Intimacy, Domestic Violence, and Food Insecurity
Food insecurity is the lack of food due to limited resources and economic instability. According to the Journal of Women’s Health Vol. 23, “21% of households with children were food insecure.” An interesting study was conducted to see the association between maternal depression, intimacy, and food insecurity. Making sure that families are receiving proper support is important in decreasing the significance of depression among mothers in households. There is a causal link between depression and food insecurity because mothers are usually the caretakers of homes. When a person faces depression and violence it can lead to traumatic effects amongst the entire family.
Creating a structurally sound family environment that ensures the overall mental, physical, nutritional, and social health of individuals is important. The deterioration of Women’s health caused by domestic violence has been a risk factor in combating food insecurity. Women and mothers who live in food insecure households experience high levels of domestic violence. Economic hardship has been one of the most transformative changes in a person’s sense of control over one’s life. Breaking the link, finding resources, and implementing programs to help women suffering from depression, domestic violence, and food insecurity are important to empowerment and having a stable household.
In addition, there are insufficiencies in policing regarding domestic violence.
Here are a list of objectives needed to be implemented in order to reduce domestic violence occurrences from the American Progress:
Ensure DV programs and shelters receive sufficient funding and are deemed essential businesses during the pandemic and any future crises.
Improve access to comprehensive paid family and medical leave and paid sick leave; child care; and unemployment insurance if a survivor needs to leave a job for an extended period or loses a job.
Prioritize improvements to existing laws, including the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and legislative fixes to the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)
Edited by Jasmine Mitchell
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