Domestic Violence: We Have To Be Better

In the past decade, domestic violence and sexual assault reports have skyrocketed to unfathomable proportions, and as sickening as it is to say, this is the best we have ever been in regards to how hande these occurrences.
In the past, mass domestic violence and sexual assault cases have transpired over multiple decades up into the present. The recent “Me Too” movement spawned by sexual assault victims speaking out on their history with domestic violence and sexual assault, though successful, has only just gained mainstream appeal in the last half decade.
What all of this points to is one chilling conclusion for me, and that is that domestic violence and sexual assaults didn’t just start with social media and disgraced black sitcom actors. It’s been the history of us as a people.
These horrendous acts have been transpiring for as far back as you can think, and women haven’t been able to say a word about it. This isn’t only a failure on our part; this is a disgrace of unprecedented proportions that has left possibly millions of victims voiceless for centuries.
For every abuser, there is an enabler. These enablers can be anyone from a single mother who is unwilling to see any bad in her hypermasculinized son. They can be preachers who turn a blind eye to their perverted peers. They can even be your partners friends who’s scared to check his friend when he gets physical with his girl around him.
The reality is that there are a lot of issues that are not being discussed, because for a long time, discussion had never led to convictions or punishment for the guilty. This has in turn led to years upon years of possible sexual assault and domestic violence allegations that will likely never be spoken on. What about those people?
Time and time again, our criminal justice system, and our people, have let down the victims of domestic violence and sexual assault for the simple fact that those who have been able have failed to stand up for what’s right in the face of obviously needed moral action.
At its core, the simple point to be made is that those in positions of power don’t care about women or women’s rights until it directly affects them. In other words, until something is retweeted onto your timeline, or a celebrity you know experiences an ordeal, the issue isn’t real, and that is wrong.
We have to do better, as a people. Not just for ourselves and our egos, but for our children and the future that they will live in. How we choose to handle domestic violence and sexual assault today will determine if the next generation grows up to be better than us, or if they will be doomed to repeat our history.
Each and every one of us must make the conscious decision to do what’s right by each other; not for praise or ulterior motive, but for the sake of being the type of people we hope our children world will be filled to the brim with.