(Photo by Rio De Paz)
Throughout time, we have perceived women as subordinate. There was a point in the past where we put them on the same level as children and even animals. Despite men and women being the same species of the same age, the men held all the power and the women were completely under their control. However, many women have clamored for equal rights and slowly narrowed the gap between the rights of men and women. Even today, though, these long-standing traditions stand in the form of regular male-on-female abuse. If we want men and women to be truly equal, we need to do as much as we can to bring these cases to a halt. Women are no longer subordinate playthings. Despite everything tradition has told us, women are just as human as men.
Sexual assault in particular is a harrowing issue of today's society, and women receive the brunt of it. According to a study by the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, 90% of assault victims in America are women. A particularly scary observation the RAINN study made is 55% of sexual assault cases occur in or near the victim's home. The study also revealed 48% of these sexual assault cases happened while the victim was asleep or doing another activity in their home. Even with the social justice movement on the rise, many women feel unsafe in public due to the looming threat of an assault waiting to happen. We shouldn't need to normalize the constant anxiety women feel about potentially being assaulted without warning, both at home and in public.
I frequently hear about how women should defend themselves when out in public. It makes sense at the surface level, but once I think about it more in-depth, it confuses me why I hear so little about educating men not to abuse women. We are almost treating these regularly occurring instances of abuse as something inevitable, even natural. Why do we do this as a society, even though we have made many attempts to provide equal rights and opportunities to everyone regardless of their race or gender? Why do we focus on finding a workaround for this issue rather than getting right to the source?
To find the answers, I will need to look into sources documenting the history of gender roles both then and now. The feminism movement has spawned a plethora of writers desperate to get their word out, and I feel their works will be vital. I will need to stick to educational resources and peer reviewed journals to find the information I need, however, as I could definitely stumble upon biased and misinformed articles.
“Scope of the Problem: Statistics.” RAINN, www.rainn.org/statistics/scope-problem.
Your topic is very interesting, I found that no matter in which country, women are more often the victim than men. My question is how will we teach men how not to assault women and what different ways to achieve that? this is my suggestion for one of your questions. As a woman,I totally agree with your idea that we should teach men not to assault women instead of just teaching woman to defend ourselves, but I’m curious about what specific ideas you have for teaching this? Are there already education programs trying to reduce sexual assault? Do they work?I like your topic, but from what I’ve read here, it asks more questions than it answers.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your research. Although everyone should know how to defend themselves the fact of the matter is men are (on average) physically larger and stronger than women. Of course there are outliers, like any other category, but the prioritization should definitely fall under teaching men. Not only teaching men, but encouraging women to leave abusive relationships and press charges if necessary. Most of the victims are silent victims, and it shouldn't be that way. Self-defense should be the last option, as it could make the situation worse... it should never get to that point to begin with. I strongly encourage women to carry non-lethal weapons such as pepper spray, batons, or tasers and more importantly, know how to use them. To me that is more effective than fancy punches and kicks that some martial arts school will try to display as effective. Just being brutally honest, don't become a statistic.
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ReplyDeleteWOW. This is such an important topic to explore! They say it takes a woman 7-10 times before she leaves her abuser for good. I wish it was as simple as teaching women how to identify an abuser, but between manipulation, emotional and/or financial abuse, and gas-lighting, even the most intelligent and self aware person can fall victim. There are men who are abused by their partners, male or female, but there are no "safe houses" or real resources for them. Abuse is a HUGE issue in our society, and I look forward to seeing your blog explore this charged subject! I disagree that teaching men not to assault would effectively change things in great numbers. It seems to be common sense not to beat up those you love, yet here we are. Teaching women self defense seems like a better option, because sometimes we can't predict who will become abusive! A man might not consider his actions abusive, and it is not always physical at first. that can happen after so many boundaries have been crossed its a natural next step for the person. Its not right, but small steps make it seem less of a transgression. DV is a subject I am passionate about, and I think this is an interesting question to ask.
ReplyDeleteThis subject is very dear to my heart as I am a survivor of some serious domestic abuse. I asked myself the same question when I was young and taking a free self defense class for women. I thought to myself that there ought to be a "no rape" class. All the defensive moves they taught us were anti rape. I think that no man would show up to a class like that because they don't see it as their problem. No parent would send their child because, let's face it, parents are in denial when it comes to their kids. What we need is a culture shift much like the one that is currently taking place with mental health. What kid of education do you think would be effective without hurting anyone's egos? It will be interesting to follow your blog to see what research you come up with.
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