Domestic Violence: Wake up to the Issue

I am currently researching for my new photographic project which relates to one of the most common problems that has faced our society since time began. Domestic Violence. Things have improved over the decades in the sense that we are more aware that it happens, however, we still shy away from the consequences of these volatile relationships.

We watch in horror at a documentary which depicts the lives of abused women and donate our pennies to services that aid the victims, but when we are faced with a situation closer to home we tend to ignore it. If a friend’s arm appears with bruises we ask once where they came from and take what they say as face value. As long as we asked, we did what we could. In the UK, one in four women will be affected by Domestic Violence at least once in their lifetimes, so why is it not talked about more? Why is the number so high when we are ‘aware’ of what is going on?

This is an issue that not only effects women, there are an increasing number of Domestic Violence cases involving men. 26% of men have experienced it at least once in their lives, although the number is surely much higher due to the stigma attached to men that are victims to their female partners.

Through my research I have found that there are many campaigns that highlight the abuse the victims are subjected to, this may show people what goes on, but it may also remind the victims of what they think may face them if they do try to leave. I want to create a collection which features the survivors of Domestic Violence. The people that have achieved freedom and happiness from leaving their situations, it could show the victims that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I think it is important for this issue to be a priority in this country because there are too many people trapped in situations they do not deserve. They need support, not stigma.

Talking about Unreported World

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world

Unreported World: Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Reporter: Seyi Rhodes

Director: Alex Notts

Written By Amy Piner

27/05/2010

I have just finished watching an episode of Channel 4’s documentary series Unreported World in which reporter Seyi Rhodes and director Alex Nott arrive in Abidjan, the largest city and commercial capital of Ivory Coast, West Africa. The team become aware that there are few journalists and it soon becomes apparent why. Patriots of Laurent Gbagbo’s nationalist regime have an obvious distaste for foreign journalists, jeering them and shouting insults. The only time they interact with Rhodes or Nott is to express their threats against those in support of elected Alassane Ouattara.

The soldiers under Gbagbo’s regime hand out fire-arms to the Young Patriots and at rallys held by their leader Charles Ble Gaude they are incited to sign up to their armed forces to fight the civilians who are loyal to Ouattara. The crowd is riled into a frenzy and there is a sense of impending violence. The team have been given bodyguards by Gaude after advising Rhodes ‘foreigners will be lynched without them’, unfortunately the bodyguards didn’t stick around so the team had to make their way through the crowds alone.

As the team travel through the city they are stopped at three checkpoints and searched by Young Patriots, then, on the fourth they were robbed as they had AK-47s pointed at their heads. They were then sent on their way. It is strange, in this nation civilians are influenced to use violence and weapons to gain what they want and to defend their beliefs.

Soon Ouattara’s forces begin to move in on the presidential palace where Gbagbo is understood to be hiding. The city’s silence is cut through with the echoing sounds of gun shots as the patriots fight back. The fighting continues for days, civilians put at further risk due to their need for food and basic supplies. They are forced to run straight into the front line to search for their basic needs with Gbagbo’s soldiers threatening them with guns.

As Rhodes and Nott wait patiently in their hotel room, lying close to the floor as they listen to the civil war happening right outside. Notts glimpses outside to give us a view of where the main fighting is taking place. The sky is filled with a red smoke from the UN and French troops who are attaking thr Gbagbo’s tanks and military offences.

During this time the team have to hide in a room with a group of journalists as Gbagbo soldiers search the hotel. They leave half an hour later, taking with them the French hotel manager, two foreign businessmen and the Ivorian security guard. They were never heard from again.

Gbagbo was captured on April 11^th in an underground bunker in the city but Quattara forces, and Alassane Ouattara was invested head of state on May 21^st declaring in a speech “This is a new era of peace for Ivory Coast and people should try not to retaliate.” Although this is a positive step, it is also questionable whether Ouattara is being both realistic and understanding of the plight his people have experienced at the hands of their previous leader. Quattara must not expect things to just change because the people gained their rightful leader, he must help build relationships between his people and remember what his people did for him. Because they do believe he can build a better future.