Battered Women's Syndrome

Domestic violence is no new issue, and often not considered a serious matter. Occurring in many forms (verbal abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, etc.) this issue should not be handled lightly. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “[g]lobally, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner.” Of the four million women abused in the United States each year, nearly all of them show symptoms of Battered Women’s Syndrome, a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Although there are exceptions, women generally should not be charged with murder of an abusive husband because she acted in self-defense. To protect the accused from slander, the accuser should show proof of the abuse, proof of self-defense, and for

Of Ethiopian women between ages fifteen and forty-five, seventy-five percent say they have been victims of intimate partner violence. Sexual violence refers to any sexual act or attempt of an act committed by a person regardless of the relationship to the victim. The first sexual experience for twenty-four percent of women in Peru was said to be

In attempt to make amends with the victim, the abuser apologizes for his actions; he then enters a ‘honeymoon stage’ where no tension is built for a short amount of time. However, victims of domestic violence, particularly women, tend to repeatedly forgive their attacker repeatedly and so the cycle continues. As the abuse repeats, the victim develops learned helplessness, meaning that no matter what he does he feels as if the abuse is his fault and takes responsibility for it. The learned helplessness continues and the victim is convinced that his abuse cannot be escaped; the victim develops Battered Women’s