Friday, November 23, 2012, was International Stand Up to Bullying Day, with activities in 25 countries.
November 25 was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, a response of the world community to the assassination of three women in the Dominican Republic who dared to become politically active.
Numerous fact sheets provide chilling information about intimate violence, domestic assault, rape, and other atrocities against women by men who are bullies, men who use violence to prove they are “real men.”
Undeniably, being female is a risk factor for violence. So are being disabled, being gay or lesbian, or simply being a different color, religion or ethnicity than the dominant group in a society.
So is being male. Being male can put you at enormous risk of being sent off to wars or killed in myriad other ways by the small minority of people who wield power.
The major incidents of violence in the world are not so much men against women, Muslims against Jews, Jews against Muslims, Christians against non-Christians, or whites against blacks, as they are bullies against weaker opponents.
Bullies take lots of different forms. Disproportionate numbers can be found among the greedy elite who profit from wars and other forms of human misery. They can be found among the desperate and angry poor who cannot envision any alternatives to survival beyond using violence. They can be found in prisons and in the board offices of multinational corporations that sacrifice the well-being and lives of millions in order to increase their profits and their power.
Bullies can also be found among children who hurt pets, torment their siblings, and bully others with impunity. Let’s teach all of our children, as well as the adults in their communities, that bullying is not acceptable. Watch this video to see how bullying can be stopped at the grassroots–in this case by a couple of teenage boys.
Those boys started an anti-violence movement that has reached thousands. What else do you think can be done to stop violence?
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology