Unequal Treatment of Men And Women

Gender inequality in laws and resources, and unequal access to resources provided on the daily bases. Gender inequality is a broad, and a complex issue, but it sure is a leading factor in violence against women. Gender-based violence is common in our society, it can target both men and women, but in most cases, women tend to be the victims. These actions are solely based on the fact the victim is a woman. Abuse, includes but isn’t limited to domestic abuse, abuse has a lot of categories such as control, isolation, economic abuse, and use of male privilege in order to achieve certain goals. Gender inequality influences the occurrence of domestic abuse for many reasons such as gender roles, the family set up, the source of income, relationship type, and last but not least men feeling more power over women. But some steps can be taken to reduce domestic abuse, such as spreading awareness, and deliver effective punishment to abusers.

In our society, the level of tolerance for gender inequality, including domestic violence, shows acceptance of certain oppression against one gender, which in most cases are women, and life goes on. Men are socialized to need, and think of sex more than women, and are expected to initiate it, while women are socialized to be more passive, and go along with the men’s actions with consent, and hence why men are often the offenders in sexual harassment, abuse, and rape. According to a survey done by National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey in 2010, “One in five women has been raped with a rate of 20%, while one in seventy-one men have been raped with a rate of 1.41%. 51% of female victims were raped by an intimate partner, 41% by an acquaintance, while 52% of the male victim was raped by an acquaintance and 15% by a stranger”.These data show that women are often the victim of rape, and it’s mostly by an intimate partner. Since in our society, women and men aren’t treated equally, then that leaves women feeling weaker than men, since they have to fight for their basic rights such as pay gap, equal respect, control over their bodies without other people interfering, while men will only be practicing their rights to keep women a level lower than them.

Since men feel more powerful than women, then in order to keep it they will ensure that women still feel unequal in order to practice be in the position of power. There are a lot of reasons domestic abuse is the most common kind of abuse, such as insecurities, fear of losing that person. Insecurities along with anger issues can fuel domestic abuse, a partner might abuse his/her partner emotionally, sexually, and physically, because of the fear, or just the idea that their partner might leave, because in their head they think that person is entitled to them, and by abusing them, they destroy, and they control the victim. While in marriage it might be even worse, compared to relationships, sometimes when a couple gets married, their mindsets shift to them staying together for the rest of their lives, and just the idea of a break up might lead to abuse. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everybody will use domestic violence to stop their partner from leaving, but in most cases, that’s where the problem arises.

“There are many patriarchal families in the U.S, where the male figure is the main source of income, while the wife is the caregiver in the family” (UN Women). Such situations give the man more power over the woman, because he has money, while she doesn’t, and in order for the woman to leave an abusive relationship, she needs money, and sadly, it’s not present in such situation. Thus she has to put up with that lifestyle, and it gets worse when there are kids involved in the process, because now not only she has supported herself, but she has to support the kids too. Domestic abuse is a very complex issue, and it can’t be stopped, but there a lot of steps that can be taken in order to reduce it at the very least. First, promotion of a culture, and society of prevention and recognition through a better understanding of the topic of domestic violence, and gender inequality, and that can be done by spreading more awareness. For example, start by teaching a class as early as middle school about respecting others, and not discriminating against others, no matter what race they are, what religion they practice, or of their sexual orientation.

By doing that, it will teach young kids that violence is not the solution for complex situations. Other solution would be by stopping schools from preventing girls to wear outfits that will suit the comfort zone of boys. That doesn’t mean that nudity in school should be allowed, but it’s about time that we start fixing the abusers, instead of blaming the victims. Also ensuring the guilty would get punished would teach many potential abusers that they will be punished for their actions. Also, putting awareness videos on tv, or social media, by giving tips, such as avoid walking alone late at night in dark places, and always be cautious of your surroundings. Last but not least, deliver effective service to those affected, from therapy to emergency services, and not make them feel like there’s something wrong with them, instead help them recover from the tragic events they had to go through. In conclusion, gender inequality is a common issue in our society, and it has a lot of effects, such as domestic violence and many more issues. A lot of steps can be taken to reduce the rate of domestic violence, from spreading more awareness to punishing the guilty, hoping one day we will live in a society where all people feel equal, and celebrate their differences.