The Seven P's Of Violence Against Women

However, before one can dive into such a complicated topic, they must have the proper context. So, what is domestic and sexual violence, exactly? Well, the United Nations Declaration on Violence Against Women defined such violence as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women” (VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ). This may seem vague to some, but there’s a reason behind its ambiguity. In all honesty, gendered violence can mean something different to every single women, ranging anywhere from sexist jokes to inappropriate touching. One woman may think sexists jokes are funny and therefore doesn’t find it offensive or as a form of violence; whereas, another woman

All the same, there must be a way to allow men to act and see past their hyper-masculinity from an earlier age, in order to help prevent domestic and sexual assault all together. One way Michael Kaufman suggests in his article, The Seven P’s of Men’s Violence, is “challenging and dismantling the structures of men’s power and privilege, and ending the cultural and social permission for acts of violence” (4). Most people do not learn about social issues, especially gendered violence issues in their day-to-day life, unless it is of unfortunate happenstance. Personally, I did not learn of these problems until I went away to college; which, in essence, is unsettling for many people do not have the privilege to get a higher education and thus, are unaware of gendered violence issues as a whole. That is why I would propose we, as a society, teach our children early on how to speak up against violence, especially our boys. Perhaps, as a community, one could create a class that explains to parents how to teach their boys on how not to become bystanders and perpetrators to sexual and domestic violence. Similar to Barbara’s Story in Alternative Interventions to Violence: Creative Interventions, parents within a community could drill the idea into their children’s minds that boys will not be boys, but rather, boys will be held responsible for their actions, or lackthereof, just like everyone else. Feasibly, communities could even help each other to develop their children’s sense of self separate from their masculinity by not adhering to society 's strict gender rules.Of course, these are all ideas that would time a great deal of time and effort to even begin to see a change within our society. However, wouldn’t it be worth the chance for