OP-ED A Critical Look at Intimate Partner Violence

While the paper talked about what exact gender-based violence is, this op-ed is going to talk about my options in detail in this paper. The first thing that needs to happen is that it needs to be talked about more. And it needs to be talked about in layman’s terms to younger audiences. I think the audience that can benefit from this topic is high schoolers because they are usually in relationships and can be mature enough to have these conversations. So, once you have the younger crowd knowing what exactly gender-based violence is, you can engrain into them that this is a thing that they shouldn’t do. Next, you focus on the adults because, in a sense, you will have to educate them. There are ways to leave these abusive relationships and get those people the help they need. Also, you can help these people learn exactly what to look for in a partner that might exist. These types of things, such as if they have high anti-social behaviors, are things that you need to steer away from. I also think that people need to be able to understand their partners more and communicate with them. One of the factors that could control intimate partner violence is the idea that one person thinks their partner is too controlling, which could lead this person into thinking that they need to act out in aggression to relieve some of that controlling nature. So, if there is a chance to communicate this to your partner, it can lead to some positive outcomes in the future. That way, couples don’t have to resort to aggression to solve their problems. Also, they can be an internal problem the tone person in the partnership must fix. For example, if they always go to aggression to solve a frustrating problem, they must find ways to deal with it without hurting their partner.  The paper also talks about how the researchers wanted to flip the research and focus on women when it came to intimate partner violence. I wouldn’t say I like that Idea. Are there men who face this type of violence? Yes. Do these men have every right to make their voices heard and known? Yes. But the way it was framed in the paper made it seem like it was a center for women affected by this violence. Like how all live matter was to counteract black live matter. It seemed disingenuous to intimate partner violence as if they weren’t trying to figure out a genuine reason for why a woman might do this, at least in my opinion. They then try to use some factors to see which would have a more significant effect on IPV. They did teen birth rate as one of the factors for IPV. In my opinion, it seems like it would not have that much of an effect on IPV because I feel as if drug usage would have a more significant impact on IPV. If people are on hard-core drugs or something like alcohol, it could have a greater effect on a person who is more likely to engage in IPV behaviors. But when it comes to men and women in the legislature, I feel that is an excellent way to measure IPV. Because the mindset would be with more women in the legislature, more bills would have more women’s input, which could lead to solid punishments for people who actively engage in IPV. Because if the punishments are harsher, it can deter other people from beating their partners. Women in the labor force was another one that was talked about. On the one hand, if more women were in the workforce, they could have their own money and not rely on their partners. A woman might stay in an IPV relationship because she has nowhere to go and no money to stay away from that partner. So, if she has her own money, she may be more likely to be able to leave that situation, which can stop one case of intimate partner violence. When it came to the results, it was all over the place. Some states were high for women, and some for men. But overall, it showed that there were no significant statics when it came to men. This could be because of the small sample size. Men are less likely to come forward about things like this. Also, I would like to see how other-sex couples are measured through this. Will it be the same, or will it be different?