10th Global Conference
Sunday 13th May – Tuesday 15th May 2012
Prague, Czech Republic
Violence and Romantic Relationships: A Story that Repeats Itself
Alacir Ramos Silva
Escola Superior de Ciencias da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Vitória, Brazil
Women are the biggest victims of the abuse of male violence. And we must point out that the woman’s fear is a powerful ally to the abuser. Studies show that the cycles of abuse in a couple as aggression, forgiveness, reconciliation that alternate, show that the bonds of love can prevail over violence. In Brazil, the increase in the number of cases of violence against women in love relationships is becoming more visible due to new legal obligations of notification by either families, friends or health and education professionals. This fact has led to the necessity of production of knowledge on the subject in the Brazilian context. Still, the fact is rarely reported in the diagnosis and management conducted in health services, despite the magnitude and the important implications of this form of violence on the health of the population. This study sought to find cases of violence, identifying the nature of the act committed, quality / severity of the violence and the kind of relationship between aggressor and patient. The study was conducted through the observation of 260 medical records of patients seen in emergency rooms in Vitoria ES, from January to July 2011. As a result, it was found that 50% or 130 cases can be traced to domestic violence. Of these patients, 22% are women, aged 35 to 40. The physical and sexual violence cases were the ones which stood out in numbers and refinement of cruelty. The love companions are primarily responsible, and the cases are mostly repetitive.
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The Role of Social Capital In Combating Domestic Violence
Nino Javakhishvili
Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
The recent nationwide researches in many countries show that domestic violence still remains a serious problem around the world. Because of its complex nature, the most effective way to combat it needs the involvement of a broader circle of stakeholders than just specially designated state and NGO organizations. Researchers and practitioners agree that united inter-agency efforts are needed to effectively combat domestic violence with active participation of governmental and non-governmental organizations, mass media, church and local community – all these constituting the social capital. One of the main concepts of the social capital theory is the bridging social capital that links substantial sectors of the community. The bigger collective problem, the more bridging social capital is needed.
The present paper analyses the role of social capital in combating domestic violence in the case of Georgia. The Georgia’s case study is based on the information on all abovementioned institutions through their publications, websites, and semi-structured interviews with their representatives. Our data show that Georgian church, local community and mass media are not involved in combating the problem. On the contrary, their activities reinforce and reproduce the traditional views on family, gender roles, understanding and causes of domestic violence, and intervention in the domestic violence cases. These “actors” fail to see domestic violence as a social problem and prefer not to react to it. In addition, there is no bridging social capital among the church, local community and mass media, relatively weak bridging social capital is traced between non-governmental and governmental organizations. As a result, there is only weak professional network as a social capital to face the problem, which is not enough to create conducive environment for combating domestic violence in Georgia.
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