A recent study of 2000 Victorian (Australia) adults supports that ALMOST two in five people think that men who rape do so because they can’t control their urges. The Violence Against Women Community Attitudes Project also discovered that one in four people believe domestic violence is acceptable as long as the perpetrator genuinely regrets it afterwards. Is it any wonder then that one in five women will experience intimate partner violence in their relationship?
Chief Executive Officer of VicHealth, Dr Rob Moodie, sadly stated that the attitudinal figures showed negative attitudes that cause harm to women are still prevalent in the community. Despite years of our collective government and non government agencies striving to raise the safety and status of women, the findings sound like an alarm on the not so peaceful morning of “Reclaim the Night”. Dr Moodie stated that the findings are “… a case of two steps forward, one step back. The vast majority don’t condone violence against women but there is still a distressingly high number who will excuse it and who believe some of the myths around it, particularly among men born overseas.”
Ninety-three per cent of participants agree that forced sex within a relationship is a crime, and 97 per cent say domestic violence is a crime (up from 93 per cent in a 1995 national survey). Despite these encouraging beliefs, further analysis of the research has indicated that the dynamic of minimization is still at play: 23 per cent said yelling abuse at a partner was not serious while 17 per cent said repeated criticism of a partner was also not serious.
Even more shocking on the day of the internationally celebrated “Reclaim the Night” rallies against sexual violence, almost one in four Victorians believe that women make up complaints of rape while 15 per cent said women say no to sex when they really mean yes.
While a significant lowlight of the research for me is that some people still believed that rapists just can’t control their urges, I take strength in the belief of my own work that I am not wasting my time writing articles around sexual violence. Rape is an act of power and control. It is not about urges, it is about a rapist using their penis to control, disempower and permeate a women’s essence.
Oh my gosh! Just where on earth are women safe from rape? Certainly not within their relationships if they live in Victoria.
Today is the last opportunity for women to add your supportive comment to the Reclaim the Night emarch walking the globe to raise consciousness of sexual violence against women and children. Don’t be the silent majority who allow rape to remain unchallenged. Zero tolerance of sexual violence needs a louder voice than the voice of a small percentage of people who still maintain the myths that rape is abut sex and that violence against women is acceptable.
Men are as much outraged by these findings as women. I urge you not to remain silent. Take a stance. Leave a supportive comment here and do something proactive to protect your women – your wives, daughters, mothers and sisters.