANGLADESH:

According to Janet E. Jackson, the former Deputy Representative of the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) to Bangladesh, 'sixty-five per cent of Bangladeshi males think it is
justifiable to beat up their wives, 38 per cent have no clear idea what constitutes physical

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violence and 40 per cent support keeping women socially dormant'”
It clearly tells us the ‘sad but true’ story of domestic violence in Bangladesh.

Several studies have indicated that domestic violence against women, especially
violence perpetrated by a woman’s husband, is a serious problem in Bangladesh. For instance, a
study shows that most of the violence is done by husband. Although domestic violence includes
child abuse, parent abuse and in-law abuse committed by male aggressors on female victims,
available information from research indicated that the most common type of violence in
Bangladesh against women is domestic violence done by intimate partners or ex partners. Most
of the women and children in Bangladesh experience domestic violence in their lives which takes
different forms of abuses, i.e. physical (slapping, beating, arm twisting, stabbing, strangling,
burning, choking, kicking, murder), psychological (threats of abandonment or abuse, to take
away custody of the children, verbal aggression and humiliation, threats of killings), sexual
abuse (coerced sex through threats, intimidation, forcing unwanted sexual acts), economic
(denial of funds, refusal to contribute financially, denial of food and basic needs, controlling
access to health care and employment) etc.

About 87 per cent of Bangladeshi married women are abused by their husband, this according to
a nation-wide study conducted by the government that involved a sample of 12,600 women.
Only 8 per cent of respondents said that they were never abused by their partner. Titled Violence
against Women Survey 2011, the research was conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund. The picture it paints is alarming.
The survey found that domestic violence is present in most Bangladeshi households. Last year,
77 per cent of respondents admitted that they had been abused. Of these, 50 per cent had
sustained serious injuries, but one in three women refused to go to hospital for fear of retaliation
by the husband.
According to the archive of Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), 58 women were murdered from January
to March 2015, only being the victim of domestic violence.

 EFFECTS OF FAMILY VIOLENCE: Domestic and family violence tears lives apart. One
in 3 women experience physical or sexual violence, or both, caused by someone known to
them. It affects women, children, the family and the community. And it has big personal,
social and economic effects.

The impact of violence on the victim:

 Death, illness, injury and disability — domestic and family violence is the leading cause
of death, illness and disability for women aged under 45
 Emotional and psychological trauma — the devastating impact on an individual’s
physical, mental and emotional health including depression, shame, anger and suicide
 Homelessness — nearly one-third of people seeking help from homelessness services
say domestic and family violence is an issue

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  Use of alcohol and other drugs to deal with the pain
 Physical health injuries and problems, which may not get medically treated

The impact of violence on the family:

 Violence and the threat of violence at home creates fear and can destroy family
environments and lead to the break-up of families
 Frequent moving to avoid the abuser
 Regular household conflict
 Child protection or police involvement

The impact of violence on the community:

 Children growing up without learning about positive and respectful relationships
 Abusers going to prison
 Higher rates of alcohol and other drug use, and mental health problems
 Burden on health and judicial systems
 Hindrance to economic stability and growth through women’s lost productivity
 Hindrance to women’s participation in the development processes and lessening of their
contribution to social and economic development.
 Constrained ability of women to respond to rapid social, political, or economic change.
 Breakdown of trust in social relationships
 Weakened support networks on which people’s survival strategies depend.
 Strained and fragmented networks that are of vital importance in strengthening the
 Capabilities of communities in times of stress and upheaval

The impact of violence on children:

 ongoing anxiety and depression
 emotional distress
 eating and sleeping disturbances
 physical symptoms, such as headaches and stomach aches
 find it hard to manage stress
 self-harm
 be aggressive towards friends and school mates
 feel guilt or blame themselves for the violence
 develop phobias and insomnia
 struggle with going to school and doing school work
 use bullying behaviour or become a target of bullying
 difficulty in concentrating
 find it hard to solve problems
 have less empathy and caring for others

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 HOW TO REDUCE FAMILY VIOLENCE:

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1.Raising awareness of family violence and change norms
2.Strengths and challenges of building networks of leaders within the community
3.Making services and institution accountable to community needs
4.Individual counseling
5.Batterers intervention programs(BIPs)
6.No drop policy
7.Safe house
8.Using culturally appropriate massages and services
9.Implementing necessary laws against false advertising in relationships.
10.Building a resiliency.
11.Change of attitude.
12. Women empowerment.
13.Positive role of social media.
14. Expansion of women institutions.
15. Expansion role of NGOs.
16. Implement necessary law by government.
17. Proper punishment for violator.
18.Give constitutional support to women.

 ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKERS TO SOLVE THE FAMILY VIOLENCE:

 Access the circumstances and immediate needs of the victim
 Make a record of abuse complained of
 Awareness program in the community
 Individual support
 Informing about the law relating to the family violence to the victim
 Working as a pressure group to Expansion the role of NGO’S
 Expansion the role of law enforcing agencies
 Operating informal education program in rural areas
 To operate capacity building program

 CONCLUSION :To end family violence occurs both in national and local level. And that is
where the shift has to happen-and where it has to be sustained overtime. We can’t solve the
problem. But if we want, we can control or reduce the problem. For this government, law
enforcing agencies and also the general people have to work hand to hand so that peace can
remain in all family. It is our duty to make our family as a heaven where all members have
equal rights and equal priority.

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