Domestic Violence: a hidden disease

In Germany one in every four woman has been sexually or physically assaulted by her partner, according to a research study Health, Well-being and Personal Safety of Women in Germany, a representative study of Violence against Women in Germany, published by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. This puts Germany amongst the top in European countries when it comes to domestic violence. Yet there is hope, as victims’ situation seems to have improved. Since the federal government enacted the law on protection against violence in 2002 the issue appears on the public agenda and is no longer tabooed as a family matter. In cases of direct danger, this allows the police to protect the victim by prohibiting the perpetrator from entering the mutual home for a designated time. The Malaysian government was a bit faster as it set the Domestic Violence Act into force already in 1994. The Malaysian DVA includes similar help patterns as the German law such as the Interim Protection Order.

Politicians have recognized violence against women by a partner or husband as a big social problem and in order to fight it have set laws into force. The law on protection against violence is an ambitious approach by the German government considering the constantly high number of assaulted women according to statistics. It also raises the question to which extent laws do work in this case. Ironically one might say the higher the number of assaulted women in the statistics the better, because this means that many women are seeking for help by making the incidents of abuse public and do not keep silent. That is the tipping point when it comes to domestic violence: the victims themselves may limit the effectiveness of laws by keeping silent, sometimes until it is too late.

Which reasons may these women have in choosing to remain silent? The answer appears multifaceted but surprisingly very similar in both countries, Germany and Malaysia. First there is the technical problem of not well informed victims; they just don’t know which possibilities of protection the state offers. Then the psychological pressure plays a big role. No woman wants to give evidence against her own partner or husband, the one she actually loves and trusts, the father of her children. Moreover financial reasons might deter women from accusing their partner, who is often the one earning money. Especially in Malaysia this financial dependence is crucial. Whereas in Germany the great social welfare system offers some support to single women and mothers, Malaysian women probably would have to struggle harder to survive. Nevertheless the better financial supporting system by the state does not automatically mean that more women will come forward to report incidences. Social pressure plays a big role resulting in silent victims, particularly in the Indian community in Malaysia. The stigma of being a single mother or even divorced is a predominant danger no woman wants to suffer from and most of them choose the alternative of staying with her violent husband.

In view of all this limitations to the law caused by various financial and social factors, it appears really hard to predict if domestic violence can ever become a public matter and how this bad situation for concerned women can ever change. The UN declared violence against women as a crime against humanity which points out the issue’s significance even on the global policy agenda. But media and public keep putting the focus on really striking felonies, such as war crimes. What happens next door usually remains un-spoken and therefore un-reported. Maybe domestic violence is also a question of moral courage, the kind that cannot come without support from closed ones such as family and friends, not to mention that ever powerful force, the media. It is a task that requires education and awareness for all, a task that cannot be left up to law alone.

** Esther Fernholz is an intern working with the Malaysia team of the East and South East Asia Regional Office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

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