Violence against girls and women is one of the most powerful expressions of male privilege

Source: By don’t know (from the album of my father) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons glassvisage.hubpages.com

Throughout the world there is a belief that men have and should have power over women and children. Societal gender roles reinforce and perpetuate this male privilege. Men are often raised and encouraged to believe that they have to be tough as an expected part of manhood. Women often have been socialized to think, feel, and behave according to societal expectations such as it is a woman’s duty to cook, to serve, to raise the children, and to provide sex whenever the man desires.

“The fighting often got worse and worse whenever I did not want to make love when he wanted to. That’s when he turned on me. I never thought I had the right to say no. I found out the hard way.”

Log onto BWSS Battered Women’s Support Services or The Violence Stops Here through Facebook, read our Ending Violence Blog, and follow Ending Violence on Twitter for tips and tools for action.  Then share liberally to start the conversation and take the conversation further than you ever have before.

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