Domestic Abuse Essay Examples

English

The term ‘domestic violence’ is something that modern society has come to accept and live with. On the question of domestic violence, one thing is clear; there is not a single household anywhere in the world that doesn’t have tiffs between husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, and parents and children. So what makes the subject of domestic violence so critical that it mandates a serious discussion; isn’t this a topic that has been debated millions of times in the echelon of judicial dictum? There is more to domestic violence than mere woman vs. man, or boy vs. girl sexual differences; it the pseudo-egoistic mind of men. In order to understand how men and women see this highly sensitive and controversial subject, Leslie Morgan Steiner and Jackson Katz prophases what they believe is the root cause for women’s issues or simply gender issues.
In ‘Why domestic violence victims don't leave,’ Leslie Morgan reveals to her audience her past experience with a man she loved more than anyone in the world. That, she says, was the biggest mistake. She was a victim of domestic violence, and she didn’t know that till one day, the man who showered her with all the finesses of kingdom come placed a fully loaded revolver on her head. In her speech, Morgan says that the only way men or women subjected to domestic violence should break their silence. “Abusethrives only in silence,” she exclaimed and wished that all those who were victims of domestic violence, should come out and tell everyone about what is happening to them. Sadly, like millions of others in the country and the world, those victims of domestic violence, suppress their feelings and pain and continue to suffer in silence. This will only aggravate their position.
In ‘Violence against women-it’s a man’s Issue,’ Jackson Katz remonstrates the pseudo-egoistic mind of men. Katz comes out hard at those who call domestic violence as a women’s issue, or gender issue, and so it is for women to sort out this problem. Society, he believes is about men, and women have no constructive role to play in it. Therefore, when there is a complaint about domestic violence, it would come from a woman, and it is for women to sort out their problem. Men have no role to play in it, or do they? Quoting Martin Luther King, Katz says, “What hurt the most are not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Men need to put up their hands and say that they are willing to stand up for them (women) and break the silence. This may not be easy; for its easy to say that what is required at the moment is not silence, but action, but in all honesty, it’s not about understanding the sensitivity of the issue, but taking the bull by the horns; becoming the leader.
The ideas of Morgan and Katz when placed analogically, delve on the subject of domestic violence and the role of men in it. Morgan states that domestic violence could happens to anyone, and that there are those in the audience who are victims of domestic violence, and those who could be perpetrators of such acts. The biggest question that people ask women who are victims of domestic violence is why they aren’t breaking off their relation with the man with whom they live. The answer, she says is, the trap of falling in love. Morgan was willing to give her relationship with her first husband a chance, and despite being bullied and hurt, she believed that he would change. She didn’t talk to people, and never told her family or friends about it either. She says that she isn’t the only one to go through such a story, “women between the age of sixteen and twenty-four are three times more likely to be domestic violence victims as women of other age, and over 500 women and girls this age are killed every year” (Morgan). It was her resolve to break the silence and tell everyone she came across that finally won her, her freedom. Therefore, for all those who are victims of domestic violence, break the silence. “Talk about things that are being done to you.” Abuse thrives on silence, and once that silence is broken, abuse will stop. Remaining a silent victim or being a silent bystander will only perpetuate the problem. There is a lot of justification and authenticity in her views, and is reflective of what is happening to women who are victims of domestic violence.
Katz, in ‘Violence against women-it’s a man’s Issue,’ takes on the perpetuators head-on. There has been far too much said about the role of women in domestic violence he says. This is completely untrue. The cognitive thinking in society is what were the women doing that caused the domestic violence, or what were they wearing that caused the domestic violence. Katz puts the blame and responsibility for domestic violence squarely on men. True, men too could be victims of domestic violence, but that would easily be outnumbered by the number of women who become the victims. Katz, like Morgan feels that people need to break the silence, but for this, more men need to come forward and say that they are there to help the victims. As he reminisces, “There has been an awful lot of silence in male culture on the ongoing tragedy of men’s mind about violence against women and children,” (Katz) and this can stop only if men stood up in support of the women who were victimized. It was in the hands of men as catalysts to end domestic violence and abuse. While Morgan gave her own experience of being a victim to male domination, Katz asks the question, “why do so many men abuse, physically, emotionally, verbally, and other ways.” It is a question that comes up automatically when the subject of domestic violence is discussed, and the only way to eliminate this societal poison is having powerful and prominent men stand up against this sexist and anti-female behavior by openly condemning it. If the powerful and prominent men can do this, would their subordinates even think of challenging it?
So, to the question of what makes the subject of domestic violence so critical, even though it is a topic that has been debated millions of times in the echelon of judicial and social dictum, the question should be, what is going on with men?

Works Cited

Katz, Jackson. “Violence against women—it's a men's issue.” Online video
clip. YouTube. YouTube, 29 May 2013. Web. 5 April 2015.
Morgan-Steiner, Leslie. “Why domestic violence victims don't leave.” Online video
clip. YouTube. YouTube, 25 January 2013. Web. 5 April 2015.