Cruelty and Women Martyrdom

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I work in a Trial court and almost everyday I  encounter enormous cases of wife being beaten by their husband,  legal and common law, in both cases many of them preferred to stay rather than fleeing from the cruelty. We share the same building with the police station, we occupy the upper part and the lower for the police. Everyday, complaints for domestic violence could not escape our attention due to the usual hysterical reactions of the complainant – wives against their husband. At times, even the little kids were not spared by the cruelty of their father.

The last incident of domestic violence I encountered was a woman of middle thirties in age who reported to the police regarding the fate she and her six year old daughter had suffered from her own husband. Her left eyes was almost blown out due to the punch from her common law husband, as she narrated. Aside from the bruises and hematoma which were visible on the different parts of her body. Almost everyday, she endured this ordeal which has lasted for years, until the time that not only her but including her daughter were victimized by hiis cruelty. A day before, her husband got a scissor and slashed the neck of their daughter leaving a 2 inches laceration, prompting her to demand incarceration of her husband as she could no longer bear his cruelty.

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Because of her complaint, the Chief of Police immediately instructed a team of policeman to conduct the arrest and  within a couple of hours the husband was put in jail. He was a bit younger than his wife, jobless and irresponsible drunkard. They have three children, 6,4 ,and 2 at age with their daughter being the eldest.

At first, this woman was relieved of fear knowing that her husband was already in jail. Even us in the office were sadly moved by the fate she had suffered from a cruel husband. But with reservation, as we usually observed in similar cases, we hope that this woman would be determined enough to fight her cause to the finish.

Three days had passed, I almost had forgotten her case, not until I met her again in the police station begging for the release of her husband. According to her, she could not endure seeing him in jail. It was then I knew that even on the day her husband was incarcerated, she even went home and got some provisions for her husband like extra clothing and even food. What a surprise to a many of us then. However, that scenario was not new to us, people working in the court and police station. Just like to so many cases of domestic violence, this woman’s case ended with the release of the husband unpunished of the violence he had committed against his family.

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So came the question into my mind, as innocent onlooker of this drama in parade. Why do women endure the beating instead of standing for their cause for their dignity sake? Is it because of love? Or their inability to stand up? There are a lot of institutions willing to assist them but first and foremost the will to initiate action must come from them before anybody else. If they are not willing enough, these institutions, like courts, cannot intervene on purely domestic affairs. The victim must be courageous enough to fight for her cause.