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The Crown Prosecution Service Firmly Believes That Cultural Difference Is Not ...

The Crown Prosecution Service firmly believes that cultural difference is not a reason for failing to protect minority ethnic community victims of domestic violence.
The media has played an important role in creating awareness about domestic violence among the general public. While most domestic violence cases cannot be reported due to reporting restrictions imposed by Courts, the media has been at the forefront of bringing the practice of honour killings to the front of people's minds.
In some cultures it unfortunately seems that the place of women has not improved since the eighteen hundreds. In these cultures it is seen as justified for a family to kill their daughter (or her partner) if the family's honour has been besmirched by an unauthorised relationship or pregnancy. What is perhaps the most surprising is that these killings still continue in modern day Britain within families who live in the UK but who have not embraced English culture. This type of domestic violence is more difficult to contend with and needs a different approach. In these situations, there is little chance of the victim being empowered to such an extent as to escape the dangers of the situation they are in. An empowered victim in such a case would risk being cut off from her entire family and friends which can often be too high a hurdle to overcome. It is suggested that in these types of cases, the problem has to be tackled from the point of view of integration within society and as such is clearly beyond the scope of this paper.
The media has played a crucial part in the exposure of honour killings although it can be argued that they have focused on this one shocking aspect of domestic violence at the expense of more common domestic violence situations. This may also relate to reporting bans often placed on the media in respect of domestic violence proceedings. However, the fact that the media give such prominent coverage to honour killing stories reflects the interest the general English public has in this area of domestic life which seems so alien in modern English society.
Another underreported area is that of domestic violence instigated by women. While this violence is generally directed towards children, it can also be directed against male partners. In cases in which this occurs, men are often too embarrassed to make a complaint feeling that they have failed to fulfil society's expectations of what is required of a man. The flow on effect of more women instigating domestic violence is that more women may then be prosecuted for it and end up in prison which then effects criminal justice policy with respect to prison policy (a discussion of which is beyond the scope of this paper).

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