Stojani 1

Daniel Stojani

English 1320.279

Professor Martin

Date

Domestic Violence Among African American Women

In every minute, about twenty people undergo domestic violence in the U.S leading to an

average of over ten million victims of domestic violence in a year. One in every four women and

one in every nine women are victims of violence from their partners. Gender-based violence cases

have been on the rise despite the tireless efforts by advocacy associations such as NOW to eradicate

the problematic issue. Everyone is entitled to associate and have a relationship that will not lead

to any physical or mental harm to one another. Women are more victimized than men. Serval

reasons such as alcohol and drug abuse, mental problems, and jealousy explain why gender-based

violence is rampant in society today. Sadly, most victims of t gender-based violence cases never

report for fear of embarrassment, which tends to promote more cases. This essay explores several

obstacles to reporting gender-based violence that African American women encounter and the

measures that should be implemented to lessen the blockades in an effort to mitigate domestic

violence.

Black women are more susceptible to dometic violence in the U.S than any other group.

They also experience violence in their places of work, in learning institutions, at, and from their

neighborhoods. More than four in every ten Black women fall victims of physical violence from

their partners in their lifetime, approximated to be 40%, 31.5% higher than the rate for all women.

Asian/Pacific Islander, Latins and white women are less likely to fall victims. The National Black

Women’s Health Project reported that gender-based violence is the leading health concern for
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Black women and the chances of losing their lives, as a result, is twice as much as white women.

The National Center for Victims of Criminal in 2017 reported that among all reported cases of

domestic violence, 53.8% were black while 47.3% were white. In 2016, statistics from the Division

of Criminal Justice Services reported that 39.7 percent of all intimate spouse homicide cases in

New York State were black, white cases were 34.6% while Hispanic constituted 23.1%. There are

significantly high rates of psychological abuse among black women contributed by humiliation

and insults hurled at them. The vulnerability of African American women to gender-based violence

is based on sexism, and systematic racism that has been pervasive in the U.S. Both racial and

gender discrimination against African American women are to blame (Lichtenstein p. 289). These

oppressions tend to lower the dignity of African American women compared to any other minority

group.

Despite the high risk, they are exposed to, African American women face difficult times in

accessing advocacy services. Some reason for the limited access includes religious beliefs, fear of

segregation, family structures and loyalty to their communities (Caetano et al., 143). Most African

American women believe that they are physically strong and that they are able to help themselves

when in trouble. The idea Black women are strong triggers resilience, and also makes victims feel

like they have no one to turn to for help. Besides, stereotyping and existence of misconceptions

associated with African American women also contribute to the hindrances. Such stereotyping

perceptions view black women as resilient, strong and prone to abuse. Consequently, the

misconceptions make first respondents redundant to help or sympathize with African American

victims during a violence including law enforcers (Ashley p.30). The gender stereotypes tend to

portray African American women as emasculating African American men, which makes them be

deemed as harmful instead of vulnerable victims. As a result, their access to the essential services
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is limited alongside increasing the rates of their arrests and imprisonment. The intersecting

identities of black women also act as a barricade. Most black women tend to persevere their

abusive relationships due to distrust and fear of the legal systems (Grossman p.1445). The fear is

fueled by the fact that even those who come forward and report they are not trusted. Instead, they

stand a risk of losing their children or facing incarceration. All these reasons tend to elevate the

number of gender-based violence cases. The more the unreported cases, the higher the rate.

However, despite the hindrance that African American women encounter in their efforts to

report abuse cases, they can also be blamed for heightening the rates of gender violence. Their fear

of being discriminated when after they blow the whistle has led to more cases of intimate partner

abuses. Raising the alarm has more advantages than remaining silent. Failure to report makes the

perpetrators more confident of their actions and increases their reasons to abuse their partners with

the knowledge that no action will be taken against them. Second, African American women may

reduce the high rates of domestic violence by leaving their dangerous spouses. Perseverance in an

abusive marriage tends to promote the abuse. Should they opt out of the relationship as early as

when they detect signs of domestic violence in their partners, they will prevent similar cases in the

future. According to Zoe Flowers, “Women of all races and ethnicities who have endured domestic

violence have to make the choice at some point to stay or leave their abusers. For Black women,

the first response is often not to report, not tell anyone. We want to protect our men. It’s not easy

to turn them over to the police, the courts and other institutions that have been historically racist

and brutal to them.” (Brigley p. 70)

Professional attitude and creating cultural awareness could be effective in reducing the

number of intimate partner violence cases as well as restoring survivor’s trust. Advocates of

domestic violence must be conscious of the survivor’s identities and reducing the stereotypes
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associated with the criminal justice systems. The consciousness is vital since the ability of service

providers to comprehend victims’ intersecting identities might engender barricades towards

reporting gender-based abuses. Additionally, keeping in mind that the vulnerability of African

American women towards domestic violence is promoted by racial and gender discrimination

could trigger the effective implementation of a feminist approach in the effort of eliminating the

predicament. Such an approach is likely to be successful since it “recognizes different ways of

seeing black women’s reality from a positive standpoint and helps to forge a greater understanding

of their strengths, resilience, and struggles.” (Jones p. 248) The most important aspect towards

ending the barriers encountered by African American women is understanding them. The first step

towards solving any problem requires a knowledgeable approach towards it. Secondly, survivors

who are willing to leave their abusers should seek any domestic violence advocates near them or

call the National Domestic Violence Hotline; 800-799-7233. Failure to report abuse fuels the

susceptibility, explaining why Black women are double as likely to be victims of murder by their

partners than White women. Black women also need to do away with the perception that they are

strong and can defend themselves. They must adopt the mentality that they should raise the alarm

whenever they are in trouble. Sticking to religious beliefs that discourage marriages will only

contribute to poor health under an abusive spouse.

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Work Cited

Ashley, Wendy. "The angry black woman: The impact of pejorative stereotypes on psychotherapy

with black women." Social work in public health 29.1 (2014): 27-34.

Brigley Thompson, Zoë. "Happiness (or not) after rape: hysterics and harpies in the media versus

killjoys in black women’s fiction." Journal of Gender Studies 26.1 (2017): 66-77.

Caetano, Raul, John Schafer, and Carol B. Cunradi. "Alcohol-related intimate partner violence

among white, black, and Hispanic couples in the United States." Domestic violence: The

five big questions (2017).

Grossman, Susan F., and Marta Lundy. "Use of domestic violence services across race and

ethnicity by women aged 55 and older: The Illinois experience." Violence against

women9.12 (2003): 1442-1452.

Jones, Lani V. "Black feminisms: Renewing sacred healing spaces." Affilia 30.2 (2015): 246-252.

Lichtenstein, Bronwen, and Ida M. Johnson. "Older African American women and barriers

to reporting domestic violence to law enforcement in the rural deep south." Women &

Criminal Justice 19.4 (2009): 286-305.