Running Head: WHY SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT INVEST MORE INTO PROGRAMS

FOR THE ABUSED?

Why should the government invest more into programs for the abused?

Julia Ruiz

Arizona State University

WHY SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT INVEST MORE INTO PROGRAMS FOR THE

ABUSED?

Abstract

The purpose of this position essay is to inform peers on abusive relatonships while also

explaining the pros and cons of investing in programs to help women in these types of situations.

The issue is that the costs of these programs can be very expensive. Instead of spending more

money on costs of injury treatments and housing, more money can be saved if money is invested

into preventative programs for domestic violence. As well as providing preventative services,

domestic violence online training programs have been shown to save two thirds of the costs than

that of face-to-face training.

Keywords: a​ buse, relationships, violence, costs, government

WHY SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT INVEST MORE INTO PROGRAMS FOR THE

ABUSED?

Abused women and the government

Many people around the world have grown up with societal norms that normalize

misogyny and place men superior to women which can lead to abuse. ​One in three murders

against women are by their intimate partners as suggested by the Freedom K9 Project. ​Abusive

relationships is not a new phenomenon, and unfortunately not a thing of the past. ​An abusive

relationship as defined by The National Domestic Violence Hotline is ​ “A pattern of behaviors

used by one partner to maintain power and control over another partner in an intimate

relationship.” Most of the time, when women stay in an abusive relationship, it is because those

women do not feel like they can leave their situation. Among the possible barriers of leaving an

abusive relationship could be technology, children, finances, and homelessness. This could be

helped if barriers were to be removed by the government and women felt like they had options.

This is crucial because abuse can happen to anyone and someday, you or a loved one could be

put in the same compromising position. ​Although government-funded programs to help women

escape abusive relationships could be costly, it is vital that the government starts to provide

funding for these programs otherwise many women will be trapped in an abusive cycle.

The basis of abuse

Abusive relationships are more prominent than they might seem to be. It can be hard to

leave due to many barriers a woman might be facing. Abuse is never the victim’s fault and
WHY SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT INVEST MORE INTO PROGRAMS FOR THE

ABUSED?

always stems from the abuser’s desire to gain control over someone else and have a position of

power. Often times, an abuser will prioritize their own needs and feeling over their partner’s and

use strategic abuse tactics to slowly dismantle equality and make their own partners feel less

valuable and sometimes desire validation from their abuser (Home 2019).

Barriers of escaping an abusive relationship

Women who are in abusive relationships usually have much less resources than the

average woman. Often times women will not feel as though they have much support from the

community in order for her to successfully leave the relationship. Michaels suggests that about

63% of women feel as though they did not have adequate support before returning to an abusive

relationship.​ ​Abusive partners are controlling and will often limit a woman’s contact with the

outside world. They will limit who they can and can’t spend time with, confiscate their phones,

possibly monitor the activity on their phones, take their money away and stow it away in their

own bank accounts, and even make them quit their job. Without the adequate support, it is hard

to “just leave” the relationship. In addition to this, women who are religious will often lack

support from their religious leader and convince themselves that staying is the right thing to do

regardless of their maltreatment (Michaels 2016).

Women who do not have the resources to escape and overcome abusive relationships will

often fall back into abusive cycles. According to Michaels, a woman in an abusive relationship

will often leave and com back five times before leaving permanently. Often times this is because

of the barriers she will face and then is forced to come back.​ ​Whether it is lack of support from

religious leaders, or having no family to rely on, providing the proper resources for women in
WHY SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT INVEST MORE INTO PROGRAMS FOR THE

ABUSED?

these difficult positions can help reduce the amount of times women go back to their abuser.

Sometimes, a woman will face no barriers to escape but rather feel embarrassed or too ashamed

of their situation to reach out to family members for help. A woman can start to develop battered

women syndrome, which is a fear or belief that they are responsible for causing the abuse to

happen to them (Michaels 2016).

These barriers can be broken down by striving to obtain more funding for domestic

violence programs, so that steps can be taken towards prevention before abuse happens. In rural

areas, distance is a very real barrier women face. They are isolated and trapped; away from

society. A study was done on abusive relationships in rural areas. It was found that among escape

strategies, the most useful ones were “hiding important papers” and “sending kids away to live

with friend or relative”, while the least helpful strategy was getting the abuser counseling. This

not only shows how important the investment is in domestic violence programs, but also shows

that most abusers will never stop and be an ongoing threat to women if they can not get the

resources needed to leave.

When women leave their abusers, they often have little to no material resources such as a

house to live in, or money. This leads them to rely on government assistance and welfare

programs.If no interventions are made in these women’s lives, more women will continue to

need to rely on financial assistance. If they have no access to preventative health care, it becomes

expensive in the long run to pay for health care directly related to years of abuse versus taking

preventative measures and intervening before abuse happens.

WHY SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT INVEST MORE INTO PROGRAMS FOR THE

ABUSED?

The advantages and disadvantages of government-funded programs

The costs of funding programs to help women in abusive relationships can be pricey.

The Asia News Monitor suggests that funding in the United Kingdom for support programs for

abused women has increased by 10% over the next three years to 24 million pounds. The

increased funding will go to services such as advising, counseling and support for women who

were abused or raped. This decision was made to better help women in devastating situations and

to hopefully encourage more women to seek help sooner (Asia News Monitor 2018) .

While the United Kingdom has given more funding for women suffering abuse, the

United States has spent more more than half of the dedicated funding for the same types of

support groups on the perpetrators, while leaving the rest to the victims and a tiny percentage to

prevention programs. A survey was done in Iowa on individuals who had experience sexual

violence. 3 out of every 4 participants were women. An estimated total cost for proper programs

to help these people were done and it came out to about $4.7 billion which was approximately

$1,580 per person. In the same year, it was found that the government only spent about $100.6

million on these programs and even gave the perpetrators more than half of that money (Asia

News Monitor 2018). This is because the government has a limited budget for programs like

these, spending the majority on military spending (Sanders 2014).

Abused women also will likely have many health issues both directly and indirectly

related to the abuse. These health issues will often continue to persist long after abuse and can

continue to multiply indefinitely. Additionally, survivors of childhood sexual abuse would need

4.1 times more money in health services than that of someone from the average population
WHY SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT INVEST MORE INTO PROGRAMS FOR THE

ABUSED?

(DeRiviere 2015). However, DeRiviere suggests that retrieving accurate numbers of health care

costs has been a challenge and are only estimates. While many sources argue that abuse can be

very costly, it goes to show that these sources are also not the most reliable in their data because

they utilize brad assumptions about the government costs and have had inconsistent

methodologies. While most studies focused on adding up costs onto the welfare state, there are

few that have adjusted the studies each year to changes in structure and financial costs over time.

The cost of public services can be seen as a drain on resources, instead of an investment.

The cost of government-funded programs can be lowered by using more funding for preventative

programs. It has been suggested by Wells that by doing more preventative programs, money will

be saved in the long run. Investing more in prevention and intervention programs can return as

many $20 for each dollar invested (Wells, Boodt, Emery 2012). With the rise in technology,

further money can be saved by doing online training programs which train individuals on

domestic violence risks and signs and bring the cost down by two thirds, compared to

face-to-face training. Although the face-to-face training had a 100% completion rate compared to

the online training’s 86%, it was determined that both were equally effective (Hilton 2014).

While there are many resources, there are not enough. Most of these programs rely on

donations to support themselves and do not have a big budget (Iyengar, Sabik 2009). It is thought

that while these resources are available, they are not widely accessible to everyone. Some of the

factors that hold women to a disadvantage are rural areas, economically disadvantaged, and

minority communities. While costly, Iyengar and Sabik suggest that greater funding for domestic
WHY SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT INVEST MORE INTO PROGRAMS FOR THE

ABUSED?

violence programs, especially housing support, would be a wise investment and be more

cost-effective in the long run.

In another study done by Varcoe, it was estimated that the cost per woman who suffered

from domestic violence was $13,162 a year and was directly linked to the violence and abuse

suffered (Wells 2012). While these costs are considered to be more conservative, only analyzing

a few aspects of costs that are directly related to violence, it costs more money than that of

preventative services. A MOSAIC program was implemented in Australia in hospitals and found

that after the program, the number of violence-related incidents were significantly lower than

that of a control group and it was also found that the benefits outweighed the costs on a 2:1 ratio

(Wells 2012). These programs also reduced the chance of first-time perpetration and

victimization. These programs do this by influencing risk and protective factors that contribute to

having healthy relationships and have been deemed to have potential to decrease the chances of

domestic violence happening.

Conclusion

While women still face many barriers when trying to escape an abusive relationship,

these costs can be alleviated by government funding. The cost of government funded programs

for women suffering abuse can be pricey, there are ways to save money while still providing

these types of services. Money can be saved by investing money into preventative services as

well as online training as opposed to face-to-face training. If we choose to ignore these calls for

more funding, more time and money will have to be spent trying to provide housing and health
WHY SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT INVEST MORE INTO PROGRAMS FOR THE

ABUSED?

care costs from abuse and violence suffered during the span of an abusive relationship. Not only

that, but the costs to help counsel and console abused women is higher than simply providing

training programs and preventative programs. Abuse doesn’t always have to be violent. It can

present itself as insults or control. As more women are killed by men, we struggle to recognize

patterns that could save women’s lives. Though abuse can be a hard cycle to break, government

funded programs can help reduce the amount of money spent on costs to “pick up the pieces”.
WHY SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT INVEST MORE INTO PROGRAMS FOR THE

ABUSED?

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