Analysis Of A One-Sided Narrative Of Gender-Based Violence In South Africa

Abstract

- Domestic violence is a global challenge and most people do not come out and
explain in public about their problems. Domestic violence is viewed as violence against
women and children and few cases have been reported about men's abuse. For many years,
domestic violence has been regarded as gender-based violence. Domestic violence does
not have a gender, but domestic violence is based on circumstances that need to be
addressed to stop domestic violence. Men are also victims of domestic violence but
communities are stereotyped and do not understand the abuse of men. This paper is
arguing that domestic violence affects men the most but society mainly focuses on the
results when men retaliate. Men have been subjected to psychological and emotional abuse
but few people have been able to understand that and governments have failed to address
this root cause of women's abuse. There is a need to holistically address domestic violence
without attaching a gender to it. A happy man in his family and a respected man by his
partner and children will not be showing any violence towards his family. Domestic
violence is not gender-based violence but a battle between masculine and feminine
capabilities. Women are capable of talking, displaying emotions, blackmailing while men
use physical power to retaliate. A man by nature is a protector and the head of the family
but if attacked, he uses that power to defend himself. Domestic violence can be reduced if
family conflicts are addressed properly. This paper applied desktop research methodology,
various cases of domestic violence against men and women have been reviewed. The
author found that domestic violence is a one-sided narrative that is only focusing on
women's abuse. Men's abuse has been taken as a joke by most people in a society which
led to men finding their ways of retaliating.