A modern moral panic
The Australian state of Queensland there have been several terrible acts of violence during the first half of September 2015.
On September 8 Tara Brown was allegedly violently assaulted by her ex-partner Lionel Patea. The alleged assault included her being hit by a car and struck in the face by a brick. Sadly the young women died of her injuries in hospital.
These are terrible terrible events. It is troubling though how many people seem to make the leap from these events to a belief that violence is gendered.
One women was violently attacked by her ex-partner in the street.
The common perception of domestic violence (also known as intimate partner violence) is as something men perpetrate against women. Data suggests this is an inaccurate picture.
Teaching that men should not hit women but that no such prohibition exists for women hitting men violates the social principal of reciprocity and threatens the social fabric. The solution to this is to teach that all violence is unacceptable.
External Links
- Harvard study says 70 percent of domestic violence is committed by women against men
- Meta analysis in to female violence on male partners by Martin Fielbert
- Partner abuse state of knowledge project
- Family Violence in Canada - A Statistical Profile
- See tables 1.2 and 1.3 on pages 16 and 17
- Processes Explaining the Concealment and Distortion of Evidence on Gender Symmetry in Partner Violence
- partner Abuse journal
- More men than women victims of DV, according to CDC
- The Mayo Clinic
Australia
- AIC Homicide Report 2008-2010
- EXPERIENCE OF PARTNER VIOLENCE SINCE THE AGE OF 15, 2012
- Shows declining rates