Great article! You address a lot of issues that mainstream culture doesn’t. I do question the claim, however, that because 85% of domestic abuse victims are women, we should focus almost entirely on women who experience abuse. Can one statistic really give us a comprehensive picture?
The CDC found that men are half of the victims of emotional abuse and minor physical violence (slapping, shoving). But the gender gap grows as violence becomes more severe. Overall, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men have experienced domestic abuse, making men more than a quarter of the victims. The DOJ, however, says that 85% of victims are female because male victims are far less likely to report the abuse to law enforcement.
Men are also almost 4 out of 5 suicides, but we don’t argue that we therefore should focus suicide prevention almost entirely on men. The problem with such a zero sum approach would be obvious. Yet, this is exactly how society approaches domestic abuse. I believe that all victims of domestic abuse matter, regardless of sex. But I understand that this statement is “problematic” because it runs counter to left wing/intersectional gender ideology.
Amen to this! I lived with domestic abuse for 26 years. Why? I tried to be a good Catholic Christian. Catholics marry for life, and the only advise I got from priests was to try harder to please my husband, calm him when he is stressed. In other words, be a better wife. I can tell you from experience that spousal abuse affects the children in too many ways to go into here, but the one that bothers me the most is the bad example I gave my kids. I have 3 daughters and a son. They all married spouses who abuse. Fortunately they have remarried, but everyone left Church to try and fix their lives. Two have returned. One wants to return, but has not received help from the Church to do so. The 4th wants nothing to do with the Church. This is one of the reasons why the Church has lost members. It is not the only reason granted, but abuse plays a bigger part than priests, deacons and religious understand. I don't blame them entirely for they have not, as this article points out, received proper training in the issue of abuse. They don't understand it. If a spouse is violent, they usually get it and help. However, mental and emotional abuse, verbable abuse and sexual abuse is not understood at all!!!!
I apologize that this comment is long (it could be much longer, trust me!), but this is a huge issue that affects not just the immediate family, but the whole Church!!!
A Review of the USCCB’s Response to Domestic Violence
Great article! You address a lot of issues that mainstream culture doesn’t. I do question the claim, however, that because 85% of domestic abuse victims are women, we should focus almost entirely on women who experience abuse. Can one statistic really give us a comprehensive picture?
The CDC found that men are half of the victims of emotional abuse and minor physical violence (slapping, shoving). But the gender gap grows as violence becomes more severe. Overall, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men have experienced domestic abuse, making men more than a quarter of the victims. The DOJ, however, says that 85% of victims are female because male victims are far less likely to report the abuse to law enforcement.
Men are also almost 4 out of 5 suicides, but we don’t argue that we therefore should focus suicide prevention almost entirely on men. The problem with such a zero sum approach would be obvious. Yet, this is exactly how society approaches domestic abuse. I believe that all victims of domestic abuse matter, regardless of sex. But I understand that this statement is “problematic” because it runs counter to left wing/intersectional gender ideology.
Amen to this! I lived with domestic abuse for 26 years. Why? I tried to be a good Catholic Christian. Catholics marry for life, and the only advise I got from priests was to try harder to please my husband, calm him when he is stressed. In other words, be a better wife. I can tell you from experience that spousal abuse affects the children in too many ways to go into here, but the one that bothers me the most is the bad example I gave my kids. I have 3 daughters and a son. They all married spouses who abuse. Fortunately they have remarried, but everyone left Church to try and fix their lives. Two have returned. One wants to return, but has not received help from the Church to do so. The 4th wants nothing to do with the Church. This is one of the reasons why the Church has lost members. It is not the only reason granted, but abuse plays a bigger part than priests, deacons and religious understand. I don't blame them entirely for they have not, as this article points out, received proper training in the issue of abuse. They don't understand it. If a spouse is violent, they usually get it and help. However, mental and emotional abuse, verbable abuse and sexual abuse is not understood at all!!!!
I apologize that this comment is long (it could be much longer, trust me!), but this is a huge issue that affects not just the immediate family, but the whole Church!!!