My fear is that as our worldwide economy gets worse, acts of violence and aggression against women, children and animals will increase. As individuals increasingly feel the loss of power and control, some will seeking to regain it by turning against the weakest and most vulnerable.

I think education alone is not enough about domestic and date violence. Many of our youth lack a core confidence in their own worth, strength and abilities. They have not been allowed to really challenge and test themselves. Parents seem to have seen their job as protecting children from even the smallest of routine daily failures .

The women who came to the shelter crossed all class, race, age and educational lines. One was wife to a Baptist minister. One was married to a deputy DA. One was married to a doctor, another to a scientist on faculty at the university.

But one thing they all had in common: they believed it was their fault. We have to get the message out that NO ONE deserves to be beaten.

let’s face it, americans, and most of the world, accept the use of violence in all kinds of non-self-defense situations, no matter how much they may deny it. from the day kids are born, they learn that the bigger person can and will beat them up if they don’t do what they want. some parents teach against the use of violence strongly, but others don’t, and it permeates our society so much, how could kids NOT think it’s acceptable?

i work with a lot of young (teenage) people, and the young males already know that the biggest male is “The Man,” and everyone else has better not defy him. i think that (especially at that immature stage) they think that naturally females should be under their (male) authority, since they are smaller and could be beaten into submission. sadly, young females often go along with this arrangement because of low self-respect and because they see quite correctly that “that’s just the way it is.”

most people grow out of this stage and develop a sense of right and wrong, but a lot of people don’t.

It’s like in the Civil Rights era when they were telling us that we should speak up and chastise anyone who told a racist or bigoted joke. Until we quit phrasing questions about female behavior in the negative and start asking for judgment on the behavior rather than the gender attitudes will not change. What do you think the poll would say if women punished men for dressing in “sexy or revealing clothes in public”?

However, let me note from my own experience that this sort of violence doesn’t have to me male-female. It can be any family or partner you live with, and when I went through it, the shelter noted there was a spike in the parent-children dynamic rather than husband-wife. But even today it’s typical to blame the victim for the whole thing. One of the most appalling stories I remember from the shelter was that one woman was shot point-blank in front of her children by her husband, and the police just laughed it off. I knew one woman beaten so many times in the head that she lay around alot staring at the ceiling. Progress hasn’t been made nearly as far as even these reports would lead you to believe.

I found this article quoting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

Mr. Ban noted that “Death, injury, medical costs and lost employment are but the tip of an iceberg. The impact on women and girls, their families, their communities and their societies in terms of shattered lives and livelihoods is beyond calculation.”

To change the mindsets and socially ingrained habits of generations will not be easy and will take the collective force of individuals, organizations and governments, added the Secretary-General.

“We must work together to state loud and clear, at the highest level, that violence against women will not be tolerated, in any form, in any context, in any circumstance,” he said, adding that “We need a positive image of women in the media. We need laws that say violence is a crime, that hold perpetrators accountable and are enforced.”

Full story here:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30118&Cr=women&Cr1=secretary-general

Men must stop this violence against women. Keep up the good work.

Women Should Be Hit for Dressing Sexy in Public, 1 in 7 Believe

The findings of the poll, conducted for the Home Office, also disclosed about a quarter of people believe that wearing sexy or revealing clothing should lead to a woman being held partly responsible for being raped or sexually assaulted.

http://hillaryorbust.com/2009/03/id-rather-wear-clothes-than-support-peta/

The left has been particularly open to misogyny in recent years, all in the name of being “sexy.”