In the deathly cold of night a victim of domestic violence shuffles down the street, blood trailing behind. Entering a police station, the victim gives the statement and the officers look contemptuous, almost blithely. At the hospital, a doctor looks the bruises and lacerations over and thinks nothing of them. In calling friends, in an attempt to find a place to stay the night, they just reply with “deal with it” and “not to bother them.”
Then he walks home, powerless and afraid.
In the last few months, much has been made of sexual abuse and violence in the media – we’ve had SlutWalk and the Drum has published articles condemning Can of Worms for perpetuating the victim blaming culture of sexual abuse in Australia and arguably around the world. Clementine Ford wrote in her piece that a culture of rape apology would not be tolerated if men were the victim of it.
But it isn’t just tolerated. It’s accepted. A fuss isn’t even made over it.
Read the rest over at It's a Dude Thing.