Women have suffered domestic abuse for centuries.  In 1994, the office of then Senator Joseph Biden finally decided to help put an end to overlooking these sometimes dire situations.  His office drafted the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) which President Bill Clinton signed into law that same year.  It became a federal law which provided government funds to provide safe housing for women and children to go to so they wouldn’t have to endure the continued abuse they were experiencing in the home.  It also funds essential services, such as counseling, financial guidance and hotlines for women to turn to for confidential help. 

This program was instituted with the idea in mind that if a woman is being battered by her husband or boyfriend in the home, she could leave the premises with her children and have a safe place to go for shelter.  The batterers would not be able to track or find their spouses as the location of the shelter is kept secret and may change frequently.  Once out of the dysfunctional situation, women and children have opportunities for counseling, job-training and education to help give confidence to the victims to move beyond the abuse and start a new, fresh life on their own.  

The VAWA act specifies strict punishments for those accused of violent crimes against women.   These new domestic violence laws allowed officials to pursue domestic violence offenders more aggressively in the hopes of changing the abuser’s behavior because of the possibility of arrest.  Specifically, the risk of incurring a lengthy incarceration, fines and more, would temper the temptation to attack a spouse.  Depending on the extent of the abuse, domestic assault is considered a misdemeanor or felony offense and once convicted, will be on the abuser’s permanent record.

Judicial systems throughout the country have found that along with jail time and fines, an understanding of the crimes is necessary for the abuser to have any sort of retribution for his actions.  Therefore, part of the court punishment will include a mandate to take domestic violence classes.  The purpose of the class is to educate the participant about issues related to domestic assault of women and children and to ultimately reduce violence as well as create the safest possible family environment.  Perpetrators will learn about what constitutes domestic violence and what they can do the stop it.  They will learn empathy and stress management to control their angers. 

Before signing up for a class that the perpetrator must attend in a classroom, check with your court or probation officer to see if they will accept an online domestic violence class to fulfill the court mandate.  Online classes can be taken from any internet based computer in the comfort of your own home.  They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so they won’t interfere with a job schedule.  They are discreet and anonymous way of learning the information in a relaxed environment.  The individual can log in and out of the class at his convenience and the computer program will hold the spot for the next time.  Upon successful completion of the final exam, a certificate of completion will be issued to the enrollee to prove the court that the class was taken.   This is definitely the most convenient way to take a domestic violence program. 

If you think that there is no need for people to take an online domestic violence class then think again. The U.S. domestic violence statistics are just terrible.  25% of women have experienced domestic violence in their lifetime. Women account for approximately 85% of domestic violence victims. Women aged between 20 and 24 are at the greatest risk of intimate partner violence. These are just a few of the appalling statistics on domestic violence. They serve to show that more effort should be put into combating this behavior.

Signs of Someone with Abusive Tendencies

There are many signs that may show you that someone has abusive tendencies. Whenever you notice these signs in a spouse or a friend, it may be wise to recommend that they take an online domestic violence class. These character traits include: 

1. Superiority - Such a person always wants to feel superior. This may make them go to great lengths to seem "right". A person who is verbally abusive will even call you names so that they feel better. What they really want is to do things that will make you feel weak; in turn making them feel powerful. 

2. Possessiveness - Is your partner jealous about everyone you come in contact with?  This can include your family, co-workers, friends or even business contacts? Do they try to isolate you from everyone else? Do you feel like they view you like a piece of property instead of a unique human being.

3. Control - Abusive partners tend to be controlling, demanding all your time and insisting to be the center of attention. They will always want to control the car, the finances and even the activities that you are involved in. They normally burst into fits of rage whenever you express a difference in opinion.

4. Deception - This is not always the case but most abusive people also tend to be deceptive. When trying to cover their tracks, they may start behaving violently. The violence may increase with the increase in leading questions.

5. Harsh Tendencies - How does the person handle other people? Abusive people seem to always talk badly about their former partners, family and even friends. They even treat animals and pets with excess harshness. They don't seem to want to be around little kids or help out anyone with special needs.

6. Strange Fascinations - The person may have strange fascinations with things such as swords, guns, knives and fire and about the extent they can harm people.  They may also be into violent video games. Conclusion

For prevention of violent scenarios, it is important for these people to enroll in domestic violence classes online before they do anything absurd.  In case they are already convicted with domestic violence, courts may require one to take a domestic violence class. To avoid any unnecessary embarrassment or inconveniences, it can be easy for such people to take these classes online.

A good, credible and licensed class will help teach behavior modification and techniques to reform from these violent tendencies. After completing these classes, a certificate of completion will be awarded to prove that the class was successfully taken and passed. With proper guidance, domestic abuse offenders can change their ways leading to a happier, healthier mental attitude and lifestyle.

What most people don't fully understand is that domestic violence is like a disease.  A disease that doesn't get better on it's own, but usually worse.  Learning to stop the cycle of violence is an educational process.  Since most perpetrators of domestic violence are men, most of the education is directed towards helping me improve their coping skills and understanding how to better function in intimate relationships with women and children. 

Too often, this educational process doesn't happen until it's too late.  Perhaps a beating has occurred or children have been harmed and now it has become a legal issue.  Most men are referred to what is called DV classes or batterer intervention classes.  These classes are aimed at teaching some very specific skills to help improve communication, understanding how to stop violence and much more.  Most classes are offered in a group setting; however, online classes are also available. 

Online such resource for taking domestic violence classes is at DVclass.com.  Classes are primarily taken for court and legal requirements but can also be taken simply for educational and personal growth.

Just a test post.

If you see this post it means that BlogEngine.NET 2.6 is running and the hard part of creating your own blog is done. There is only a few things left to do.

Write Permissions

To be able to log in to the blog and writing posts, you need to enable write permissions on the App_Data folder. If your blog is hosted at a hosting provider, you can either log into your account’s admin page or call the support. You need write permissions on the App_Data folder because all posts, comments, and blog attachments are saved as XML files and placed in the App_Data folder. 

If you wish to use a database to to store your blog data, we still encourage you to enable this write access for an images you may wish to store for your blog posts.  If you are interested in using Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, SQL CE, or other databases, please see the BlogEngine wiki to get started.

Security

When you've got write permissions to the App_Data folder, you need to change the username and password. Find the sign-in link located either at the bottom or top of the page depending on your current theme and click it. Now enter "admin" in both the username and password fields and click the button. You will now see an admin menu appear. It has a link to the "Users" admin page. From there you can change the username and password.  Passwords are hashed by default so if you lose your password, please see the BlogEngine wiki for information on recovery.

Configuration and Profile

Now that you have your blog secured, take a look through the settings and give your new blog a title.  BlogEngine.NET 2.6 is set up to take full advantage of of many semantic formats and technologies such as FOAF, SIOC and APML. It means that the content stored in your BlogEngine.NET installation will be fully portable and auto-discoverable.  Be sure to fill in your author profile to take better advantage of this.

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On the web

You can find BlogEngine.NET on the official website. Here you'll find tutorials, documentation, tips and tricks and much more. The ongoing development of BlogEngine.NET can be followed at CodePlex where the daily builds will be published for anyone to download.  Again, new themes, widgets and extensions can be downloaded at the BlogEngine.NET gallery.

Good luck and happy writing.

The BlogEngine.NET team