Domestic violence will not be tolerated – police
With August being Woman’s Month, several organisations, including the Westenburg police, are embarking on awareness campaigns to educate residents about domestic violence.
POLOKWANE – Domestic violence (also named domestic abuse, battering, or family violence) is a pattern of behaviour which involves violence or other abuse by one person against another in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation.
Globally, the victims of domestic violence are overwhelmingly women and women tend to experience more severe forms of violence.
Westenburg Police Spokesperson, Const Maphure Manamela, explained that in abusive relationships, there may be a cycle of abuse during which tensions rise and an act of violence is committed followed by a period of reconciliation and calm.
“Victims of domestic violence may be trapped in these situations through isolation, power and control, cultural acceptance, lack of financial resources, fear, shame, or to protect children. As a result of domestic abuse, victims may experience physical disabilities, chronic health problems, mental illness, limited finances, and a poor ability to have healthy relationships,” she explained.
She added that victims may experience psychological problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She said children who grow up in a household with violence often show psychological problems from an early age such as dysregulated aggression which may later contribute to continuing the legacy of abuse when they reach adulthood. “It is important that women know they have a voice and that they can stop the cycle of abuse.
We as the police are here to help and protect them, and we vow to help place the people who blacken society with the practice of domestic violence behind bars,” Manamela said.
