Male Violence Against Women

I had one of those "aha" moments today while attending a session at the Commission on the Status of Women. The speaker, a gentleman from South Africa, very simply challenged us not to simply talk about "Violence Against Women." He suggested we ought to name the phenomenon what it is, "male violence against women."

When we make that shift, we switch from emphasizing the "woman as victim" to describing the reality for what it is and laying the blame where it needs to be - with the male perpetrators. For too long we have talked about this violence in a vacuum, as though it were something that just happened to women. When we switch to naming it "male violence against women," we proclaim that it didn't "just happen," but rather is the direct result of male behavior. That male violent behavior needs to be addressed. Hopefully, naming it this way will be a first step.

Eileen Reilly, SSND