Policy Issue: Gendered Violence

In our lecture, we learned that gendered violence “usually occurs when masculine entitlements produce power that manifests itself in harm and injury (physical, sexual, emotional/psychological) towards women.”  This means that our society gives men so much power that men feel the need to exert it upon women in destructive ways.  Although men and women can perpetuate this violence, it is much more likely for a man to be violent against a woman.  A highly prevalent myth present within our society holds that men are biologically prone to be abusive towards women; it is in their blood.  The UNFPA article “Ending Widespread Violence Against Women” states, “Cross-cultural studies of wife abuse have found that nearly a fifth of peasant and small-scale societies are essentially free of family violence.  The existence of such cultures proves that male violence against women is not the inevitable result of male biology or sexuality, but more a matter of how society views masculinity […] The way men view themselves as men, and the way they view women, will determine whether they use violence or coercion against women.” (http://www.unfpa.org/gender/violence.htm).  In other words, identity is socially constructed, if a society accentuates male virility, men of that society are more likely to respect themselves and behave  violently towards women.  This ideology is definitely present within our patriarchal society where marital rape did not become illegal in all 50 states until 1993.  Even with these laws, 10-14 % of married women in the U.S. have been raped by their husbands.  What does this say about our society’s priorities?  3 women die every day due to intimate partner violence.  Obviously violence is gendered in our world.