Domestic violence in the military
Domestic violence's consequences are dire when it comes to how this particular violence affects the household, family, and community. But what about domestic violence in military families? In this assignment, I will expand on one of the laws in my home state of North Carolina about domestic violence. North Carolina is home to the most significant military installation in the United States military and is by far the most deployed branch of the military. In this paper, I will explain what North Carolina has done to protect its families from dv and why the United States military considers the protection of its families one of its top priorities. I will also apply four cases to the law mentioned and explain why this law was necessary to protect an innocent victim. So, without any further delay, let us begin.
The law I am referring to is G.S. 96-14.8. This is used to protect military servicemembers as well as their spouses. The law ensures that both parties never lose benefits if the service member misses work and are not charged to the employer if the service member or the service member's sources are involved in a domestic violence case. Several military stressors are constantly applied to the service member and the family, such as scheduled and unscheduled deployments, mental health strains such as PTSD, abnormal social stressors not found in a civilian occupation such as over-toxic leadership, high suicide rate due to substance abuse, and infidelity. Due to stressors like these and much more domestic violence is expected within the military community. In the next paragraph, I will discuss a few local cases at my current duty station and connect this law to why it was created in response to domestic violence.
The first case I will explore is the Air force's desire to have more special agents to investigate domestic violence cases. In a local report, it was mentioned that over 48% of the men had experienced a form of interpersonal violence from an intimate partner. Of course, researchers suggest that the reports may not represent a complete diagnostic of male victims because most choose not to report or mention abuse they may have experienced (Novelly, 2023). The law mentioned in the paragraph prior will protect service members who have been victims of domestic abuse and protect their benefits due to time missed from work due to the crisis (Novelly, 2023). With 48% of the males interviewed admitted to being victims of domestic violence, we can only assume what kind of impact dv had on the service members' quality of work and mental health (Novelly, 2023). The Air Force base mentioned in this article is attached to the base here in Fort Bragg, which makes this Air Force base the most active Air Force base in America (Novelly, 2023). The law in response to domestic violence cases is not only to protect the family and their financial situation, but domestic violence could affect the service members' mental state, which could easily affect national security (Novelly, 2023).
The second case I wanted to acknowledge involved a couple living in Fort Drum, Texas. The husband was stationed there and was later convicted of domestic violence. The woman was a domestic violence victim and was encouraged to relocate. As a service member's spouse and domestic violence were present, she could retain her benefits though eventually, they did separate. So we see this law in effect helping service members and families through the destruction of domestic violence that may have ultimately destroyed the family. When people consider domestic violence cases, monetary and physical damages are usually the only things that people consider. But significantly larger factors, such as military benefits, are involved in the military. For example, childcare, Tricare for health insurance, Basic allowance for housing, etc. Many of these benefits prevent many military families from being entirely destitute. But thankfully, to G.S. 96-14.8 families broken due to domestic violence will be protected, including spouses.
The third case I wanted to be an article about by Army time alluded to the fact that military spouses are considered expendable (Luchetta, 2023). The idea is that the service member is what the army has invested in using training, equipment, food, and board. The article suggests that some wives are considered moral boosters for the service member (Luchetta, 2023). It is widely considered that the military doesn't value the service members' marital partners and considers them as dependents and nothing more than baggage to the army (Luchetta, 2023). This concept is not without merit because the law passed to protect the spouse of service members was passed in 2010 (Luchetta, 2023). That means before 2010, no protection or guarantees after domestic violence cases existed if the spouse needed to relocate.
For the final case, I want to direct your attention to the last case over 30 years ago. A married couple with a history of domestic violence-related calls around 2003 ultimately divorced. Due to the creation of the law in 2010, the wife was not guaranteed any benefits. She also had diabetes. Once they divorced and the husband removed the former wife from his government benefits, the wife could no longer receive the lifesaving insulin she had been receiving for years. During the marriage, the wife never worked and relied on the husband for everything. So when she lost her insulin, it was a serious matter. Ultimately, she could obtain the insulin, but by the time she got back on a regular schedule with her medication, her diabetes was out of control. This case was what led to the development of the law adaption.
In conclusion, in the history of the military, spouse have been under recognized especially in cases of domestic violence. Since the law has pass in the state of north Carolina, many people have been able to either retain there jobs with the military though the strains of domestic violence may have inflicted how the service member was able to conduct their jobs as well as assisted the service members spouse in the event that the spouse is the abused party and they still need to have access to the benefits that they have had the accustom to receiving. I believe that the military has addressed domestic violence and has worked hard to manage the danger of it and I also believe that this law was useful in helping victims of domestic violence as well.
All References are credible. In this paragraph I will access the credibility of all references. The first references that I will access is the Army Times reference. Historically Army times has been the media outlet the military dispenses information to its own community. All information is vetted through the army channels before any information is published. The next reference that I will validate is the National institution of justice reference. All information found on the NIJ is validated through the DoD. The following reference that I will verify is the Domestic violence in the military reference. This reference is a .org reference and certifies its validity. The Next reference I used in this assignment was from Boise State which certifies that this reference is credible as well. The last reference that I used in this assignment was an reference from a .mil website. This website are verified by the Department of defense and certified for validity.
Reference
Cohen, R. (2023, February 2). Air Force launches another study on improving aid to abuse survivors. Air Force Times. https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2023/02/02/air-force-launches-another-study-on-improving-aid-to-abuse-survivors/
Domestic Violence Courts | National Institute of Justice. (n.d.). National Institute of Justice. https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/courts/domestic-violence-courts
Fact Sheet: Domestic Violence in the Military. (2018b, December 10). VAWnet.org. https://vawnet.org/material/fact-sheet-domestic-violence-military
Luchetta, J. (2023, February 21). Senate passes bill that would give domestic violence, military spouses unemployment benefits. Boise State Public Radio. https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-government/2023-02-21/senate-passes-bill-that-would-give-domestic-violence-military-spouses-unemployment-benefits
Military Health System. (n.d.). Domestic Violence Resources for Military Partners. https://www.health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Centers-of-Excellence/Psychological-Health-Center-of-Excellence/Real-Warriors-Campaign/Articles/Domestic-Violence-Resources-for-Military-Partners
Novelly, T. (2023, January 30). Air Force Wants to Hire More Special Agents to Investigate Domestic Violence. Military.com. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/01/30/air-force-wants-hire-more-special-agents-investigate-domestic-violence.html