PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS. THANK U

************* Your magazine should contain the following components:********
******************** STRUCTURE ***************************
1- Compelling title
2- Table of contents
3- An introduction explaining the theme and the contents (minimum 2 pages/ 500 words)
4- Two short researched articles are written by you (minimum 3 pages/ 750 words each, for a total of 6 pages/ 1,500 words)
5- Conclusion includes five future-oriented questions for readers to consider (minimum 2 pages/ 500 words)
6- References
7- Make sure the last two pages are the conclusion, the conclusion does not match with the introduction. The conclusion must be different than the introduction. THANK YOU

********************** INSTRUCTIONS *************************

Successful magazine submissions will:

1- Introduce the paper and conclude effectively
2- Contain an argument/question about the theme you have selected and the issues you have chosen to demonstrate that argument (just reporting about a topic is not sufficient)
3- Provide a complete response to the theme you have chosen through the articles you write.
4- Express your argument clearly and persuasively.
5- Provide adequate supporting arguments, evidence, examples, and details to demonstrate your argument.
6- Demonstrate effective organization.
7- Use appropriate and direct language.
8- Acknowledge sources for information and ideas not your own through citations and references.
9- Use proper grammar, spelling, paragraph construction, and format.
10- Demonstrate originality and creativity.

********** HOW YOU SUBMIT IT ******************

1- The magazine must be a total of 10 typed, double-spaced pages in APA format (no abstract required).
2- Use a maximum of 12 point font size and 1-inch margins all around. Those who do not follow style guidelines and page minimums will only receive partial points.
3- Make use of at least 6 library scholarly books and articles
(not including the assigned text), and if you wish you can use a limited number of credible internet sources.
4- Your arguments should not be based primarily on internet or magazine article sources. Avoid magazine sources altogether unless there is an example of the research you are discussing.
5- You must use references whenever you refer to someone else’s ideas and you should be referring to research frequently.

ANSWER

Intimate Partner Violence- Two

Table of Contents

Introduction. 3

Article 1: Detrimental Psychological and Emotional Effects in Abusive Relationships. 5

Article 2: Effects and contribution of Coronavirus in the Increase of Psychological and Emotional Violence among Intimate Relationships. 8

Conclusion. 12

References. 14

Introduction

Violence against women is a public health issue and human rights violation that has an enormous impact on women’s lives. It is a serious and widespread problem that may affect one-third of women at some time in their lives (Rakovec-Felser, 2014). Violence against women can take many forms, including physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional violence occurring inside and outside the home. Over the years, social and cultural norms have helped perpetuate violence against women as a form of gender discrimination, including practices such as wife beating.

Intimate partner violence is one of the most pervasive forms of violence against women. Intimate partner violence (IPV) or domestic violence is a pattern of behavior that involves violence and/or intimidation by one person against their intimate partner.  Intimate partners can be either married or not married, heterosexual or homosexual, and include dating relationships. The three types of IPV are physical violence, sexual violence, and emotional abuse (Karakurt, Smith and Whiting, 2014). Physical violence includes any behavior that results in a physical injury to the victim. Sexual violence includes any verbal or physical sexual contact that either person thinks is unwanted, such as rape or forcing a partner to have sex. Emotional abuse includes behaviors such as insults and threats, withdrawal of affection, isolation from friends and family, deprivation of basic needs, being forced to commit actions one does not want to do, restricting access to resources (money), limiting access to transportation, or preventing participation in educational opportunities.

IPV is significantly correlated with physical and mental health disorders. When a woman is abused by an intimate partner it can affect her physical health as well as her social functioning to include how she relates to men in society. In abusive relationships some partners become violent during pregnancy or against their own children. According to Hasstedt and Rowan (2016), intimate partner violence has been a public health issue in the U.S. The chart below shows that the prevalence of intimate partner violence in United States within different age groups. The rate of intimate partner violence is higher among young women.

Figure 1: Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence; source, (Hasstedt and Rowan, 2016)

Intimate partner violence can limit opportunities for personal growth and diminish quality of life. It often involves more than physical or sexual violence, but also causes physical trauma, psychological consequences including PTSD, and social consequences that include isolation from friends, family or community services (Rakovec-Felser, 2014). Women who experience gender based violence often suffer health consequences that include physical injury, sexually transmitted diseases, reproductive problems, psychological distress including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Intimate partner violence is also linked to emotional and psychological effects on women, including guilt, shame and low self-esteem. Additionally, emotional and psychological effects include stress, anxiety and fear of the perpetrator. Violence against women will continue to pose a public health problem in all societies until norms that condone violence against women are changed and more effective efforts are made to address this widespread human rights violation.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in intimate partner violence due to financial constraints, psychological problems, and psychosocial effects of staying together too much during the lockdown period. The lockdown period has led to increased violence among couples, mainly men against their female partners due to pressure against women as they spend more time with the abuser (Lyons and Brewer, 2021). This research will focus will focus on articles on intimate partner violence with its relation to gender discrimination and the Covid-19 pandemic. The research will show how Covid-19 has contributed to psychological and emotional effects in abuse relationships leading to violence against women. Considerably, the prevalence of intimate partner violence has increased during lockdown leading to an increase in negative consequences such as physical injury and psychological stress.

Article 1: Detrimental Psychological and Emotional Effects in Abusive Relationships

Abusive/violent relationships pose profound threats in the psychological aspect of an individual (Wado et al., 2021). Emotional and psychological abuse can include dominance, verbal assault, ridicule, isolation, control, and utilization of intimate knowledge for humiliation. Abusive relationships target the psychological and emotional well-being of the victim. Relatively, there is a high correlation between emotion, psychological abuse, and physical abuse. Emotionally and psychologically abused partners are likely to be despairing and lonely.

Abusive relationships have contributed to mental health issues, low self-esteem, tensions, fear, and lack of trust in potential future partners. The negative emotions linked to abusive relationships and intimate partner violence, such as shame, low self-esteem, and fear, have impacted the victims, especially women. Karakurt, Smith, and Whiting (2014) indicated that women fear the current abusive encounters that lead to mental health issues such as disassociation, depression, and post-traumatic stress.

The effects of physical and emotional abuse on a victim’s self-esteem can be crippling. For instance, victims often believe that they deserve the treatment they receive, especially in situations where the abuser is telling them it is their fault. This leads to feelings such as guilt, shame, and depression, making it difficult for the victim to leave an abusive relationship. Even after leaving an abusive relationship, many continue to struggle with their self-worth.

Rakovec-Felser (2014) revealed that even when controlling for demographic factors, women who have encountered intimate partner violence report lower self-esteem than those who have not. Victims of intimate partner violence often have low self-esteem because of the situation they find themselves in. The abuser may use threats to keep them from leaving or doing things that would affect their relationship in a negative light.

Abusive relationships can create immense damage to people’s sense of self and effects their future choices in relationships. Emotional effects abusers leave on their victims can be permanent or exacerbate other pre-existing mental illnesses or issues. They cause low self-esteem, erratic behavior, avoidance of any type of relationship, and trust issues.

Victims of abusive relationships experience psychological abuse that leads to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, depression, and eating disorders directly resulting from living with an abuser. Post-traumatic disorder has been prevalent in most victims of abusive relationships, which significantly affects their functioning. Additionally, the psychological effects of the abusers on the victims can drive them into further destructive habits, including alcoholism and drug abuse.

Victims of an abusive relationship may also exhibit symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD), which entails frantic struggles to prevent real or fictional rejection, a pattern of unsteady intense relations, identity disruption, and impulsivity (Grohol, 2012). BPD is often associated with abuse victims because many sufferers have problems regulating their emotions and dialing down the emotional intensity of one relationship before starting another. For instance, power control in an abusive relationship is a hallmark of BPD. The abuser tries to maintain control over every aspect of their victim’s lives, from cutting them off from everyone else, monitoring their whereabouts, and controlling financial resources. Also, an abusive relationship is bound to culminate in adversely affecting the social aspect of one’s life. Post-traumatic stress disorder-linked dissociation has been evident among women survivors of intimate partner violence. Fleming and Resick (2016) that dissociation is caused by self-worth problems, peritraumatic dissociation, and emotion disengagement coping.

One in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence in intimate relationships (WHO, 2020). WHO (2020) shows that violence against women with about 736 million is subjected to intimate partner violence. This makes intimate partner violence to be the most predominant for of sexual and physical violence. The data also shows that women are more prone to sexual, emotional, psychological, and physical violence in intimate relationships than men. High levels of stigma and societal attitudes have led to underreporting of intimate partner violence.

The capacity to seek professional help is integral to enhancing women’s capacity to deal with intimate partner violence (Lyons & Brewer, 2021). Seeking professional help leads to empowerment and mitigates the effect of emotional abuse and trauma from the experienced violence. Programs to support growth, development, and the ability to move on with life are vital for women that have encountered intimate partner violence. Community-based programs and school-based programs are effective in addressing for well-being and safety of the victims.

Organizations must work together with other institutions to assist the victims of IPV. This would be done through training, education, and continuous supervision. Support programs will reduce the number of women who suffer from intimate partner violence. This is because programs will help provide information for early detection to prevent this kind of violence. There are also support programs that can help victims to be able to cope with their trauma and assist them in finding solutions.

Article 2: Effects and contribution of Coronavirus in the Increase of Psychological and Emotional Violence among Intimate Relationships

Coronavirus pandemic has increased the effects of violent/abusive relationships (Vives-Cases et al., 2021). This results from enormous financial constraints associated with loss of jobs, reduced income generation, poor communication for people staying together, and too much time creating opportunities for people to have conflicts. Researchers have always emphasized a link between intimate partner violence and the increase of these incidents during an epidemic, especially when it comes to infectious diseases.

Many epidemics have been linked to an increase in violent and abusive behaviors. Epidemics cause not only physical illness but also psychological problems such as depression. Bradbury‐Jones and Isham (2020) show the indirect and direct mechanisms influencing intimate partner violence penetration during pandemics. First, the pandemic is linked to unemployment and unprecedented times that lead most households into poverty. Financial hardships led to complicated interactions with factors such as alcohol use and emasculation. Social isolation during the pandemic also leads to intimate partner violence due to reduced social contact.

Additionally, when people live in fear or feel vulnerable, they tend to become more aggressive and abusive towards their partners. The pandemic can change a person’s personality and turn the partner into a violent and abusive person. Relatively, being together for long periods without having contact with other people can deteriorate a person’s mental health. For instance, when the Coronavirus pandemic hit, it made many people feel isolated and trapped inside their homes (Vives-Cases et al., 2021). There is fear that nobody will come to save them if something happens during this period, so they feel more vulnerable than usual.

Intimate partner violence has been very common during the pandemic and has brought out the worst in people and increased the number of abusive behaviors between partners and family members (Lyons and Brewer, 2021). They were living under constant emotional stress and anxiety; there was always fear for one’s life. This is why intimate partner violence usually increases during epidemics because affected people live under constant stress, which leads to changes in their behavior.

COVID-19 has a profound impact on the increase of abusive/violent relationships positing a tendency of adversely affecting individuals in the relationship (Ver, Garcia, and Bickett, 2021). With people being confined and personal movements being limited, there was a potential rise in the cases of abusive behaviors in relationships. This is because the intimate partner violence victims were trapped with the abusers leading to unsafe housing. Therefore, the victims are likely to suffer from low self-esteem, both short and long-term. For instance, the lockdown rules led to the victim spending more time with the abuser, which increased the opportunities for controlling and monitoring their behaviors. The Chart below shows the rise of intimate partner violence during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Figure 2; The rise of intimate partner violence during Covid-19 Pandemic; (Agüero, 2021).

The increased coercive control leads to psychological abuse, which attacks an individual’s self-esteem. Due to spending more time with the abusers, women are likely to lose self-esteem due to increased insults, abandonment, rejection, victimization, and criticism. Social norms, attitudes, and the pandemic condition has made it hard for the victims to talk out or even leave the abusive conditions, which result in feelings of embarrassment and shame which lower self-esteem.

Unstable emotions such as temper, anger, isolation, and mistrust are major long-term effects developed in intimate violent relationships. Karakurt, Smith, and Whiting (2014) supported that intimate partner violence has been linked to hostility, anger, and other long-term negative effects. Ideally, intimate partner violence is linked to borderline personality organization, intimacy anger, and fearful-angry attachment, which leads to unstable emotions. The psychological, emotional, and physical abuses from an abuser in a relationship lead to long-term effects in the display of anger, aggressive actions, and an unstable sense of self.

Loss of employment and economic opportunities culminating in financial constraints is a major cause of psychological and emotional problems in intimate relationships. Lyons and Brewer (2021) indicated that financial worries are the main source of stress, resulting in depression, relationship problems, and anxiety. Unemployment and financial constraints have been linked to several psychological and emotional disorders such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse that lead to violence and dangerous behaviors in intimate relationships. Unemployment is linked to intimate violence since unemployed men are more likely to access and use violence against their partners.

On the other hand, financial hardship reduces the likelihood of a victim leaving an abusive relationship due to a lack of alternatives and increased stress.  Unemployment may be related to interpersonal violence through its association with depression and anxiety.  Depression and anxiety may occur due to financial stress, leading to changes in personality and affect regulation.  For instance, during the pandemic, there has been an increase in job loss, leading to financial constraints that result in stress and put more strain on the relationship (Lyons and Brewer, 2021). Thus, financial hardship has increased intimate partner violence. Additionally, unemployment has been related to a decline in mental health, marital conflict, poor coping skills, and financial losses. Therefore, unemployment and financial constraints have a high degree of resulting in violence and abuse in an intimate relationship and increased conflicts/arguments.

Conclusion

Abusive relationships have always involved imbalance of control and power. Abusers rely on intimidation, hurtful words and controlling behaviors to control their partner. Victims increasingly struggle to see the severity of the danger and severity they are in. Psychological and emotional effects are profound in abusive/violent relationships. People who are in an abusive/violent relationship are often unaware of the degree to which they are being emotionally manipulated. They may lose their sense of self, become isolated from social support, and refrain from using relevant emotional or safety skills that could help them leave the relationship sooner. Abusers can be adept at presenting themselves positively, convincing others that they have a warm personality and are trustworthy. Considerably, the victims of IPV may experience depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), long-term anxiety, anger or increased irritability, substance abuse or dependence, weight change or more pressure to conform to gender norms. Psychological and emotional effects include depressive disorders, anxiety, trauma, low self-esteem, anger and depression. Annually, an estimated 5 million incidents occur in the United States. One-third of all female homicides are committed by intimate partners; one in three women experience physical assault by a dating partner. Violence that occurs between sexual partners is largely hidden from public view, making it difficult to provide accurate statistical information about its prevalence. However, there are indications that male violence toward female partners is common worldwide, with wide ranging health consequences for victims.

The United Nations recognizes that the elimination of violence against women is one of the most pressing human rights concerns in the world today. The fact that it limits or denies opportunities for more than half the population means that its impact on any community, institution or country can be significant. Addressing this problem will require action at global, regional and national level to ensure effective prevention measures are in place, accessible services are provided and violence against women policies implemented.

Violence against women must be addressed on a global level because of its increased prevalence around the world. To date, there has been no international consensus regarding what constitutes gender-based violence and what measures should be implemented to prevent it. More efforts are needed to increase awareness about intimate partner violence as a major threat to women’s health so policy initiatives can be developed to support prevention work with men and women. Preventing gender-based violence against women must focus on changing people’s attitudes toward violence, reducing the supply of weapons, and creating an environment that does not tolerate violence. Cultural norms that accept men’s use of control or dominance over their partners must be changed. Educational programs are needed on gender-based violence to increase awareness about its causes and consequences. In future research it’s important to consider why victims get back to live with the abusers, whether the abusers show potential warning signs, whether it’s conceivable for the abusers to change, how substance abuse and stress are linked to intimate partner violence and programs that can be implemented to eliminate intimate partner violence.

References

Agüero, J. M. (2021). COVID-19 and the rise of intimate partner violence. World development, 137, 105217.

Bradbury‐Jones, C., & Isham, L. (2020). The pandemic paradox: The consequences of COVID‐19 on domestic violence. Journal of clinical nursing.

Fleming, C. E., & Resick, P. A. (2016). Predicting three types of dissociation in female survivors of intimate partner violence. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 17(3), 267-285.

Hasstedt, K., & Rowan, A. (2016). Understanding intimate partner violence as a sexual and reproductive health and rights issue in the United States.

Karakurt, G., Smith, D., & Whiting, J. (2014). Impact of intimate partner violence on women’s mental health. Journal of family violence, 29(7), 693-702.

Lyons, M., & Brewer, G. (2021). Experiences of intimate partner violence during the lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of family violence, 1-9.

Rakovec-Felser, Z. (2014). Domestic violence and abuse in an intimate relationship from a public health perspective. Health psychology research, 2(3).

Ver, C., Garcia, C., & Bickett, A. (2021). Intimate partner violence during the CoViD-19 pandemic. American family physician, 103(1), 6-7.

Vives-Cases, C., La Parra-Casado, D., Briones-Vozmediano, E., March, S., María García-Navas, A., Carrasco, J. M., … & Sanz-Barbero, B. (2021). Coping with intimate partner violence and the COVID-19 lockdown: The perspectives of service professionals in Spain. PloS one, 16(10), e0258865.

World Health Organization, WHO. (April 15, 2020). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Violence against women. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-violence-against-women