News
At a discussion yesterday afternoon, four panelists said domestic violence is a vicious cycle ingrained in our culture though it is a subject men and women are reluctant to address.
The discussion, called "Naming the Violence," was part of a series of events recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Week.
The five people who attended agreed that domestic violence is an uncomfortable topic at Dartmouth and around the country.
"People see domestic violence as happening only in families, not between themselves and their girlfriends or boyfriends," Jennifer Collins '94 said.
"People may not attend discussions like these because they'd then be tacitly admitting that it happens," she added.
Women's Resource Director Giavanna Munafo said men may be especially uncomfortable discussing domestic violence because they" don't want to acknowledge the sexual and violent authority they have."
"People may find it adversarial to claim that all men have the potential to be rapists, but we have no problem seeing all women as victims," Munafo said.
She said women, on the other hand, are taught they do not have the "right" to speak up when they are being abused, or fear being alone if they do.
Panelist Margaret Laing, program director for the Domestic Violence Program at the Women Informational Services program in Lebanon, N.H., said, "Yes, we are speaking out and we are not taking it anymore -- and this can be a threat to men."
Kerry Rochford-Hague, a panelist and the training and shelter advocate for Women's Supportive Services in Claremont, N.H., said, "All women are at risk, even though we often feel we're too smart and it won't happen to us."
Alison Bass, a Boston Globe reporter who covers stories about human behavior, said,"A story [on domestic violence] usually doesn't get written until the woman gets killed, or until the 22nd woman gets killed.
