Community Service
Domestic violence occurs when one person or partner seeks dominance or control over the other in homes. Domestic violence can either be physical or emotional abuse. Domestic violence may happen to anyone in the house, and it does not discriminate. Domestic violence occurs to both same-sex relationships and heterosexual relationships. Domestic violence occurs in all ethnic backgrounds, age ranges, races, and economic backgrounds. Domestic violence is a gradual process, and it escalates from threats to the actual acts. Physical acts of domestic violence include battery and even sexual abuse. Physical aspects of domestic violence result in injuries and pose a significant danger to one’s life. Emotional domestic violence entails verbal abuse and psychological abuse. Even the victim may overlook emotional abuse since it does not leave any visible mark on the victim. Domestic violence inflicts pain and agony to its victim, and it should be shunned by all means.
Besides bringing pain to its victims, domestic violence brings along long-term physical and mental health issues. Injuries, stress, and fear caused by domestic violence can lead to more chronic health problems, such as chronic pain, recurring central nervous system symptoms, and differential gastrointestinal symptoms and disorders (Poutiainen & Holma, 2013). Individuals who experience domestic violence live in fear and may develop post-traumatic stress disorders. When an individual’s physical and mental health is affected, his or her productivity is also affected. An individual becomes less productive due to the stress they are going through. Children may be affected by domestic violence in their academics as well. Grades may drop significantly as a result of experiencing domestic violence. Domestic violence victims ought to seek help to get out of their situations. At times, domestic violence victims are afraid or are too weary to seek help, and it takes the interventions of other people to rescue them. Case managers come in handy and play a vital role in saving victims of domestic violence.
As a case manager, once a domestic violence case is presented, one should first assess the victim and refer them to a counselor. Victims of domestic violence go through emotional turmoil and may end up blaming themselves for being abused. Victims fear seeking help and instead sympathize with the abuser. Counselors play a vital role in the recovery of domestic violence victims. Counselors help the victims understand the forms of domestic violence and facts about domestic violence (Safta, Stan, Iurea, & Suditu, 2010). When victims understand more about domestic violence and that they deserve to be treated better, the process of helping them begins. A case manager should also ensure that the victims are treated with respect, and the counselors maintain their privacy. The moral support accorded to the victims by the case manager helps the victims trust the case manager and be bold enough to seek justice.
Once the victims begin seeking justice, it is the mandate of the case manager to ensure that they are well-protected. Case managers should conduct a risk assessment on their victims to ensure that they are not oppressed again (Duane & Vasquez-Noriega, 2018). There are instances where an aggressor is released on bail during the pretrial stages. Releasing the aggressor exposes the victim to the risk of being abused once more. A case manager should guarantee victims of their safety. A case manager can do random visits to the oppressor’s and the victim’s home to assess whether abuse may happen. Random visits help in meeting the victim and the oppressor in their true identity; therefore collecting evidence about domestic violence is more straightforward. Numerous interviews have to be conducted consistently to ascertain the well-being of the victims. Discussions should be done in a manner that builds confidence towards the case manager, and the victim feels protected and well taken care of. Risk assessment is a protective measure to prevent further abuse.
Seeking justice is an emotionally draining process to the victims of domestic violence. Victims are reluctant to report domestic violence to police or see cases to their resolution (Rhodes et al., 2011). The victims would wish to see convictions happening. Claims must be proved beyond reasonable doubt for any sentence to occur. A case manager should ensure that the evidence of domestic violence is protected and that expert testimony is provided. A case manager should ensure that the victim is taken to hospital to ascertain the injuries and an expert report written to back the claims. Substantial evidence against the aggressors will help the prosecution have an easy time prosecuting the defendant. With considerable evidence, the aggressors are held accountable for their actions, and it encourages other victims to speak up against the vice.
A case manager’s role is critical when it comes to seeking justice for the victims. Victims of domestic violence are battling a lot of challenges within them, and this may make them fail to seek justice or vulnerable to more abuse. A case manager should employ professional tactics and strategies that have been critically thought about in ensuring that victims of domestic get the justice they are seeking and deserve. A case manager should be keen in protecting the well-being of domestic violence victims to win the fight against domestic violence.
References
Duane, M., & Vasquez-Noriega, C. (2018). Pretrial Strategy for Handling Intimate Partner Violence Cases.
Poutiainen, M., & Holma, J. (2013). Subjectively evaluated the effects of domestic violence on well-being in clinical populations. ISRN Nursing, 2013.
Rhodes, K. V., Kothari, C. L., Dichter, M., Cerulli, C., Wiley, J., & Marcus, S. (2011). Intimate partner violence identification and response: Time for a change in strategy. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 26(8), 894–899.
Safta, C. G., Stan, E., Iurea, C., & Suditu, M. (2010). Counseling and assistance for women victims of domestic violence in Romania-Case Study. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 2034–2041.