Strangulation in domestic violence

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Strangulation in the context of domestic violence is a potentially lethal form of assault. Unconsciousness may occur within seconds of strangulation and death within minutes. Strangulation can be difficult to detect and until recently[ when? ] was often not treated as a serious crime. However, in many jurisdictions, strangulation is now a specific criminal offense, or an aggravating factor in assault cases.

Contents

Differences from choking

Although sometimes the words are used interchangeably, "strangulation" and "choking" are not the same thing. Choking is when air flow is blocked by food or a foreign object in the trachea – something that can be addressed by the Heimlich maneuver. Strangulation, by contrast, is defined by reduced air flow and/or blood flow to or from the brain via the intentional external compression of blood vessels or the airway in the neck. Notably, however, many victims of strangulation refer to the assault as "choking".

Both manual strangulation (i.e., gripping the throat with one's hands) and ligature strangulation (e.g., belts, scarves) have been reported in intimate partner violence cases. [1]

Epidemiology

A systematic review of 23 articles based on 11 surveys in 9 countries (N=74,785, about two-thirds of whom were women) found that 3.0% to 9.7% of women reported that they had at some time been strangled by an intimate partner. [2] A total of 0.4% to 2.4% – with 1.0% being typical – reported that they had experienced it in the past year, and women were between 2 times and 14 times more likely to be strangled by an intimate partner than were men. [2]

The most recent national survey in the U.S. that asked about strangulation by an intimate partner asked 16,507 adults (55% of whom were women) if a partner had tried to hurt them by choking or suffocating them. A total of 9.7% responded that a partner had done so at some point in their lifetime; 0.9% reported that it had happened during the past year. [3]

The prevalence of strangulation appears to be decreasing in Canada, the only country with multiple cross-sectional surveys that measure strangulation. [4]

The first major study of surviving victims of strangulation assault found that 99% of the 300 victims in criminal cases involving "choking" were female. [5] In 2000, a meta-analytic review of gender differences in physical aggression against a heterosexual partner concluded that ". ..'choke or strangle' is very clearly a male act, whether based on self- or partner reports." [6] A similar conclusion was reached in a 2014 multi-nation review: "…women are more likely than men to report that they were strangled by an intimate partner." [2]

A series of studies conducted in Canada found the same gender discrepancy and reported that strangulation by an intimate is more common among disabled persons, [7] cohabiting (vs. married) persons, [4] [8] and those in a step- (vs. biological) family. [9] Women who had been abused by an intimate partner reported higher rates of strangulation. [10] [11]

Strangulation is sometimes fatal. According to a large U.S. case control study, prior strangulation is a substantial and unique predictor of attempted and completed homicide of women by a male intimate partner. The study showed that the odds of becoming an attempted homicide victim increased 7-fold and the odds of becoming a homicide victim increased 8-fold for women who had been strangled by their partner. [12] When over three dozen other characteristics of the victim, perpetrator, and incident were taken into account, however, strangulation no longer was a unique predictor. [13] Strangulation is so common in battering (50% or more battered women report that they've been strangled) that it doesn't differentiate abuse in which the victim survives or dies. [13]

Experience of strangulation

Strangulation has been likened to drowning [14] and researchers at the University of Pennsylvania [15] have likened non- or near-fatal strangulation to water boarding, [2] which is widely considered a form of torture.

A special issue of the Domestic Violence Report devoted to the crime of strangulation states: "Many domestic violence offenders and rapists do not strangle their partners to kill them; they strangle them to let them know they can kill them—any time they wish. Once victims know this truth, they live under the power and control of their abusers day in and day out." [16]

Outcomes

Strangulation can produce minor injuries, serious bodily injury, and death. Evidence of the assault can be difficult to detect because many victims may not have visible injuries and/or their symptoms may be nonspecific.

Victims may have internal injuries, such as laryngo-tracheal injuries, digestive tract injuries, vascular injuries, nervous system injuries and orthopedic injuries. Clinical symptoms of these internal injuries may include neck and sore-throat pain, voice changes (hoarse or raspy voice or the inability to speak), coughing, swallowing abnormalities, and changes in mental status, consciousness and behavior. Neurological symptoms may include vision changes, dimming, blurring, decrease of peripheral vision and seeing "stars" or "flashing lights." Post-anoxic encephalopathy, psychosis, seizures, amnesia, cerebrovascular accident and progressive dementia may be indicative of neuropsychiatric effects. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]

Signs of life-threatening or near fatal strangulation may include sight impairment, loss of consciousness, urinary or fecal incontinence and petechiae (pinpoint hemorrhages). [23] Even victims with seemingly minimal injuries and/or symptoms may die hours, days, or weeks later because of progressive, irreversible encephalopathy. [24]

Some visible signs of strangulation a victim may incur include injuries to the face, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, chin, neck, head, scalp, chest and shoulders: redness, scratches or abrasions, fingernail impressions in the skin, deep fingernail claw marks, ligature marks ("rope burns"), thumbprint-shaped bruises, blood-red eyes, pinpoint red spots called "petechiae" or blue fingernails. [25]

Laws

Because of involvement of the medical profession, specialized training for police and prosecutors, and ongoing research, strangulation has become a focus of policymakers and professionals working to reduce intimate partner violence and sexual assault. [26]

As of November 2014, 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, the federal government and two territories have some form of strangulation or impeded breathing statute. [27] Twenty-three states and one territory have enacted legislation making strangulation a felony. [27] One state legislature, Utah, passed a joint resolution which made legislative findings that can help prosecutors apply existing assault statutes with a special emphasis on non-fatal strangulation assaults. [28] In 2013, Congress re-authorized the Violence Against Women Act and added, for the first time, strangulation and suffocation as a specific federal felony. [29]

Improving detection and intervention

Starting in 1995, the work of Gael Strack and Casey Gwinn in San Diego has helped identify and address challenges in detecting, investigating, and prosecuting strangulation and suffocation offenses in intimate partner violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, and child abuse cases. In 2011, Strack and Gwinn created the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, the most comprehensive training program in the United States for the documentation, investigation, and prosecution of non and near-fatal strangulation assaults. [30] They have published multiple state-specific books to guide the investigation and prosecution of non and near-fatal strangulation assaults. [31]

See also

Related Research Articles

Violence is the use of physical force to cause harm to people, animals, or property, such as pain, injury, death, damage, or destruction. Some definitions are somewhat broader, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation."

A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, assault, rape and assassination, as well as crimes in which violence is used as a method of coercion or show of force, such as robbery, extortion and terrorism. Violent crimes may, or may not, be committed with weapons. Depending on the jurisdiction, violent crimes may be regarded with varying severities from homicide to harassment. There have been many theories regarding heat being the cause of an increase in violent crime. Theorists claim that violent crime is persistent during the summer due to the heat, further causing people to become aggressive and commit more violent crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strangling</span> Compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death

Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and is one of two main ways that hanging causes death.

Psychological abuse, often called emotional abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Uxoricide is the killing of one's own wife. It can refer to the act itself or the person who carries it out. It can also be used in the context of the killing of one's own girlfriend. The killing of a husband or boyfriend is called mariticide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Femicide</span> Murder of women or girls because of their gender

Femicide or feminicide is a term for the hate crime of systematically killing women, girls, or females in general because of their gender and/or sex. In 1976, the feminist author Diana E. H. Russell first defined the term as "the killing of females by males because they are female." Femicides are more often perpetrated by men against women. This is most likely due to unequal power between men and women as well as harmful gender roles, stereotypes, or social norms. Though femicide is not purely male-perpetrated but can be female-perpetrated as well.

Sex differences in crime are differences between men and women as the perpetrators or victims of crime. Such studies may belong to fields such as criminology, sociobiology, or feminist studies. Despite the difficulty of interpreting them, crime statistics may provide a way to investigate such a relationship from a gender differences perspective. An observable difference in crime rates between men and women might be due to social and cultural factors, crimes going unreported, or to biological factors for example, testosterone or sociobiological theories). The nature of the crime itself may also require consideration as a factor.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is domestic violence by a current or former spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner. IPV can take a number of forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic and sexual abuse. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines IPV as "any behavior within an intimate relationship that causes physical, psychological or sexual harm to those in the relationship, including acts of physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behaviors." IPV is sometimes referred to simply as battery, or as spouse or partner abuse.

Domestic violence occurs across the world, in various cultures, and affects people across society, at all levels of economic status; however, indicators of lower socioeconomic status have been shown to be risk factors for higher levels of domestic violence in several studies. In the United States, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 1995, women reported a six times greater rate of intimate partner violence than men. However, studies have found that men are much less likely to report victimization in these situations.

Murder of pregnant women is a type of homicide, often resulting from domestic violence. Domestic violence—or intimate partner violence (IPV)—is suffered by many, and when analyzing cases in which victims came forward, men are more likely than women to commit acts of severe domestic battery, and women are more likely to suffer serious injury as a result. Many of these women fear harm not just to themselves but also to their unborn children. Recently, more focus has been placed on pregnancy-associated deaths due to violence. IPV may begin when the victim becomes pregnant. Research has shown that abuse while pregnant is a red flag for pregnancy-associated homicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domestic violence</span> Abuse of members of the same household

Domestic violence is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. Domestic violence is often used as a synonym for intimate partner violence, which is committed by one of the people in an intimate relationship against the other person, and can take place in relationships or between former spouses or partners. In its broadest sense, domestic violence also involves violence against children, parents, or the elderly. It can assume multiple forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, religious, reproductive, financial abuse, or sexual abuse. It can range from subtle, coercive forms to marital rape and other violent physical abuse, such as choking, beating, female genital mutilation, and acid throwing that may result in disfigurement or death, and includes the use of technology to harass, control, monitor, stalk or hack. Domestic murder includes stoning, bride burning, honor killing, and dowry death, which sometimes involves non-cohabitating family members. In 2015, the United Kingdom's Home Office widened the definition of domestic violence to include coercive control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domestic violence in the United States</span>

Domestic violence in United States is a form of violence that occurs within a domestic relationship. Although domestic violence often occurs between partners in the context of an intimate relationship, it may also describe other household violence, such as violence against a child, by a child against a parent or violence between siblings in the same household. It is recognized as an important social problem by governmental and non-governmental agencies, and various Violence Against Women Acts have been passed by the US Congress in an attempt to stem this tide.

Domestic violence against men is violence or other physical abuse towards men in a domestic setting, such as in marriage or cohabitation. As with domestic violence against women, violence against men may constitute a crime, but laws vary between jurisdictions. Intimate partner violence (IPV) against men is generally less recognized by society than intimate partner violence against women, which can act as a further block to men reporting their situation.

Violence against men are violent acts that are disproportionately or exclusively committed against men or boys. Men are over-represented as both victims and perpetrators of violence.

Domestic violence within lesbian relationships is the pattern of violent and coercive behavior in a female same-sex relationship wherein a lesbian or other non-heterosexual woman seeks to control the thoughts, beliefs, or conduct of her female intimate partner. In the case of multiple forms of domestic partner abuse, it is also referred to as lesbian battering.

The feminist pathways perspective is a feminist perspective of criminology which suggests victimization throughout the life course is a key risk factor for women's entry into offending.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domestic violence in same-sex relationships</span>

Domestic violence in same-sex relationships or intragender violence is a pattern of violence or abuse that occurs within same-sex relationships. Domestic violence is an issue that affects people of any sexuality, but there are issues that affect victims of same-sex domestic violence specifically. These issues include homophobia, internalized homophobia, HIV and AIDS stigma, STD risk and other health issues, lack of legal support, and the violence they face being considered less serious than heterosexual domestic violence. Moreover, the issue of domestic violence in same-sex relationships has not been studied as comprehensively as domestic violence in heterosexual relationships. However, there are legal changes being made to help victims of domestic violence in same-sex relationships, as well as organizations that cater specifically to victims of domestic violence in same-sex relationships.

The culture of violence theory addresses the pervasiveness of specific violent patterns within a societal dimension. The concept of violence being ingrained in Western society and culture has been around for at least the 20th century. Developed from structural violence, as research progressed the notion that a culture can sanction violent acts developed into what we know as culture of violence theory today. Two prominent examples of culture legitimizing violence can be seen in rape myths and victim blaming. Rape myths lead to misconstrued notions of blame; it is common for the responsibility associated with the rape to be placed on the victim rather than the offender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual assault of LGBT persons</span>

Sexual assault of LGBT people, also known as sexual and gender minorities (SGM), is a form of violence that occurs within the LGBT community. While sexual assault and other forms of interpersonal violence can occur in all forms of relationships, it is found that sexual minorities experience it at rates that are equal to or higher than their heterosexual counterparts. There is a lack of research on this specific problem for the LGBT population as a whole, but there does exist a substantial amount of research on college LGBT students who have experienced sexual assault and sexual harassment.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is defined as physical and sexual violence or threat of violence, intimidation, or coercion that occurs between past or current intimate partners. Perpetrators of violence may use coercion tactics to keep the partner in the home. These tactics could include threatening harm to a family pet or threatening to take custody of children if the partner attempts to leave. IPV is a serious public health concern in the United States and one that has the potential to affect an individual’s medical readiness. Within the military community, intimate relationships may be particularly vulnerable to occupation-stress that is specific to military operations. These demands might include frequent moves to undesirable locations or overseas, separation from extended family for unknown lengths of time, frequent variability in work schedule, long hours, career uncertainty, mission ambiguity, training environments meant to simulate varying operational environments, and risk that is inherent to the field. Although there are programs in place designed to support the family unit, the stress of multiple deployments, combat exposure, and exposure to traumatic events cause additional strain on the family unit as service members reintegrate into the home environment following the return home from a deployment. Deployments bring additional stress on the family unit as two-parent homes transition to one-parent homes while attempting to maintain their semi-regular schedules.

References

  1. ↑ Monahan, Kathleen; Purushotham, Archana; Biegon, Anat (August 2019). "Neurological implications of nonfatal strangulation and intimate partner violence". Future Neurology. 14 (3): FNL21. doi: 10.2217/fnl-2018-0031 .
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sorenson SB, Joshi M, Sivitz E (2014). "A systematic review of the epidemiology of nonfatal strangulation, a human rights and health concern". American Journal of Public Health. 104 (11): e54–61. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.302191. PMC   4202982 . PMID   25211747.
  3. ↑ Black MC, Basile KC, Breiding MJ., et al. The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 summary report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf
  4. 1 2 Brownridge DA (2008). "The elevated risk for violence against cohabiting women: A comparison of three nationally representative surveys of Canada". Violence Against Women. 14 (7): 809–832. doi:10.1177/1077801208320368. PMID   18559868. S2CID   12922887.
  5. ↑ Strack G, McClane G, Hawley D (2001). "A review of 300 attempted strangulation cases – Part I: Criminal legal issues". Journal of Emergency Medicine. 21 (3): 303–309. doi:10.1016/S0736-4679(01)00399-7. PMID   11604294.
  6. ↑ Archer J (2000). "Sex differences in physically aggressive acts between heterosexual partners: a meta-analytic review". Psychological Bulletin. 126 (5): 651–680. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.126.5.651. PMID   10989615.
  7. ↑ Brownridge DA (2006). "Partner violence against women with disabilities: prevalence, risk, and explanations". Violence Against Women. 12 (9): 805–822. doi:10.1177/1077801206292681. PMID   16905674. S2CID   20150784.
  8. ↑ Brownridge DA (2004). "Understanding women's heightened risk of violence in common-law unions: Revisiting the selection and relationship hypotheses". Violence Against Women. 10 (6): 626–651. doi:10.1177/1077801204265017. S2CID   73349880.
  9. ↑ Brownridge DA (2004). "Male partner violence against women in stepfamilies: an analysis of risk and explanations in the Canadian milieu". Violence Vict. 19 (1): 17–36. doi:10.1891/vivi.19.1.17.33239. PMID   15179744. S2CID   210209228.
  10. ↑ Barrett BJ, St Pierre M (2011). "Variations in women's help seeking in response to intimate partner violence: findings from a Canadian population-based study". Violence Against Women. 17 (1): 47–70. doi:10.1177/1077801210394273. PMID   21199809. S2CID   45424447.
  11. ↑ Macmillan R, Gartner R (1999). "When she brings home the bacon: Labor-force participation and the risk of spousal violence against women". J Marriage Fam. 61 (4): 947–958. doi:10.2307/354015. JSTOR   354015.
  12. ↑ Glass N, Laughon K, Campbell JC, et al. (2008). "Non-fatal strangulation is an important risk factor for homicide of women". J Emerg Med. 35 (3): 329–335. doi:10.1016/j.jemermed.2007.02.065. PMC   2573025 . PMID   17961956.
  13. 1 2 Campbell JC, Webster D, Koziol-McLain J, et al. (2003). "Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: results from a multisite case control study". Am J Public Health. 93 (7): 1089–1097. doi:10.2105/AJPH.93.7.1089. PMC   1447915 . PMID   12835191.
  14. ↑ Thomas, Kristie A.; Joshi, Manisha; Sorenson, Susan B. (March 2014). ""Do you know what it feels like to drown?": strangulation as coercive control in intimate relationships". Psychology of Women Quarterly. 38 (1): 124–137. doi:10.1177/0361684313488354. S2CID   144979650. Pdf.
  15. ↑ "Home page". ortnercenter.org. Evelyn Jacobs Ortner Center on Family Violence, University of Pennsylvania.
  16. 1 2 "Law reform targets the crime of strangulation". Domestic Violence Report. 19 (6): 81–100. August–September 2014. Pdf.
  17. ↑ Joshi, Manisha; Thomas, Kristie A.; Sorenson, Susan B. (October 2012). ""I didn't know I could turn colors": health problems and health care experiences of women strangled by an intimate partner". Social Work in Health Care. 51 (9): 798–814. doi:10.1080/00981389.2012.692352. PMID   23078012. S2CID   14803391. Pdf.
  18. ↑ Malek AM, Higashida RT, et al. (2000). "Patient presentation, radiographic features, and treatment of strangulation-induced bilateral dissection of the cervical internal carotid artery". Journal of Neurosurgery. 92 (3): 481–487. doi:10.3171/jns.2000.92.3.0481. PMID   10701540.
  19. ↑ Malek AM, Higashida RT, Phatouros CC, Halbach VV (1999). "A strangled wife". Lancet. 353 (9161): 1324. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(98)12179-7. PMID   10218532. S2CID   206010908.
  20. ↑ Milligan N, Anderson M (1980). "Conjugal disharmony: a hitherto unrecognised cause of strokes". Br Med J. 281 (6237): 421–2. doi:10.1136/bmj.281.6237.421. PMC   1713281 . PMID   7427300.
  21. ↑ Smith DJ, Mills T, Taliaferro EH (2001). "Frequency and relationship of reported symptomology in victims of intimate partner violence: the effect of multiple strangulation attacks". J Emerg Med. 21 (3): 323–9. doi:10.1016/s0736-4679(01)00402-4. PMID   11604297.
  22. ↑ Valera EM, Berenbaum H (2003). "Brain injury in battered women". J Consult Clin Psychol. 71 (4): 797–804. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.608.3774 . doi:10.1037/0022-006X.71.4.797. PMID   12924684.
  23. ↑ Christe A, Thoeny H, Ross S, Spendlove D, Tshering D, Bolliger S, Grabherr S, Thali MJ, Vock P, Oesterhelweg L (2009). "Life-threatening versus non-life-threatening manual strangulation: are there appropriate criteria for MR imaging of the neck?" (PDF). Eur Radiol. 19 (8): 1882–9. doi:10.1007/s00330-009-1353-2. PMID   19283386. S2CID   7248594.
  24. ↑ McClane GE, Strack GB, Hawley D (2001). "A review of 300 attempted strangulation cases Part II: clinical evaluation of the surviving victim". J Emerg Med. 21 (3): 311–5. doi:10.1016/s0736-4679(01)00400-0. PMID   11604295.
  25. ↑ publication by Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention and the California District Attorneys Association|appendix 25| title= Facts That Victims of Choking (Strangulation )Need to Know!|year= 2013
  26. ↑ "Strangulation as a Felony Offense: A New Penalty Under W. Va. Code § 61-2-9D". Robert Lee Bolton III, Strangulation as a Felony Offense: A New Penalty Under W. Va. Code § 61-2-9D, 120 W. Va. L. Rev. Online 18 (2017).
  27. 1 2 "Strangulation / Impeded Breathing" (PDF). National District Attorneys Association.
  28. ↑ "Strangulation and Domestic Violence. Joint Resolution, 2010 General Session". State of Utah.
  29. ↑ "Memorandum concerning the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013" (PDF). U. S. Department of Justice.
  30. ↑ "Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention".
  31. ↑ Strack G, Gwinn C (2011). "On the edge of a homicide: Strangulation as a prelude". Criminal Justice. 26 (3): 32–36.
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