Any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse [psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional] between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality.
This is the government’s definition of domestic violence, so you see, the problem is not confined to beating a woman black and blue. The portrayal of women in black rap, Bollywood films, and radicalised religion are all at the heart of a society that hates women, this is why we see increasing incidents of violence.
Domestic violence can lead to murder in some cases. Do you remember when we watched that tragic news story reporting the death of six children in a house fire? Well, the parents of those children were found guilty of committing that offence with the help of a family friend. Mick Philpott’s family lived in fear of him because he was an abuser who had a history of violence towards his partners. Stripping them of the money they earned, he left them with no lives of their own, even driving them to and from their places of work. Sadly it’s too late for those children.
There are a dwindling number of organisations that still fight to protect women and their children from domestic violence. Recently I was fortunate enough to meet a woman, who in 2011 was listed amongst the Guardian’s top 100 women activists and campaigners. The journey of Pragna Patel, Co-Founder and current Director of Southall Black Sisters, started when at 16 she was taken on a family holiday to India. Whilst there, she was put under pressure to marry a chosen partner, an arrangement between two families. Pragna returned home engaged, with plans for her to sponsor her husband-to-be to join the family in the UK.
Domestic Violence
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