Paving the way for Future Women
One avenue to changing these mental health outcomes is actually having a community-driven change instead of focusing on an individual level. Creating community awareness on the impact of IPV on women can be instrumental in shifting the health outcomes of women who experience it by allowing them to see they are not alone. Shifting the social norms and gender attitudes within a community through widespread education on the topic can be extremely beneficial as well to help fight against future victimization [2]. On a smaller level, support from a closer network of family and friends has also been proven to help combat negative mental health outcomes for survivors. It has been proven that having a strong support system, especially in environments of disorder, can help to combat negative mental health outcomes such as depression and suicidal thoughts [3].
In the end, however, we cannot teach women how not to become a victim. Telling a woman that if she would only act and dress a certain way, she would not be victimized is an insulting and horrendous narrative. There are constructive ways to be teaching men non-violent behaviors, however. In one detailed study, there was great evidence that linked emotion regulation difficulties in IPV perpetration by male partners [4]. Due to the continued lifespan of toxic masculinity in the world, when men perceive themselves to be ‘less masculine,’ violence can often occur. It is with this knowledge that we as a society can work to end this cycle of violence and the perpetual stereotype of what it really means to be a man. We shouldn’t be teaching women how not become a victim – we should be teaching men how not to be perpetrators.
Men of Quality
References
1. Roesch, Pamela Therese, Alisa Joy Velonis, Sayli M. Sant, Lauren Elisabeth Habermann, and Jana L. Hirschtick. "Implications of interpersonal violence on population mental health status in a low-income Urban Community-based sample of adults." Journal of Interpersonal Violence (2019): 15
2. Ferrari, Giulia, Sergio Torres-Rueda, Christine Michaels-Igbokwe, Charlotte Watts, Rachel Jewkes, and Anna Vassall. "Economic evaluation of public health interventions: an application to interventions for the prevention of violence against women and girls implemented by the “what works to prevent violence against women and girls?” global program." Journal of interpersonal violence (2019): 5.
3. Pickover, Alison M., Jabeene Bhimji, Shufang Sun, Anna Evans, Lucy J. Allbaugh, Sarah E. Dunn, and Nadine J. Kaslow. "Neighborhood disorder, social support, and outcomes among violence-exposed African American women." Journal of Interpersonal Violence (2018): 11.
4. Berke, Danielle S., Dennis E. Reidy, Brittany Gentile, and Amos Zeichner. "Masculine discrepancy stress, emotion-regulation difficulties, and intimate partner violence." Journal of interpersonal violence 34, no. 6 (2019): 1174.