Common Sense Approach To Stopping Violence Against Women

The Huffington Post ran a great article about what we need to do to stop violence against women.  It makes so much sense, I wonder why it wasn't ever written so eloquently before.  In a nutshell: just freaking do something about it already.

This article contains absolutely nothing new about violence against women. That's because we already know everything we need to know about it. Everyone knows it exists. Most people would say it's a pretty bad idea. And yet it doesn't go away. To say it's annoying would be a serious understatement.

In the many years I have worked on women's rights, violence against women has been a constant. Violence as an obstacle to health care. Violence as a barrier to education. Violence as an inevitable fact of life.

It goes on to list three simple things government can do to stop violence against women.  First, pay women equally.  It would allow women to not be forced into a relationship because it's better to get the crap beaten out of you daily than be homeless in the winter.  And I know plenty of women who have had to look at it just that way.  In a society that values money above everything else, the fact that women are not paid equally for identical responsibility says a lot.  Stop stereotyping women is number two.  And this is the one area where women have a hand in the problem.  We are taught to live up to certain expectations, and never question whether they are right or even make sense.  We also learn patterns of abuse as children.  Stereotyping is not always a conscious decision, but we must be on our guard to see things for how they really are.  Finally, actually give a damn.  If this was a priority and given the real respect and criminal weight that it deserves, the bottom line is it wouldn't happen nearly as often.  There is a certain social acceptability when it comes to violence and women, especially if there is a relationship.  But see reason number one, and we can easily determine it isn't always the woman's choice to stay and endure.  


It's a good place to start.