Violence against Men

Examples of Violence against Men in the following topics:

• Spousal Abuse

  • Debate revolves around the rates at which each gender is subjected to domestic violence and whether abused men should be provided the same resources and shelters that exist for female victims.
  • Some studies suggest that men are less likely to report being victims of domestic violence due to social stigmas.
  • Other sources argue that the rate of domestic violence against men is often inflated due to the practice of including self-defense as a form of domestic violence.
  • Another study has demonstrated a high degree of acceptance by women of aggression against men.
  • Evaluate the gender differences in domestic violence against both men and women in heterosexual and homosexual relationships

• Sexism

  • Sexism is discrimination against people based on their perceived sex or gender.
  • Others believe that while women are superior to men in a few aspects, in most aspects men are superior to women.
  • In short, nearly 1/4 of cisgender Americans maintain sexist attitudes against women (trans people are not counted in the surveys).
  • Another common form of sexism is violence, especially violence toward women and trans people.
  • Similarly, recent reports show steady patterns wherein trans people suffer more gender related violence than any other social group.

• Family Violence

  • Family violence is defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one family member against another.
  • Coercing a person to engage in sexual activity against his or her will, even if that person is a spouse or intimate partner with whom consensual sex has occurred, is an act of aggression and violence.
  • Coercing a person to engage in sexual activity against their will, even if that person is a spouse or intimate partner with whom consensual sex has occurred, is an act of aggression and violence.
  • Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one partner against another in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation.
  • Coercing a person to engage in sexual activity against his or her will, even if that person is a spouse or intimate partner with whom consensual sex has occurred, is an act of aggression and violence.

• Sexual Violence

  • The most commonly discussed form of sexual violence is rape.
  • Forms of sexual violence include: rape by strangers, marital rape, date rape, war rape, unwanted sexual harassment, demanding sexual favors, sexual abuse of children, sexual abuse of disabled individuals, forced marriage, child marriage, denial of the right to use contraception, denial of the right to take measures to protect against sexually-transmitted diseases, forced abortion, genital mutilation, forced circumcision, and forced prostitution.
  • Sexual violence has a profound impact on physical and mental health.
  • Neither vantage point is simple; some women in Africa accept the practice, while others have been vocal in speaking out against the practice.
  • Sexual violence is severly under reported.

• Sexual Harassment

  • The person intimidating a victim about his or her sexuality could be male or female; men and women can both be perpetrators of sexual harassment.
  • Even though sexual harassment is less violent than other forms of sexual violence such as rape, victims still suffer serious consequences.
  • Victimhood for individuals subjected to sexual harassment can take a different and equally complicated form as victimhood for individuals who suffer from attacks for physical violence.
  • Sexual violence that is expressed in terms of some sort of physical assault against a victim has become a condemnable act; victims of physical violence are more likely to find others who are sympathetic to their understandable distress.

• Biological Differences

  • While much of this chapter focuses on the socially constructed differences between men and women, it is also important to note there are some clear physiological differences between the two sexes.
  • Even so, when measured against their own body size, rather than on an absolute scale (e.g., how much females can carry relative to their body size versus how much males can carry relative to their body size), actual strength differences are minimal.
  • Some believe this difference is due to the riskier lifestyles of males that identify as men (e.g., pursue masculine behaviors), especially earlier in life, combined with their typically more physically stressing occupations.
  • However, females are, statistically, twice as vulnerable to anxiety disorders and depression (possibly due to their experience as a subordinate or minority group within many societies), but only one-third as vulnerable to suicide and one-fifth as vulnerable to alcoholism (potentially due to traditional definitions of masculinities that link violence and substance abuse to masculinities).
  • Females attempt suicide more often than males (mirroring patterns between other dominant and subordinate groups) but have lower rates of "success", because their preferred methods do not involve firearms, unlike males (potentially due to the association of violence with masculinities).

• Current Research

  • Those who claim violent video games lead to violence fail to realize that violence is context dependent and most players of video games are fully aware of this.
  • The assumption is that black culture encourages violence; as a result, violent behavior by young black men is not "shocking," so it does not require a folk devil to explain it.
  • Additionally, tattooing is on the rise among women - 15% of women have tattoos while 16% of men do.
  • Intriguingly, men and women get tattoos for different reasons.
  • For men it is to reinforce their masculinity and for women it is to enhance their femininity.

• Factors Associated with Divorce

  • Factors that may lead marriages to end in divorce are infidelity, adultery domestic violence, midlife crises, inexperience, and addictions.
  • While not conclusive, the predominate factors that lead marriages to end in divorce are infidelity, adultery domestic violence, midlife crises, inexperience, and addictions such as alcoholism and gambling.
  • Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one partner against another in an intimate relationship such as marriage or domestic partnership.

• Gender and Social Movements

  • The feminist movement refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence.
  • It was also a response to the backlash against initiatives and movements created by the second-wave.
  • In 1948 the UN issued its Universal Declaration of Human Rights which protects "the equal rights of men and women", and addressed both equality and equity issues.
  • The most important strategy to achieve this was considered to be "gender mainstreaming " which incorporates both equity and equality, that is that both women and men should "experience equal conditions for realizing their full human rights, and have the opportunity to contribute and benefit from national, political, economic, social and cultural development. "

• Homophobia

  • Homophobia is observable in critical and hostile behavior like discrimination and violence.
  • Informal discrimination is not necessarily sanctioned by the state, but involves social pressures against LGBTQ individuals, behaviors, and identities.
  • Between 1933 and 1945, an estimated 100,000 men were arrested as homosexuals, of whom some 50,000 were officially sentenced to imprisonment.
  • Most of these German men served time in regular prisons, but an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 were forced to serve their time in concentration camps.