Stereotypes Why Middle Eastern Men Abuse Women

The Middle East is often displayed as a land full of negativity. One of those negative generalizations is that all Middle Eastern men abuse women. Presuming that the totality of Middle Eastern men harm women ignores the reason that the stereotype is believed, the actual beliefs of the men in the region, and the progression of women rights in the region. Despite the widespread belief that Middle Eastern men abuse women, the assumption is not a representation of Middle Eastern men as a whole.

Well, why is the stereotype believed in the first place? A culprit is feasibly islamophobia. Western and Christian media is known for posing Islam as a violent religion. So when news about ISIS and other extremist groups raping and abusing women leaks out,

People do not seem to consider that terrorists are inherently bad people doing incredibly bad things but are not depiction of the Middle Eastern population. Men trying to keep their wives and daughters safe from such offenses do not deserve to be grouped with radical personas. There is also the expectation that after reading the Quran men will believe that women are their property and that they are simply following the rules of the religion. This would be 85% of the Middle Eastern and Muslim populace, because only those who are Shia would behave to every command of the holy book (Harney) :3. Even so, it would be impossible for every Shia to follow through with the violence of abusing their spouse, let alone for all Sunni muslims to abuse women. It is not the religion that forces someone to abuse, but their decisions and character. The pigeonhole that Arab men are burdened with implies that it does not happen anywhere else either; but it has been proven that “Almost one third (30%) of all women who have been in a relationship have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner. The prevalence estimates of intimate partner violence range from 23.2% in high-income

Jordan and Tunisia have criminalized domestic abuse and have a special tribunal for punishing those who commit honor killings (Beiter). There would be no reason for these laws to be made by a male dominated government if each and all of them abused women. The fact that the laws have been made is a reflection of not only remorse but the willingness to fix the problem. And to the women who are abused and seek refuge, Bahrain and The United Arab Emirates offer shelters for them (“Women’s rights take baby steps forward in Mideast”). These shelters are most likely supported by men since the workforce is predominantly men. It is not like a man would beat a woman and make an entire shelter to keep her safe from harm. There no way that these shelters would exist if all the men in the area were abusive. Accompanying the new laws and shelters, women share the same legal rights and freedoms as men in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Lebanon. Women are also appearing in Middle Eastern parliaments more often like in Kuwait (“Women’s rights take baby steps forward in Mideast”). Certainly the men who knock out women would allow them to be politically and legally equal, right? No. Obviously there are men who respect women enough to stand by women politically and stand by them in their struggles against