Introduction:

Hello everyone, my name is Macy McGrath and I am a soon to be Junior at the College of Coastal Georgia and today I will be discussing the changes that need to happen, regarding domestic abuse. Most of the research that I found was mostly focused on male on female violence, portraying the woman as the victim. So, I apologize to any that I might offend but hopefully shedding more light on this controversial topic will bring more people to research and redefine the term domestic violence. With that being said I am aiming to broaden your perspective from just the Johnny gets too drunk and hits his wife theory to the more current forms of domestic violence and what needs to happen to put a stop to reoccurring abuse.

Body of the Script:

I am going to begin by saying that spreading awareness of domestic violence is something that is near and dear to my heart, I was the child who stemmed from an abusive environment involving alcohol and other drugs, also referred to as (AOD) abusers. The results of a case study conducted by 3 college professors on "The treatment Needs of Substance Abusing Batterers: A comparison of Men Who Batter Their Female Partner," stated that "AOD batterers were more likely to use alcohol or other drugs during a violent incident. This brings on a whole new topic of how AOD abusers differ from non-AOD abusers”, (123). Which is a whole new can of worms but I was witness to some things that I should have never been exposed to at a young age and I believe whole heartedly that I am the person that I am today because of the 16 years that I spent in a toxic environment where violence was always around me.

First, I want to discuss a video that I watched of real-life testimonies of woman who came to the Gateway Battered Woman’s Services, which are located almost everywhere in every town in every state. After searching the organization, myself I became aware that there is actually one located right here in Brunswick. For more information on the shelter go to www.gatewayshelter.org. The testimonies of these women were heart wrenching, one quote from one of the anonymous women who spoke their truth that really resonated with me was that "the isolation was more difficult than the physical abuse”, (GatewayShelter). After watching the video, I read in the comments section, "while you watch this video, 3 women will be raped or sexually assaulted. 28 more will be beaten by a husband or boyfriend”, (GatewayShelter). It is much more than just abuse that is going on with these women, it's their entire livelihood that they are trying to correct. The question "why can't you just leave" is always a common response to someone who opens up to you about their situation, I encourage you never to say those words to someone who is living in hell already. I promise you the answer to that question is not as easy as it sounds. This is why I wanted to discuss this video first and bring awareness to the mental aspects that an individual goes through when they are a victim of abuse.

In an article named, "Keeping family matters behind closed doors: healthcare providers' perceptions and experiences of identifying and managing domestic violence during and after pregnancy," Domestic violence is explained as something that "occurs across all countries, cultures, religions, socioeconomic status, and ages, with an estimated one in three women suffering domestic violence during their lifetime worldwide",(2). Discussion of what needs to change in the medical field regarding who intervenes in cases involving domestic violence. As a result of the study, "most participants felt that doctors alone should not be responsible for counselling and managing women who report domestic violence during and after pregnancy. It was suggested that a different cadre of healthcare provider (such as a nurse or midwife) working in the hospital should receive specialized training”, (5).

After discussing what health care providers can do, I would like to now answer the question, how teachers can detect whether a student is a victim of domestic violence? In the article “But What Can I Do?” Helping Victims of Domestic Violence. Teacher to Teacher: Enhancing Adult Literacy in the State of Ohio,” the article states that "in most domestic violence cases, there are warning signs that can be readily identified. Some of these warning signs include: secretive home life, partner has exclusive control over all money and household finances, often misses scheduled appointments, speaks poorly of self, unable to make eye contact, or has visible injuries",(3).

To broaden this area of discussion I would like to introduce you to Beverly Gooden, after investigating her on my own I discovered that, "On September 8, 2014, Beverly created the hashtag #WhyIStayed in response to the Ray Rice video released by TMZ. A survivor of domestic violence, Beverly tweeted several reasons why she remained in an abusive marriage as a direct response to widespread victim blaming of Janay Rice”, ("Beverly Gooden" - Wikipedia). Wikipedia described her as, "an African American social entrepreneur and activist known for her groundbreaking work on domestic violence, victimology, and women's health, her writing has appeared in The New York Times, the U.S. Office on Women's Health, and NBC's TODAY”, ("Beverly Gooden" - Wikipedia). She is a huge advocate for feminism and making changes regarding domestic violence.

Another thing that has impacted domestic violence is the changes that have been made related to law enforcement, in an article named "Survivor-Centered Research: Towards an Intersectional Gender-Based Violence Movement" they state that "Further, the unintended consequences of past domestic violence and sexual assault laws and policy have often disproportionately impacted women and girls of color (Sherman 2017), leading to increased policing in com- munities of color, mandatory arrests, escalation of violence and excessive force by police officers and other first responders to domestic violence calls",(560).

Lastly, after giving you guys a pretty good example of what domestic violence is and how it affects not only the victim but everyone they are involved with, including: their parent, children, extended family member, friends, even strangers. I would like to discuss some other coping strategies for women and men who can use these tactics to escape a relationship involving domestic violence. In a study done on South Asian women, conducted by Shreya Bhandari, "coping strategies of South Asian women experiencing domestic violence within the context of isolation, lack of social support, and barriers of language and immigration"(220) were examined and although this research was done outside of the United States, I believe that the information is still relatable enough to bring awareness to not talked about crime. I also would like to add that only some of the participants in this study were in an arranged marriage, and others were derived from love. The results consisted of, "four themes that emerged from the interviews and analysis can be divided into emotion-focused coping strategies and problem focused coping strategies. Emotion-focused coping strategies include (a) spirituality and/or religion and (b) the role of the children. The Problem-focused coping strategies include (c) informal and formal support and (d) strategies of resisting, pacifying and safety planning”, (228-229). According to the article "Changing the Domestic Violence Narrative: Aligning Definitions and Standards," "To overcome this barrier two things must happen: State standards for offender treatment programs need to be modified to accommodate the broader legal definition of domestic violence and, state domestic violence coalitions, and the trainings and certifications for providers serving both victims and offenders need to depart from the domestic violence formula story in order to better match legal definitions and the variety of offenders and experiences",(943).

Conclusion:

To conclude this podcast, I would like to leave you with the question of, "who do you know that is going through domestic violence," and "how you can help or encourage them? For example, getting them to look into Beverly Gooden and listen to ted talks and educate themselves on how to escape the revolving door of domestic violence. I want to thank everyone for listening to my first podcast and I hope you enjoyed!

Work Cited

Barocas, Briana, et al. “Changing the Domestic Violence Narrative: Aligning Definitions and Standards.” Journal of Family Violence, vol. 31, no. 8, Nov. 2016, pp. 941–947. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10896-016-9885-0. 17 Feb. 2020.

Bhandari, Shreya. "South Asian Women's Coping Strategies in the Face of Domestic Violence in the United States." Health Care for Women International, vol. 39, no. 2, Feb. 2018, pp. 220-242. EBSCOhost, DOI: 10. 1080/07399332.2017. 1385615. 12 Feb. 2020.

Collins, Lisa, and Kent. Ohio State Literacy Resource Center. “But What Can I Do?” Helping Victims of Domestic Violence. Teacher to Teacher: Enhancing Adult Literacy in the State of Ohio." Apr. 2000. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=eric&AN=ED440282&site=ehost-live. 17 Feb. 2020.

Gateway Shelter. “‘Domestic Violence Educational Video from Gateway Shelter.” Youtube, Salt and Light Productions, 12 Feb. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdA1uy68GJY.

Gill, Alicia. “Survivor-Centered Research: Towards an Intersectional Gender-Based Violence Movement.” Journal of Family Violence, vol. 33, no. 8, Nov. 2018, pp. 559–562. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10896-018-9993-0. 17 Feb. 2020.

McCauley, Mary, et al. “‘Keeping Family Matters behind Closed Doors’: Healthcare Providers’ Perceptions and Experiences of Identifying and Managing Domestic Violence during and after Pregnancy.” BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth, vol. 17, Sept. 2017, pp. 1–8. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1186/s12884-017-1520-4. 17 Feb. 2020.

Thomas, Mark D./ et al. "The Treatment Needs of Substance Abusing Batterers: A Comparison of Men Who Batter Their Female Partners." Journal of Family Violence, vol. 28, no. 2, Feb. 2013, pp. 121-129. EBSCOhost, DOI: 10. 1007/s10896-012-9479-4. 12 Feb. 2020.

TMZ. "Ray Rice Knocks out his fiance." Youtube, TMZ Productions. 12 Feb. 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJLjnfFskSE

Wikipedia contributors. "Beverly Gooden." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Jan. 2020. Web. 13 Feb. 2020.