Domestic Violence Between The United States And The...

An Analysis of the Differences in the Handling of Domestic Violence between the United States and the Republic of Ireland. By, Ryan James Patrick Cavanaugh CRJ – 30: Gender and the Law Professor Berg 16 December 2015 The issue of domestic violence has become a widely debated topic in modern society. Domestic violence has been a serious situation in the criminal justice system for much of history, however, until approximately the last twenty years, it was largely ignored by society. In the United States, significant political pressure resulting in valuable legislation being passed at a federal and state level has worked to protect victims of domestic violence, and prosecute those who commit such acts. While the United†¦show more content†¦These forms include but are not limited to; verbal abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, economic abuse, and other forms of abuse. It is difficult to give a definitive definition for domestic violence as it can take on many different forms, however, one proposed definition that many in the field support define â€Å"†¦domestic violence as an unwanted, deliberate and sustained pattern of culturally inappropriate behaviour by people that harms vulnerable others with whom they have a fiduciary relationship and which primarily occurs in their place of residence.† (Taylor, Pooley, and Taylor, 2014, p. 11). This is a very broad definition intended to include many possible ways which people can fall victim to domestic violence. The factor that makes domestic violence difficult to enforce is that it occurs in a home environment between individuals involved in a close personal relationship. This makes many people, including victims, feel pressured to keep it a private matter, which can lead to a dangerous situation where the abuse gets worse over time. In the 1990s, the United States passed legislation to help crackdown on the domestic violence epidemic. The legislation instituted many important changes in the way the criminal justice system handles domestic violence. â€Å"These changes have included everything from mandatory arrest laws for domestic violence offenses, the compilation of e xtensive report filing systems to track domestic