Family Violence, Article Review Example

The article describes the violations of women and elder rights in Canada’s South Asian communities (Baluja, 2011). The police try to do their best to prevent violation of women and elders’ rights but they can only do so when they observe it. In most cases, the violations go unnoticed and abuse continues to take place. Many young girls and women have been killed under the justification of ‘honor killing’. Police will be able to do better job if more women and elders come out and report the violations of their rights but that is not the case. It’s a cultural taboo in South Asian cultures for women and elders to speak against their families and they may face repercussions for doing so. South Asian women are aware that the society and their families expect them to face any harsh treatment with patience for the sake of their families. In addition, a significant number of women going under abusive treatment are not aware of the protection afforded to them by Canadian laws. Further complicating the issue is the fact that many of them don’t speak English. Victims of abuse also don’t go to the police because they don’t want their loved ones to get arrested. Certain non-profit organizations have taken it upon themselves to tackle the issue of honor killings and women abuse by educating women about their rights and promote tolerance within the South Asian communities.

Studies have found that lower-income couples and less educated couples are more likely to report physical violence. Most South Asian communities that report high rates of women abuse are usually low-income, traditionally conservative, and less educated. Men usually engage in blue collar jobs and are fiercely loyal to traditional and customs they have grown under. Even though the article focuses on South Asian communities, the research shows that physical violence and spousal abuse is a social problem faced by all kind of racial, ethnic, and social groups. It may seem that the fear of repercussion is the primary driver behind South Asian women decisions to not report violence but research shows that women from other ethnicities also underreport violence so as not to tear apart their families. Similarly, elderly abuse is also widespread phenomenon. Studies showed that only one out of six incidents of elderly abuse is reported. Various socioeconomic factors have been identified that are related with high rates of spousal and adult abuse and many of them can be found in South Asian communities with high violence rates of human rights.  Members of lower economic class report higher rates of violence and abuse. Murray Straus and Christine Smith five social factors also help explain incidents of women abuse in South Asian communities. Honor killings are almost always the result of intrafamily conflict, male dominance, and prevailing social norms which are three of the five factors identified by Straus and Smith. Straus and Smith suggest that extended family help reduce violence but in case of South Asian communities, the opposite is true and extended families have a greater tendency towards family politics. The text suggests creating shelters for women facing abuse which is a great idea because many women in South Asian communities realize they don’t have any job skills and thus, are forced to put up with abuse due to economic realities.

Honor killings are the result of misguided traditional thinking that love marriages put stain on family name. Moreover, South Asian cultures are highly male dominated where male members of the family make all the strategic decisions, being the bread earners and women are expected to oblige without objections. Moreover, use of physical force against women is not as much taboo in South Asian cultures as it is in the west. Moreover, women pay higher social price in the event of divorce than men and most women do not have career skills since they are bought up with the expectations that they would be housewives after marriage. This is why economic stakes are also against women and the reason they do not report violence is not only due to cultural pressures but also consider due to their own economic realities.

References

Baluja, T. (2011, May 9). Confronting issue of South Asian family violence. Retrieved May 10, 2011, from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/confronting-issue-of-south-asian-family-violence/article2014775/