Violence Against Women is a Men’s issue

Calling violence against women a "woman’s problem" is part of the problem. It is misleading and in some cases dishonest.  It gives men an excuse to not pay attention to the situation. Another thing that makes this a problem is because "women's issues" are personal for men as well. Men need to confront each other about the violence that men cause against women. Most of the time men are the primary perpetrators, which if it was only a "woman's issue," why would men be the ones that cause the problems? One of the biggest problems is that if men never join the fight against men's violence against women, then there is no possible chance that the violence will dramatically drop. Every single problem that affects any woman, daughter, girlfriend or even mother, is the men's problem too.

Why aren’t people talking about the social factors that contribute to violence against women? Why aren’t men’s attitudes and behaviors toward women the focus of more critical scrutiny and coordinated action? When men’s role in gender violence is discussed, the focus is typically on men as perpetrators or potential perpetrators. You don’t have to look far to see evidence of the pain and suffering that has caused. It’s rare to find any deep conversation about the culture that’s producing these violent men. It’s even rarer to hear discussions about the ways that our culture defines “manhood,” and how that might be linked to the endless stories about husbands killing wives or groups of young men raping girls that we hear about on a regular basis.

How could so many men be oblivious to such a basic aspect of life for the women and girls around them? One of the most reasonable explanations is that violence against women has historically been seen as a "women's issue." We focus on the against women part of the phrase and not on the fact that men are the ones doing it. But the long-running American tragedy of men's violence against women is really more about men and our problems than it is about women. We're the ones committing the vast majority of the violence. We’re the ones who women have been conditioned to fear. It is time that men educate themselves, then go out and do something about it.

http://www.themachoparadox.com

Written by Adam H., Child Advocate