Violence against women: The missing men

[YoungDemCA]

Before we can end violence against women, we must first ask the fundamental question of what is going on with men - the main perpetrators of this violence - and why societies worldwide are producing so many violent men?

As we today mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, this calamity has reached epidemic proportions. Earlier this year, the World Health Organization released the first systematic study of global data on the prevalence of violence against women. This ground breaking work revealed that fully one third of women worldwide - nearly one billion women - will experience physical violence from a male partner in their lifetimes.

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The time has come to shift our thinking and approach. We need to turn our attention to the behavior and motivations of the men and ask a different set of questions. What is going on with the men who are committing these violent acts? Why do so many men abuse women and girls - particularly their own family members? Why is men's violence against women such common place across countries in the world today? And how do institutions in our society perpetuate the practice of men abusing and violating women?

Violence against women is closely linked to the rigid norms that define what it is to be a man. Worldwide there is a dominant model of manhood; men are taught to aspire to and judge themselves based on this ideal. Men are expected to be financially independent, become husbands and fathers, be the primary income earner for the family, be achievers in the eyes of peers, and be in control and exert authority. These salient norms of manhood are perpetuated by societies, communities, peers, families and women themselves - and take on more extreme forms in some cultures.

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But for most men, particularly poor men, there is a huge gap between these expectations and what they can achieve. In the face of chronic poverty, inequality, exclusion, jobless economies, many men feel they don't measure up. How then, do these men prove themselves as men? All too often it is through the use of force and violence - and female partners are easy targets. Such behavior is often the only way for many men to wield power in societies where they are made to feel powerless and useless. This is the hard reality that remains unacknowledged or misunderstood in much of the discussion on gender violence today.

In a household survey of 1,552 men in India, one third of men said they were ashamed to face their family because they were jobless or did not earn enough income. Those unemployed men who reported being stressed or ashamed were 50 percent more likely to use violence against a partner and twice as likely to have used sexual violence than men who did not report economic stress.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-11-25/news/44450056_1_maria-correia-gender-violence-sexual-violence

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In addressing sexual and gender-based violence, it is important to know more about the entrenched attitudes and values which perpetrate it. A recent joint report by UNDP, UN Women, UN Population Fund and UN Volunteers surveyed 10,000 men in Asia and the Pacific. It found that 80 percent of men who admitted to committing rape in rural Bangladesh and China cited a sense of sexual entitlement as their motivation. Of those who perpetrated the violence in those countries, the vast majority never faced any legal consequences.

In addition to having more research and better data on violence and inequality, governments should also assume a stronger role in designing and implementing policies to protect women. Political will and funding are required. In Thailand, the government has developed a set of indicators to monitor the development and effects of a new law to protect victims of domestic violence. Understanding these factors will be invaluable in preventing future violence against women.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/helen-clark/tackling-violence-against-women-and-girls_b_4338056.html

[Warpy]

1. It's too easy--and too wrong--to chalk it up to chronic poverty

I have known too many wealthy women who were used as punching bags by their even wealthier husbands.

I have no idea what is going wrong with 1/3 of the men on the planet. I know it isn't my problem, it's theirs, and only they can fix it.

And yes, a minority of spousal abuse is perpetrated by women. However, it's such a small percentage as to be statistically negligible when you look at abuse across the planet. This is overwhelmingly a problem that men have.

Fix it. Or we'll leave you.

[chervilant]

2. So many "reasons" --

so many excuses! Patriarchy -- the omnipresent sociocultural construct that underpins male 'authority' and violence -- relegates women to "less than" roles, and trains our younglings the rigid gender expectations that perpetuate abuse.

I recommend these resources (at least):

All journal articles by Gelles, Strauss, & Steinmetz; illustrating the link between adult relationship violence and the physical punishment of children.

The Mermaid and the Minotaur (Dinnerstein)

Ending the Silence (Thorne-Finch)

Thou Shallt not be Aware (Miller -- everything by Miller)

[Laelth]

3. The first essay is excellent.

It's actually looking at the causes of violence against women. That's the best way to find a solution. One must understand the cause first, or one is only treating the symptoms.

-Laelth