On Tuesday, the Collegian ran an article detailing the miserable facts about domestic violence.
Frankly, I am shocked that there is such a high amount of domestic abuse that occurs among people in relationships. The statistic that one in five women will be victims of this is downright sickening.
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It is appalling to me that anyone would use physical, mental or verbal abuse on another person — let alone the person that they are in a relationship with. When you love someone, or at least like them enough to be in a domestic situation, you do not abuse them. Period.
Now overwhelmingly, women will be the ones on the receiving end of abuse, and this is even more disturbing and confusing to me.
I do not know how some men can be raised to believe that it is okay to treat anyone this way. But in the culture that I was brought up in, that kind of behavior was simply not acceptable. In fact, any man that ever dared to lay a finger on a woman with intent to do harm was considered the lowest possible form of scum.
I have to say that this is one of the few values I have held throughout my childhood to this day. Quite simply, if you hit a woman you are not only dirt but you deserve to be ground into it.
Basically no matter the situation, reason or cause, it is never okay to abuse another person you are in a relationship with.
Now, I am probably preaching to the choir, as most of my readers are hopefully unlikely to be these kinds of perpetrators. However, if any of you have ever been a victim, or especially if you currently are, then I would strongly encourage you to take a few steps to end the abuse
One of the best things anyone can do is speak up and speak out. Talk to friends or one of services that are provided by CSU. Realize it is never the victims fault, and you have every right to break out or break up with your current situation.
Also, it seems that it would be prudent to call the authorities if a situation is becoming violently out of control. I was a bit astounded that Casey Malsam was quoted in the article as saying it would be a good idea to lay off calling the authorities, citing the reason that perhaps both sides would meet up again at some point.
Now Casey is certainly more of an expert on this subject than I, but it seems that if someone felt that calling the police was necessary then they should do so. It at least would offer some protection from the violent person for a while and when the two parties became separated, the victim would have the space to get away.
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If for whatever reason — perhaps the two people are living together — that they must see one another again, I would advise bringing a friend or two along with you. Or consider buying a gun.
Finally, it can be extremely troublesome for someone to witness one of their close friends going through a domestic problem. There is always the question of what you should do, or how you can help.
In the case of abuse it becomes the responsibility of anyone with the knowledge of the abuse to do something about it. Even if the person asks you not to, even if they end your friendship because you helped them out of it when they didn’t want it, you should still take action.
In this case it is absolutely okay and indeed necessary to mind other people’s business when their pursuit of happiness is threatened by another. Indeed, everyone has the moral responsibility to watch out for their fellow human being.
Anyone that brings about abuse on another or stands by when it happens and takes no action deserves to suffer for the rest of their lives. The perpetrators should not be forgiven — not by society, and certainly not by their victims — regardless of the circumstances. It is simply never okay to abuse anyone.