What do university students think about domestic violence? - Aditya Sinha

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In this blog, I will be curating my thoughts on domestic violence and what could be done when you find yourself exposed to it. I have asked a few of my close friends about it and have stated their opinion later in my blog. I am sure you are going to find this insightful, and it’ll help give you an overview of what teens think about domestic violence.

Firstly, let us understand what domestic violence is at its core. “Domestic violence refers to violent behaviour between current or former intimate partners – typically where one partner tries to exert power and control over the other, usually through fear. It can include physical, sexual, emotional, social, verbal, spiritual and economic abuse.” – This is the basic definition of what domestic violence is, but let us understand why it even takes place.

In most cases, domestic violence occurs when both partners disagree on a certain point, and it is often seen that the stronger (physically) one of the two chooses the path of violence. This is also the reason why women become more exposed to domestic violence as opposed to men. The violence helps the abuser to satisfy his/her ego and ultimately feel superior to the other, but this is not true. The very fact that you are choosing the path of violence makes you a cowardly person, and it shows that you lack the skill to understand and to communicate. Did you know, over 90% of the arguments happen not because of differences in opinion, but because of raise (volume) in voices.

I personally believe that no reason is big enough to justify domestic violence and the abuser must be punished legally for the same. And if you are a victim, do not be afraid to stand up and raise your voice. There is no shame in seeking help, you deserve to be happy.

I asked two of my close friends about domestic violence and this is what they had to say.

Atharv Salpekar (20 years old man): “The very fact that we are still witnessing domestic violence in 2021 is appalling. During covid, people were cooped up inside their houses and this surely made people erratic and vulnerable to their thoughts and emotions. The victims who suffered from domestic violence during this time found it difficult to express and reach out to others to seek help. I feel that we as teenagers should be more vigilant of our surroundings and report any unusual activities corresponding to domestic violence to our trusted elders so that they can take the correct steps in reaching out to them.”

Sritishna Sarangi (19 years old woman): “I believe that we are the product of our education and if we want to eliminate domestic violence from the root level we have to start introducing courses on effective communication at school level. Basically, topics like “Domestic Violence” should not remain a taboo topic and must be talked about. Currently, our schools have no courses which help in the psychological development of a child, they merely focus on technical subjects which is not ideal because what is the point of education when you won’t even know how to respect someone. Not only schools, but I feel that parents should also be open about all this and have deep conversations about things that actually matter in life with their children.”

After having these conversations with my friends, I feel that people are more aware of domestic violence than they were ever before. Maybe we are not there yet, but I genuinely believe that in the near future things will improve and the world would be a better place to live. Blog Author, Aditya Sinha

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