The media has recently moved away from biased reporting about domestic violence in which previously women featured as the only affected parties in domestic wrangles yet men have equally been affected.
Domestic violence also known as domestic abuse, battering or intimate partner violence – occurs between people in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence against men can take many forms, including emotional, sexual and physical abuse and threats of abuse. It can happen in heterosexual or same sex relationships.
Of recent there have been an increased number of cases of Rwandan men killed in domestic wrangles. In domestic violence cases that have resulted into death, dangerous weapons have been used including; machetes, iron bars, hoe handles, knives, electric equipment among others.
National Women Council findings indicate that in Rwanda 2011 at least 94 men were brutally beaten by their spouses. There are various cases that have resulted into death of men.
However, there is need to determine why actually men are hit by women. People hit and abuse family members because they can.” And in today’s society, as reflected in movies, and feminist doctrine, women are openly given permission to hit men. For example, a woman slapping a man in the face is rarely, if ever, viewed as “domestic violence.”
It’s a lost war against family violence until society withdraws permission from women to hit their intimate partners. The problem and causes of female violence must also be recognized and addressed. It has been suggested that female assaults on males are almost always for reasons of self-defense.
However, there does not seem to be any support in the available data for the feminist proposition that women only use violence against men in self defense.
Researchers Fiebert and Gonzales (1997) deduced in their study that most-common reasons the women assault their male partners included; My partner wasn’t sensitive to my needs, I wished to gain my partner’s attention, My partner was not listening to me.
However, in our local context most causes of domestic violence stem from family disagreements on land, money, individual liberties and infidelity.
The lack of sensitization of the population on the true meaning of Gender Equality has also accelerated family disagreements where women have always interpreted that they are favoured most.
Gender Equality is a social order in which women and men should share the same opportunities and the same constraints on full participation in both the economic and the domestic realm.
Studies have also suggested that men violated against prefer to remain in such abusive relationships due to various reasons including; Shame, Love for Spouse, Self-Worth, Denial, Reluctance to Give up the Good, Inertia, The Kids factor and mostly the Fear of calling 112 Police line.
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