For so long, women have been fighting so hard to gain equal rights as men. Long ago, women have been so objectified and thought so lowly of and believed to not be deserving of having rights as much as men have. Today, there are many organizations that focus primarily on helping women and girls be seen as equals and fighting for their rights, rights they should have had in the first place. Although these organizations have helped shape the image of women in the society, there is no doubt that violence against women is still very much present and even though there are already laws prohibiting any kind of violence among women and young girls. Do you ever wonder what it would be like if our world was free from such violence and everyone was treated equally? One can only hope to achieve that but we know that as of today, it is not that easy, in fact, the case might be getting even worse because women are getting abused for the sole reason that they are women and men think that women can do less. There are plenty of forms in which women are abused for the sole reason that they are what they are.
What is very rampant today and what we hear so much from the news is about rape and sexual violence. Yes, this issue does not just primarily victimize women, there are also news about men getting raped, but it is still more prevalent in women. What is even worse is that victim blaming is even more common now and there are even people who think that these victims only speak up or make up stories to gain attention from other people. For so long, women have been victimized but are not able to speak up and tell others what they have experienced and are not able to tell the authorities mainly because they think no one would believe them or in some cases they are threatened that more harm will be done to them. But then again, this is exactly the case, there are not much cases in which the woman reports the sexual violence done to them and them actually winning the case. Although people are very much aware of what is actually happening today, especially when the topic is about rape, there is still not much done to actually prevent it from happening because society still dictates to us that it is the woman’s fault for being raped, trying to blame it on provocative clothes that women wear and that these women asked for it. But what kind of conscience can handle that? Everyone already knows what is happening but why do some people still choose to stay blind despite the situation getting worse?
Domestic violence is also a very big social issue today. It is considered domestic violence if one spouse intentionally hurts his or her partner, whether physically or emotionally or anything that can cause damage to the other person. It is more common to hear about men abusing their wives or partners but what exactly causes one to intentionally hurt his partner? One reason could be because of extreme jealousy that he would not know how to handle it properly so he takes it out on his partner, this can happen even if his wife does not even give him any reason to be jealous at all. Another reason can also be that he may be mentally unstable or have some sort of mental illness so he is incapable of handling his emotions which can result to coping by hurting his spouse. Also, insecurity can be a big factor of domestic violence because by abusing his partner, he might feel a sense of control over the relationship which in turn, could make him feel better about himself and he will keep abusing his partner because it satisfies him. There are people who choose to stay in the marriage despite being abused because they feel like they have no choice, but there are some women who choose to divorce their spouse as soon as they begin being abused.
Ted Khalaf, a restraining order attorney, mentioned that “domestic violence carries with it longstanding emotional and psychological scars that extend far beyond the physical,” so we can just imagine how damaging it is for the victim even if he or she has already had the divorce. Everyone should be educated and allowed to express themselves especially when it comes to these kinds of issues. The abused should have the freedom and the right to speak up because how else would we start taking actions to end violence against women.
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