Why Do Men Batter Women?

Why do men batter women? Researchers and domestic violence organizations have tried to find the reasons. However, there is no one reason or answer since men may batter women for a variety of reasons, many of them relating to cultural acceptance and beliefs about women’s inferiority. Battering is also called domestic violence. It is a pattern of abusive actions, either verbal, physical, emotional, sexual or psychological, designed for one person to keep control over another. Most often this behavior manifests as men against women; however, there are women who abuse their male partners as well. Abuse is not acceptable on any level, no matter how infrequently the behavior occurs.

Excuses for Behavior

• Learned: Some people believe that abuse is a learned behavior. In fact, many men who abuse have been abused as children. The cycle of violence can perpetuate itself in this way. While prior abuse is one indicator of a potential abuser, it is not the only indicator, nor is it an acceptable excuse for the behavior. 
• Anger Control: Some people believe that men who batter women have an inability to control anger. This is probably partially true but they specifically direct anger toward women, which means that it is a choice. Men choose who they will abuse. They do not abuse co-workers, bosses, or outside family members. They choose to exert their anger on the women in their lives.
• Communication: Another theory about men that abuse is that they cannot communicate their feelings very well. Like anger control, this excuse does not  make sense. When a man tells a woman that she cannot go out, when he criticizes her or her family and friends, when he calls her names, when he threatens her, her children or her family, he is communicating his needs very precisely. 

Why Do Men Batter Women?

Sexism

Men abuse women for a variety of reasons but mostly because of sexism, or gender prejudice and issues of power and control. Men who abuse believe that women are inferior, untrustworthy, and can only be controlled by men. These feelings may have roots in how the men were raised, or it may be culturally connected.

Many societies and cultures across the world are patriarchal. As such, the men have always had power and the women have not or have had little. The struggle for equality can be seen in the United States through the women’s movement that began slowly and grew over time. Women were granted the right to vote with the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Today, women still struggle with equality in some countries while in others equality is still refused by the the men who dominate.

Cultural tradition

As a cultural tradition, abuse by men against women has always been tolerated. The often used quote, “rule of thumb,” is a holdover from one of these very ideals. The quote comes from an old British law that allowed men to beat their wives so long as they did not use any object thicker than their thumb, hence the “rule of thumb.” With these types of written and unwritten laws about men’s superiority over women, many women have suffered and died at the hands of the men who supposedly loved them.

Why do men batter women? Men are physically stronger than women and have had the blessing of their cultural institutions throughout history. Unfortunately, age is not a factor in abuse. Many teen girls suffer violence at the hands of abusive teen partners as well.

People living in immediate danger of abuse should know that many batterers monitor computer use and that all Internet use is traceable. For this reason, victims of domestic violence should either use a public computer or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or TTY 1-800-787-3224 (Please note that clicking on the NDVH link will open up a page to the National Domestic Violence Hotline website.)