Domestic Violence: Rehabilitation Programme for the Victim and Violent / Predator

Abstract

Evan Stark claims that partner-perpetrated physical abuse and other forms of violence against women ought to be understood as a human rights violation. Domestic violence effects not only the women involved, but the whole of society. Thus, the identification of the victims and perpetrators is necessary, not only to prevent further abuse and injury to the victims, but also to create a violence-free society. In this paper we aim to identify the patterns, the financial and social burden of domestic violence, and ongoing rehabilitative programmes within low- and middle-income countries. A literature search was conducted using PubMed, Google scholar, and Scopus databases for the key terms domestic violence, partner abuse, rehabilitation programmes, and/or partner-perpetrated physical abuse. All relevant articles were included in this narrative review. According to a Survey of Violence against Women in Turkey, there is high exposure to domestic violence at all ages. Globally, violence against women, children, and the elderly are much more common than is reflected in forensic medicine. Domestic violence in some communities is often considered as a socially normal phenomenon, and is often underreported or unreported for various reasons, such as lack of awareness, lack of security, and feelings of shame and fear. For individuals injured physically and psychologically, timely referral to health organizations for treatment/ rehabilitations and judicial authorities is important for physical as well as mental health reasons; it is also important to provide crucial medical evidence to ensure prosecution of the perpetrator. It is important for all countries to have proper rehabilitation programmes to protect victims of domestic violence, implemented through family physicians at primary care centers. However, we have observed that some programmes have bottlenecks, such as long wait times for child victims. This problem can be addressed by the appropriate measures taken at individual, community, and national level. Policymakers should urgently implement sustainable and well-structured preventive and rehabilitation programmes for the sake of both the victims and the abusers/individuals engaging in violence. Corrective programmes pertaining to the domestic violence have the potential to reveal the extent of the problem, shed light on issues underlying the violence and increase awareness of the damage caused to society.