Posted on 05/26/2006 9:36:18 AM PDT by neverdem
Many abuse males: survey
Women are as violent as their male companions - and sometimes more so, according to a controversial study presented yesterday at a domestic violence conference in Manhattan. The survey of 13,600 college students came to the surprising conclusion that in the majority of abusive relationships, women are the perpetrators at least as often as they are the victims of violence.
About one-third of students in 32 countries said they assaulted their partner in a survey conducted by the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire.
In 69% of cases, both men and women were violent. But women were the sole perpetrators in 21% of cases, compared with about 10% of relationships in which men were the only batterers.
Author Murray Straus, who presented the study at the Trends in Intimate Violence Intervention conference at NYU, said there was "overwhelming evidence that women assault their partners at about the same rate as men."
"The idea of chivalry is alive. Men genuinely believe 'never hit a woman' - up to a certain point. So when she gets angry at him and slaps him, kicks him, throws something, most men don't retaliate. But if she keeps on doing that, then it moves into the both doing it," Straus said.
"So many women have told me, 'I knew I wouldn't hurt him.' It's for some women a quintessentially feminine thing to do, to slap the cad," he said.
Stony Brook University Prof. Ruth Brandwein criticized Straus' findings.
"If you have two people in a relationship and the guy is 6-foot-2 and weighs 230 pounds and the woman is 5-foot-4 and weighs 130 pounds, just because they're both hitting each other doesn't mean it's equally violent. Her hitting him may be seen as a joke to him and his hitting her may terrorize her," Brandwein said.
Rates of intimate partner violence are higher among college-age students than in older couples, Straus said. Another survey of 1,200 university students found that 41% of women and 31% of men have been hit by their partner, said Katie Gentile, director of the women's center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
But Gentile said men usually become violent as a way of controlling women, while women who are violent often become so to prevent the man from attacking first.
"I don't think [women] are getting more violent," she said. "I think women are admitting it more, probably. They might be fighting back more."
This isn't fair! Wome should only fight other women. The males role should be to standby and make sure the women don't start kissing during the fight. He would be required to break that up.
You'd break it up if they started kissing? WTF?!?
why is this surprising (to them, no offense to you); this has been known and documented for 20 years or more.
Or mud....
Jello, oil, mud, KY, whatever, 'sall good.
Feminists only believe in "good" equality. If there are "bad" numbers then it's sexist.
I hear ya, but the only problem is, guys get arrested even if they're the ones with a black eye and she hasn't even suffered a small bruise. Guys get scared that they'll be seen as monsters and be put in jail and I can't blame them.
FYI..here ya go..
My employer was having words with his wife in their kids' playroom. She decided to throw a "Big Wheel" (large and heavy) type toy at him and missed, but almost clobbered their daughter. She went on to throw a few more items at him before he put her arm behind her back and took her into the hall to calm down.
When the police arrived after complaints by neighbors, they found her having tea in the kitchen, crying and trying to compose herself. When the Santa Clara PD asked him what happened, he stated the story just as above, which in this community is an admission of of assault. She admitted to the events just the same as happened. He had no marks on him, but she had the marks of his hand(s) on her forearm, so he was taken away.
Their marriage ended soon after because my employer could not trust his wife and have his liberty in such question. My role as a witness to the incident helped not at all. I love both of these people and disappointed that the state has ruined their home over such a small matter.
In California, if either party is the least prone to being physical, the marriage is over. I suppose you have to let the violence get out of hand and also hurt your children before anything matters.
" Women should only fight other women"",..in..the..mud
Your generalizations are sweeping and baseless.
I hear what y'all are saying, but I've never really considered laws when dealing with any husband/wife type arguements and I've still managed to keep out of jail.
Maybe just lucky, maybe just choose wisely, dunno..
Your responses are vague and vapid.
This conclusion is based on ...
BTW, this research exactly mirrors the conclusions of Erin Pizzey, who started the first battered women's shelters in London decades ago. She was a major feminist heroine until she published her observations that the majority of violence in relationships was started by the woman (although usually finished by the man.)
She immediately became one of the most hated women in the world.
See http://www.fathersforlife.org/pizzey/planned_destruction_of_family.htm.
You also have never dealt with women who are capable of kicking a lot of men's arses in their own right.
And in my case, I am large enough that I have to be extremely careful in how to deal with an abusive woman, given that I can severely injure her even if I am just trying to restrain her.
So I take serious umbrage at your statement "Get your pair out of her purse." That was pure idiocy - in fact, I would call it worse, but it would not pass the posting guidelines.
Oh, that's special. She can initiate the violence and it's just a big joke.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.