Escalation in domestic violence

By Humphrey Carter T his year, the number of cvases of domestic violence in the Balearics is on course to break the 4'000 barrier. Starting today, the U.N.*s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a series of events and acts are going to be taking place across the region and yesterday the the Balearic government and the Women's Institue called for society as a whole to join forces in the war on domestic violence. Director of the Institute, Isabel Llinàs, warned yesterday that, come the end of the year, the Balearics could have witnessed over 4'000 cases of domestic violence, while many more will have gone unreported. Majorca has witnessed some brutal cases this year, including the alleged murder of a British woman at the hands of her boyfriend at the Palma flat. Today, a giant screen is going to be erected outside C&A and public text messages of support, sent to number 5155, for the campiagn to crackdown on domestic violence will be printed on the screen. The screenb will remain in operation for the next three days. Tomorrow, a special family day is being held at the Principes de España sport centre with a host of events being organised between 10am and 4.30pm. The World Health Organisation reported yesterday that one in six women worldwide suffers domestic violence. The Spanoish Minister for Health, Elena Salgado, who is also the current president of WHO's annual health assembly, said yesterday “every 18 seconds, somewhere, a woman suffers violence or maltreatment ... We must put an end to this shameful practice.” The Minsiter explained that domestic violence can be sparked by dinner being late, not finishing the housework on time, disobeying or refusing to have sex, the report has discovered. In many cases women agree that a man is justified in beating his wife under certain circumstances. In terms of symptoms -pain, dizziness, mental distress, miscarriages -the findings across the 15 urban and rural settings were “remarkably consistent.” ccording to Claudia Garcia-Moreno, the study's coordinator. “Whether you are a cosmopolitan woman in Sao Paulo, Brazil or Japan, or a rural woman in Ethiopia or Peru, the association between violence and poor health remains,” she told reporters.