Deterrence or Backlash? Arrests and the Dynamics of Domestic Violence

Designing Robots to Help Women

“…For example, views in Africa on DV can be startlingly different, with acceptance of wife-beating at 77% in Mali and Uganda; overall, "51% of African women report that being beaten by their husbands is justified if they either go out without permission, neglect the children, argue back, refuse to have sex, or burn the food." 8 Another key problem with DV is that repeat offenses are common over the long term [22]. For example, officers might pick up a criminal on Friday for beating a woman, then release him on Saturday, in a pattern that repeats itself each week.…”

“…As a result of repeatedly experiencing traumatic and uncontrollable events, including physical and psychological abuse, victims often have little self-esteem left, and frequently develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), or "learned helplessness"-which contribute to submissiveness and reduce a woman's belief that her actions could lead to a positive result [24]. Thus, while successful arrests could help to reduce repeated offences by approximately half [22], as with other crimes such as sex trafficking or forced marriage, battered women often feel trapped, and it's hard for women themselves to break free.…”

“…For example, this is a goal in the initiative of Visual Sweden called "Visual Vulva". 22 In addition to visual scans, robots have been designed to haptically carry out clinical breast examinations. 23 As well, for women experiencing morning sickness, a robot could seek to detect causes of ill feeling (e.g., if certain foods are a problem), vomiting, fainting, or overheating.…”

“…news.mit.edu/2023/wearable-ultrasound-scanner-breast-cancer-072822 https://www.visualsweden.se/en/aktuella-projekt/ar-jag-normal23 https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2023/october/new-robot-could-helpdiagnose-breast-cancer-early.html…”