Crystal Diaz

The Penalty on Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is any violent or aggressive behavior that goes on in a household between a spouse and significant other. In the novel A House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, domestic violence is a crime that occurs several times among some of the characters. Today, the domestic violence penalty ranges from fines, prison time, restraining orders, custody loss of children, and in some cases loss of some rights.  I believe that the penalty on domestic violence crimes should be increased because it will prevent abusers from going to a higher extremity, reduce money use for injured victims, encourage women to file a report on their domestic partner, and it will end stereotypes against the Hispanic minority.  

            Today domestic violence is something that occurs in a Hispanic household on a day-to-day basis. With domestic violence occurring in Hispanic households on a day-to-day basis, the domestic violence penalty should be increased because it will prevent the abuser from going to a higher extremity. There have been several cases where a man has abused his wife, and a couple years after constant beating, the man looses his temper and is charged with murder. “While other homicides are decreasing (i.e., gang related, robbery) domestic violence homicides increased by 30% from 2008 to 2011” (Domestic Violence Homicide & Law Enforcement Calls). On the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence website they state this fact about the domestic violence homicides that have occurred in the past years. From reading this statistic I definitely felt that the domestic violence penalty should be increased because the current laws are clearly not stopping the abusers from beating their spouse or partner. Authorities should not have to wait till the abuser has murdered their partner or spouse to give them life in prison. The authorities should increase the imprisonment from one year to a higher number because that will teach the abuser and show other men that domestic violence is a very serious crime. Increasing the penalty of domestic violence will not only decrease the amount of domestic violence crimes, but it will decrease the domestic violence homicide rates.

            On top of increasing the imprisonment years to prevent the abuser from going to a higher extremity, the penalty should be increased to stop the amounts of money that goes toward domestic violence victims. “ Each year medical expenses from domestic violence total at least $3 to $5 billion” (Schmidt and Beeler 159). In an article called “State and Federal Prosecutions of Domestic Violence” by Jonathan Schmidt and Laurel Beeler, they state that the medical expenses for domestic violence victims range from three to five billion dollars a year. This huge amount of money should not be going toward domestic violence, one because there should be no domestic violence and two so that money can be used for other causes (i.e., natural disasters, medical research, etc.). The penalty of domestic violence should be increased to more imprisonment time so that there are less domestic violence crimes, which will result in less money going toward injured victims of domestic violence.

            Increasing the penalty will not only prevent further harm to the victim and less money to the crime, but increasing the penalty will encourage women to report their abusive partner or spouse. In many cases women do not report their partner or spouse because they feel that very little will be done for them or it will make the matter worse. “Victims of domestic violence are often deeply reluctant to press charges, fearing retaliation or simply hoping their abuser will change” (Ellison).  In the New York Times, Katherine Ellison wrote an article about a Guatemalan immigrant who was married to a man who was very abusive. In her article she wrote the statement that many women who are in abusive relationship do not report their abuser because they are afraid their abuser will seek revenge or they hope that the abuser will change. In many cases men do not change, and if they are allowed back into the home, they continue to beat their partner. The penalty for domestic violence in this case should be increased to no contact with their spouse after charges have been pressed. If the partner returns to the home, authorities should immediately arrest him and have him serve an increased imprisonment time. Increasing the penalty will allow many women to feel safer and encouraged to do the right thing, pressing charges.

            My final argument to why the domestic violence penalty should be increased is because it will reduce the number of Hispanic men committing this crime. Many people believe in the stereotype that Hispanic men are abusive toward their wife. “Studies that include immigrants suggest that acceptance of violence toward women may be a characteristic of mainstream American culture, or at least the subculture into which immigrants’ assimilation process result in an adoption of those attitudes”(Frias and Angel 554). In the article “The Risk of Partner Violence Among Low-Income Hispanic Subgroups” by Sonia M. Frias and Ronald J. Angel, they state that a study shows that Hispanic men who commit domestic violence are showing an adaptation from American culture mainstream. This study shows that Hispanic men are not the ones who are abusive toward their wife, but have adapted this from being in an American society. Increasing the penalty will cause Hispanic men to rethink the actions they are about to commit, and likely not do it. Increasing the penalty will bring a decrease in Hispanic men committing domestic violence crimes and prove the stereotype people have against Hispanic males false.

            Domestic violence occurred twice in Sandra Cisneros novel, A House on Mango Street, and therefore that is why I decided that I would bring the issue of domestic violence into my argument. In the chapter “What Sally Said,” Sally is severely beaten by her father multiple times. When she arrives to school with many bruises she claims that she fell, but many do not believe her and know that she is getting beaten. Similar to the statement by Katherine Ellison in the New York Times, Sally tells herself that her father did not hit her that hard. Sally is in denial, like many other domestic violence women, that their abuser will change or that they are not harming them that much. In the chapter “Linoleum Roses” Sally gets married to a salesman, and she tells everyone that she is happy with him because he buys her stuff. Although he buys her stuff, Sally admits that her husband has a bad temper and becomes violent. Sally’s relationship is an example of domestic violence and therefore I felt that the topic of domestic violence was relevant to the novel.

            The House on Mango Street had many real life topics to discuss, but the one that grabbed my attention the most was domestic violence. Unfortunately, domestic violence is a crime that has continued to grow throughout the years. I believe that the domestic violence penalty should be increased because it would prevent the abuser from going to higher extremities, make better use of money, encourage women to report their abusive partner, and end stereotypes against Hispanic men. Ultimately I believe that if we would like to reduce the effects of this crime, it is up to us to fight against it and stand up for the rights of many abused victims.