Dear Editor,

As a criminologist, I have always been asked my opinion on how I might go about preventing crime and capturing criminals, but the types of crime to which people are referring are often limited in scope. While violent crime, murders and burglary are considered among the most exasperating for the general public, there are actually more prevalent forms of criminal activity which are often overlooked and unchecked, and allowed to run rampant throughout our nation.

It is interesting that so much study has been poured into the reasoning behind why many people turn to a life of crime, but not nearly as much research has gone into figuring out why people commit domestic crime. The general consensus appears to begin and end on one of two possibilities, where it is either a cycle of abuse or mental health issues, or some combination of the two.

The fact that domestic violence makes up at least one quarter of the total crimes committed in this country means that it is the largest most committed felony in this country. That more resources have not yet been allocated to the prevention and prosecution of this crime is egregious.

Conflict resolution is often taught in a work environment for use in negotiations and disputes, but the fact that this course isn’t mandatory in our secondary schools to prepare children for their lives ahead is part of the reason that school violence has become as rampant as it is today. Is it any wonder therefore that these children then grow up to utilise this same form of barbaric interplay that they developed in the school yard to deal with situations they encounter later in life within their homes.

By creating a mandatory class at the secondary school level for all students to be made aware of the complexities of married life, and presenting them with alternative solutions to violence, we can train future generations that domestic violence is not a solution to any problem. But what’s more is that this type of exposure and training would also serve to inform younger girls about the dangers of living with a partner who engages in domestic violence and gives them the confidence to walk away from these types of relationships if necessary.

Too many times in domestic abuse cases the victim chooses to forgive the abuser for a number of reasons that are completely illogical and inevitably detrimental to their own safety and wellbeing. As such, at the same time that we are discouraging domestic abuse as a whole, we must also teach those victims that they have the power to identify any situation that poses a danger to themselves and take the necessary steps to distance themselves from it.

It is only through proper education and training will we put an end to the cycle of abuse that has continued unabated throughout our nation’s history. The TTPS does not now, nor will they ever have the resources to have officers monitor every bedroom across the country to protect these victims from their abusers. As such, if we are to combat domestic violence holistically it must be nipped at the bud to ensure that the crime is not committed at all in the future.

Kavita Chotak.
BSc Criminology and Criminal Justice