Domestic violence. Victim to survivor.

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Domestic Violence: Victim to Survivor
Victims of domestic violence are often women, and this has seen an increase in strategies that seek to help the victims overcome abuse. However, people that are implementing these strategies need to understand women’s experiences with domestic violence. Domestic violence not only impacts of the victim’s present state but their future is also affected. It may take many years for the victims to overcome the trauma that they went through due to domestic violence from their partners. Women are often abused by their intimate partners, or close family members and they end up not reporting the incidences. However, those who choose not to continue sustaining domestic violence use a variety of strategies to overcome. While each of these strategies is effective, it is up to the domestic violence victim to decide path which they want to undertake. An analysis of the various cases of domestic violence in Houston reveals that women victims join support groups, talk to friends or family members, seek to counsel, leave their homes, and receive support from social workers and the police department as strategies of overcoming domestic violence.
Joining a support group is one of the ways that domestic violence abusers use to overcome abuse. For the first domestic violence victim, she was blinded by love and got married at the age of eighteen years. Although her parents objected to the marriage, she told them that she was in ‘love’, and wanted to spend the rest of her life with her partner.

One and a half years into the marriage, her husband started abusing her; it was first emotional and then it turned out to be physical. At no time did she ever think of leaving her husband because he was always remorseful after each episode. However, fifteen years into marriage with two children, the abuse became too much, and she decided to join a women’s support group. According to Chang et al., women who join support groups after incidences of domestic violence often find others in the same situation, and it is through sharing their experiences that they overcome abuse (254). By joining the support group, the victim learned not to excuse her husband for the unacceptable behaviour and filed for divorce. In my estimation, I believe that joining support groups is an effective strategy that domestic violence victims use to overcome abuse, and should be embraced by others that are going through the same.
At the same time, talking to friends and family is also another strategy that is used by victims of domestic violence to overcome abuse. For the second victim of domestic violence just like the first one, it was her husband who abused her. Her domestic violence episodes began two months into her marriage. Her husband was critical of everything she did and would often find mistakes so as to beat her. He even pulled down all inner does in their house so that she could not find a place to hide during the episodes. However, during one night, she was abused until she broke her rib, and she decided to talk to some of her friends about the constant abuse. She talked to her sister-in-law who came and talked to the husband about the abuse. He only stopped for one week and was back at it again. According to Grovert, women often have inadequate support from family and friends when it comes to domestic abuse. Nevertheless, the role of family and friends in addressing domestic violence against women cannot be ignored as they provide emotional support and help victims in rebuilding their lives (12). Indeed, after talking to her friends and family, the second victim found emotional support and was able to report her husband to the police department. It is through talking to family and friends that the second victim was able to overcome her abuse and get justice as her ex-husband is now in jail. In my educated opinion, I contemplate that domestic violence victims should talk to family and friends so that they can get help and possibly justice.
Women who face domestic violence may also decide to leave their marriages and homes as a way of overcoming their abuse. For the third domestic violence victim, her husband could arrive at home drunk late in the night and begin unnecessary quarrels which could later turn physical. Before she was married, she had never thought that she could be a victim of domestic violence, but her marriage changed all this. She found out that someone she had thought would never abuse her, but this turned to be wishful thinking. Whenever she tried to question his drinking problem, she could be met by verbal and physical abuses. The episodes reached a boiling point when she almost got a miscarriage due to the abuse. She woke up the next morning and left her now ex-husband a note telling that he could not do it again. Counselors tried to mediate them, but she had already made up her mind to leave the marriage. Although leaving abusive relationships as well as marriages is an effective strategy for overcoming abuse, Arenella notes that hardships associated with leaving such as financial and loss of homes (6). Women should be encouraged to leave abusive relationships, but these barriers of leaving should be addressed. In essence, I believe that leaving abuse relationships should be an effective way of addressing episodes of domestic violence among women.
Additionally, victims of counseling particularly seek to counsel as a way of getting over their abuse. Another victim who was in her relationship for half a year acknowledges that it all happened very quickly. Her partner threw her pet dog off the cliff claiming that she loved the dog more than him. Additionally, the partner caused a scene at her place of work making her leave her job and become financially dependent on him. The partner used to hide her swipe card, car keys, and even her birth control pills. It got to a point where the lady could not be allowed to public unless she was with her partner. The husband went through her phone and contacted the male friends without her knowledge. While they walked together, the man could not allow her to look at another person if she did they could get back home and get horrific bashings.
It got to a point where the victim contemplated murder because she thought it was the only way out. However, she sought counsel from her family members and close friends. However, the last straw came when the man tried to suffocate her during her birthday, she remembers seeing stars and dots in her eyes but she managed to phone her friends later on. Through talking to friends and family members, she no longer kept her abuse secret. She chose people who were supportive of her who encouraged her to seek justice (Ursa and Koehn 257). After she had got out of her abusive relationship, through the help of friends and family, she began horse therapy as a way of healing herself.
Lastly, victims of domestic violence may receive support from social workers and the police department as a way of overcoming their situation. One of the victims was hospitalized for several weeks after her partner drenched her in turpentine and then set fire on her. The victim suffered terrible injuries, however, during her period at the hospital she realized that she could leave her abuser. The victim contends that her family never knew what she underwent in her marriage until she was in a hospital because of the antics of her ex-husband who would portray a good picture of their relationship when they were around people. Notably, the victim asserts that he husband was quite controlling from the first instance when they met until she got her first child, the abuse started, and it escalated. The victim was married at a tender age of 14, and the husband did not allow him to contact her family, attend school or have a job.
The victim asserts that she had no idea that police officers could intervene or anybody else could care thus she did not make any efforts of leaving him. Her redemption came while she was in her hospital bed when a social worker came to talk to her. Notably, her husband never left her hospital bed until when she fell asleep. He did not want anyone to hear her side of the story. Therefore, he always spoke on her behalf. The social worker managed to get the husband out of the room, the worker identified her plight and encouraged her to open up. Moreover, the social worker reached out to the police officers who explained to her about her rights and lead her through family court procedures, and the abuser was eventually brought to book and the victim had custody of her children. Therefore, I think that victims of domestic violence may cope through reporting their abusers to law enforcement who in turn give feedback on the case disposition, and collaborate with the social workers to ensure that they have an evidence-based prosecution (Horwitz et al. 623). Consequently, victims who feel unsupported should acknowledge the role of social workers as well as the police officers who have the power to arrest and prosecute abusers.
In conclusion, domestic violence mostly affects women from a different background. In Houston, the cases of women being abused by their partners are not different from around the world. The five victims examined in this essay bring out the different perspectives of domestic abuse, but one of the common features in all their cases is that they were abused by their husband. An analysis of their different cases has shown that the women join support groups, talk to friends or family members, seek to counsel, leave their homes, and receive support from social workers and the police department as strategies of overcoming domestic violence. I believe that these strategies are effective as all these women have overcome their violent past.

Works Cited
Arenella, Katherine M. “Perceptions of Domestic Violence: Leaving vs. Staying in Abusive Relationships.” (2014).
Chang, Judy C., et al. “Understanding turning points in intimate partner violence: factors and circumstances leading women victims toward change.” Journal of Women’s Health 19.2 (2010): 251-259.
Grovert, Amanda J. “Domestic Violence Against Women: A Literature Review.” (2008).
Horwitz, Susan H., et al. “An inside view of police officers’ experience with domestic violence.” Journal of Family Violence 26.8 (2011): 617-625.
Ursa, Marina, and Corinne Koehn. “Young women’s experiences of coping with violence in intimate relationships.” Journal of Mental Health Counseling 37.3 (2015): 250-267.