Braces Still On Battered Girls

Teenage girls are becoming the new population of battered women.

A startling new study in the UK has found that 16 to 19 year old girls are now more at risk for situations of domestic abuse than any other female age group. Something that used to be thought of as happening in the family home is now sweeping the halls of high schools and even middle schools.

“Nearly one million women suffer domestic abuse each year, with two killed every week by current or ex-partners, statistics show,” reports the International Planned Parenthood Federation. And now this is happening in middle school.

This means that girls(and probably boys) still going through puberty, pimples, and training bras are dealing with the same issues normally, famously faced by married 40-somethings.

“We are clearly at risk of a whole new generation of domestic violence. As a prosecutor it concerns me greatly and if we aren’t alert to this, and don’t wake up to it, it will be a continuing problem. We need to tackle complacency and redouble our efforts,” said Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions in the UK. He goes on to finger popular music videos and films that show women in a negative, promiscuous light as possible culprits.

What can I say to that? Well, isn’t that not surprising even a little bit. Not only are women constantly being portrayed as play toys and sex objects, but now we’re also being abused because of it.

I spent my evening last night at Take Back the Night, an anti-violence, anti-sexual harassment rally to support the battered women of my college campus. I sat for four hours listening to the stories of fellow classmates, ranging from child molestation, to being smacked around by a boyfriend. Their ages ranged from 18 to 75.

The most poignant moment for me was when the men told their stories. How they’ve seen violence against women or little brothers effect their own lives or the life of someone they love. Moments like these make me believe that most men truly are good—not out to hurt us or see us as meat.

It is never the fault of the victim in a situation involving domestic violence. You can hunt for a reason why he hit you a thousand times, but when it comes down to it, there’s really no way to explain it. Boys are learning from a young age that it’s okay to see women as inferior. And, according to this study, they are taking all that they’ve learned into action much earlier than men generations before. Luckily, efforts are being made to change this cycle of violence.

“It concerns me greatly and if we aren’t alert to this, and don’t wake up to it, it will be a continuing problem,” said Starmer. “We need to tackle complacency and redouble our efforts.”

We’ve been battling this problem for decades, but it looks like we just have to be content with “slowly, but surely,” for now.

Contact the author here: CrazyColleen@morningquickie.com