MANY FACES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Domestic violence is an abuse on a person which involves willful intimidation, physical assault, battering, and sexual harassment among many other manifestations of the act, meted out by one intimate partner against another.

These abuses may not be recognized initially for what they are, and may even seem wonderful in a relationship until aggression and controlling tendencies becomes unbearable for the victim.

Such abuse begin with behaviours that could easily be dismissed or downplayed,  for example, name-calling, possessiveness and distrust which may result to one partner being violated.

Most times these abuses go unchallenged despite  the fact that rights to dignity of human person is a fundamental human right, guaranteed  by 1999 constitution as amended, as a natural right of man.

Also, the right to life has a relationship with the right to dignity of persons because in some cases a violation of the right to dignity of human persons could result in the violation of the right to life.

A legal practitioner in Enugu State Mr. Cyprian Nweze observed that women were more often at the receiving end of domestic violence or abuse.

He believedthat if people who suffered domestic violence, reported their ordeals to the police, and followed it up legally with the assistance of relevant non-governmental organizations the menace would reduce.

The Head, Legal Department of the Catholic Institute for Justice and Peace,CIDJAP, an Enugu based non-governmental organization; Mrs. ChibuogwuEgbunastated that domestic violence could be traumatic and that that CIDJAP offererd various forms of assistance to victims of domestic violence in the State.

ANGELA EFFIONG