***WARNING: This post may contain themes and/or content that is triggering to some readers. Use caution when reading.*** I recently saw a video on YouTube (shown below), called “Extreme Domestic Abuse in Public! (Social Experiment)” by MoeandET. The video outlines a social experiment that involves two parts; the first with a male “abusing” a female in public, and the second with a female “abusing” a male in public. The first part (from 0:18 to 1:44) went as you would expect; people were very quick to intervene when the male was pushing the female around and yelling at her. Even with people reacting so quickly to recognize and intervene in the situation, domestic abuse is still very common for women in the U.S. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), a woman in the U.S. is beaten or abused every 9 seconds. That’s about 6 women every minute, 400 women every hour, and 9,600 women every day. 1 in 3 women have been victims (or will be victims) of physical violence (of some type) by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. And, on average, national domestic violence hotlines receive more than 20,000 a day. The second part of the video (from 1:49 to 3:41) was a lot more disturbing. In the second part, the two roles were reversed, and the female began yelling at and hitting the male (a different male this time). I wasn’t surprised to see that no one interfered this time, and some onlookers were even smiling. That’s the problem. When a women is abused by a man, people are more likely to take it seriously (in terms of intervention and recognition) than when a man is abused by a woman. NCADV estimates that 1 in 4 men have been (or will be) victims of violence (of some type) in their lives. In case that doesn’t shock you (which it should), I’ve compared domestic abuse statistics between men and women below (all from NCADV); While there is an disproportionate number of female domestic abuse victims, men are still victims too. In order for our society to accept this reality, we need to abandon existing gender stereotypes and the notion that all men are and must be “masculine” and that “masculinity” is not subject to abuse. (Basically treat female and male victims of assault with the same respect and understanding.)
(If you, or someone you know, is a victim of domestic abuse, you can look at the following resources for help: -Find a domestic shelter near you here -Plan ahead here -Call the Domestic Abuse Hotline at one of these numbers; 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224) But most importantly, always call 9-1-1 is you’re genuinely afraid for your life (and/or your pet’s, family’s, and/or children’s lives). NOTE: We are not affiliated with the YouTube channel or video featured in this post. We are also not affiliated with NCADV, and all quotes and statistics in this post were taken from their website.
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