Violent men are victims?
By Rod Van Mechelen
As the old adage goes, it takes two to tango. Domestic violence will continue to be a blight upon our society until the bad behaviors of both women and men are addressed.
Violent women
2003 Olympia, Wash. - Imagine the outcry if an organization stumped to the soapbox and evangelical-like cried that men who start fights with their partners are victims. If Domestic-Violence-Authority-Guy assured us that "a man who gets hurt after starting a fight with his partner is the victim of abuse," there would be no end to the booing and hissing. Yet, that is what the good people at End Abuse: Family Violence Prevention Fund, in a fit of conniption, are retorting to a study about young couples, and the conclusions about women who start fights:
This study sends the dangerous and incorrect message that women are responsible for the abuse they suffer because their behavior somehow encourages violence. Those of us who work to stop abuse and help victims know that this is not the case....It is simply wrong to suggest that victims are ever responsible for provoking or encouraging that kind of violence. - Esta Soler, President, Backlash Study, Family Violence Prevention Fund, 2003
The Oregon Social Learning Center study that's causing the End Abuse people to lash out, is Physical and psychological aggression in at-risk young couples: Stability and change in young adulthood, conducted by a team of researchers led by Deborah Capaldi. The results will be published later this year in Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, Volume 49, 1-27.
Basically, the part of the study causing all the cussing is their conclusion that, "young women are more likely than young men to initiate physical aggression with their partners." As is well-known by everybody but feminists, men, generally being bigger and stronger than women, are able, once a fight is begun, to do more damage than women, the Charmed Ones notwithstanding. So, if a gal takes a swing at her guy, chances are she'll be the one visiting the Emergency Room. This comes as no surprise to everybody but the man-attacking feminists, for whom this is proof beyond a shadow that men are to blame:
It is very clear that the vast majority of domestic violence injuries occur when husbands and boyfriends assault their wives and girlfriends. That is why our energy and resources must be directed at preventing assaults and helping the women and children who are the primary victims of family violence." - Esta Soler, President, Backlash Study, Family Violence Prevention Fund, 2003
Sadly, the feminists just don't get it. As the old adage goes, it takes two to tango. Domestic violence will continue to be a blight upon our society until the bad behaviors of both women and men are addressed.
Regards
Rod Van Mechelen
Rod Van Mechelen is the author of What Everyone Should Know about Feminist Issues: The Male-Positive Perspective (the page now includes several articles by other authors), and the publisher of The Backlash! @ Backlash.com. He is a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and served for 9-1/2 years on the Cowlitz Indian Tribal Council.
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