Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Extended Inquiry Project First Draft 3
Extended Inquiry Project First Draft 3
SAAD JALISI
November 7, 2019
SAAD JALISI 2
I vividly remember landing in Denver, Colorado. The harsh audio from the airplane’s
speaker woke me from my relatively peaceful slumber. As the air-hostess’s crackling grumble
carried throughout the economy-class aisle, my slow awakening quite quickly morphed into
panic. I rushed to wipe my eyes of crust and my chin of deep-sleep saliva, and I embarrassingly
found myself face-to-face with another air-hostess kindly requesting the return of the airline’s
blanket to prepare for exit. At the announcement of the “all clear to proceed,” I jumped to my
feet and snatched my carryon from the overhead compartment. Clutching my luggage, I strutted
down towards the end of the cabin, and as I approached my freedom from infantile screams and
the pungent scent of an overused restroom, I caught a glimpse of a foreboding, ash-colored sky.
I inhaled as that overhanging grey blanket reminded me of Karachi, Pakistan during the
monsoon season. Through booming thunder, my mother coddled my sister and me. The scent of
saffron from her auburn hair comforted my racing thoughts, not from the explosive roars of
lightning, but from the meteoric pounding of my father’s footsteps. My mother silently signaled
my sister and me to rush to our rooms as glossy, pearly tears ran down her rosy cheeks and onto
our foreheads. As I shut my bedroom door, I heard my father’s baritone growl as he snatched my
mother’s skull. For the next hour, my mother’s shrill screams of helplessness dissonantly carried
through the corridors with the frenzied booms of her bodily collisions against the tile floor.
I exhaled, relieved that my mother, sister, and I escaped our untold persecution, and I
abuse. The Center for Family Justice defines domestic abuse as “a pattern of coercive,
controlling behavior that is a pervasive life-threatening crime affecting people in all our
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communities regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, social
standing and immigration status” (What is Domestic Abuse: Domestic Violence Definition, The
Center for Family Justice). In other words, domestic abuse may include, but is not limited to,
Furthermore, roughly fifty percent of men and women experience emotional abuse and
psychological aggression by a partner in their lifetimes, and roughly twenty-five percent of men
and women experience physical abuse. For such a prevalent issue amongst men and women, how
are people affected by domestic abuse? Neurologist Dr. Glynnis Zieman states, “anxiety,
depression and PTSD usually end up being the most severe problems” (“Domestic Violence’s
Overlooked Damage,” Stone); however, patients tend to initially enter the clinic with symptoms
Damage,” Stone). On the other hand, abusers, too, may be afflicted with their own issues. For
instance, according to the International Journal of Prisoner Health, authors conducting a study
on twenty-two prisoners possessing backgrounds of inflicting domestic abuse found that each
prisoner emotionally internalized the witnessed abuse from their fathers, and they perpetuated
“benevolent sexism” with their mothers. Although the participants expressed beliefs of female
empowerment directed at their mothers, their expressions of the ideal woman regarded absolute
subordination to men “(a patient, caring, submissive housewife, totally dedicated to her children
and her husband)” (“Prisoners’ Ambivalent Sexism,” Testoni). As domestic abuse can induce
severe issues, such as sexism and mental illness, how are victims combatting their unjust
According to Will Stone, a reporter for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered,
survivors of domestic abuse remain “still largely in silence” (Domestic Violence’s Overlooked
Damage: Concussion and Brain Injury, Stone). For such terrible abuse, why do victims stay
Domestic abuse comes in a variety of forms. The Center for Family Justice outlines five
forms of domestic abuse: physical, emotional, economic, stalking and harassment, and sexual.
This diversity in the styles of abuse increases the difficulty in creating universal resolutions for
the affected “10 million people each year” (Domestic Violence’s Overlooked Damage:
Concussion and Brain Injury, Stone). Thus, without established, reliable outlets, these victims
may not possess active knowledge of safe assistance for their issues.
Even before victims of domestic abuse may willingly pursue external support, research
shows that domestic violence stays unrecognized in victims. For example, “about 70 percent of
people seen in the ER for such abuse are never actually identified as survivors of domestic
violence” (Domestic Violence’s Overlooked Damage: Concussion and Brain Injury, Stone).
Physical injuries from domestic abuse, such as bruises and cuts, may be treated, but they are not
cured. Emergency rooms deprive these patients of the careful investigation regarding their
physical trauma. Paired with the fact that “81 percent of...patients had so many hits to the head,
they lost count…” (Domestic Violence’s Overlooked Damage: Concussion and Brain Injury,
Stone), the combination of cognitively impaired memory from head injuries and inattentive
emergency room staff, victims are left undiagnosed with potential life-threatening injuries.
Silence in victims of domestic abuse is not limited to factors of physical violence. In fact,
according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) and the United States Department
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of Justice, eighty percent of victims do not present with physical scars. Then, what impedes
Survivors typically experience nonviolent forms of abuse long before a physical assault
ever occurs. Unfortunately, law enforcement only reacts when abuse turns physical, and
survivors are not seen as “real victims” until their situation escalates to violence.
Consequently, without legal validation from law enforcement, many survivors of nonviolent
domestic abuse do not believe that they are victims. Additionally, victims may have emotional
connections to the abuser that inhibit the pursuit of action. For example, the law offices of
Graham Donath, J.D. state, “a victim may stay silent because he or she loves the batterer.”
Victims often retain some love their partners despite violence or torment. A relationship exists
between the two people, and both the victim and the violator could have a difficult time ending
the relationship. Furthermore, The abuser could financially support the victim and children,
making economic dependence a significant factor. In my family’s case, we felt helpless. Without
physical evidence of the abuse inflicted by my father, as a large majority of the abuse included
verbal degradation, my mother, sister, and I convinced ourselves that any legal action against my
father would fail. My father, at the time, refused to let my mother find employment, so we
depended on my father for financial support, which, too, hindered our access to help.
Fortunately, after years of suffering, my mother, sister, and I filed a restraining order
against my father. We contacted a lawyer, and we learned how to separate ourselves from my
father after a long, fiscally and emotionally draining pursuit of freedom. However, with more
accessible means of assistance, such as better societal education regarding healthy relationships,
other individuals may be able to better combat domestic violence and recover from its drastic,
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dire effects. Organizations such as One Love and the National Coalition Against Domestic
Violence have made strides to further educate the public about recognizing domestic abuse and
its victims, but larger, dominant figures, such as employers and politicians, of everyday society
should seek to implement education about domestic abuse to uphold every person’s physical,
Works Cited
Donath, Graham. “Why Do Domestic Violence Victims Stay Silent?” Law Offices of Graham D.
2019.
Muhammad, Mildred. “Silent Scars of Domestic Abuse.” The National Domestic Violence
Stone, Will. “Domestic Violence's Overlooked Damage: Concussion And Brain Injury.” All
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/05/30/613779769/domestic-violence-s-un
Testoni, Ines, et al. “Prisoners’ Ambivalent Sexism and Domestic Violence: A Narrative Study.”
International Journal of Prisoner Health, vol. 15, no. 4, Dec. 2019, pp. 332–348.
“What Is Domestic Abuse: Domestic Violence Definition.” The Center for Family Justice,