Men need to have their rights equally assured

Equal rights for men should be just as enforced in society as it is for women.

In society today, there are multiple activist groups working to achieve equal rights for women worldwide.

This is a noble cause that deserves recognition.

However, in our society, there may be injustice for men, just as there is for women.

I feel that this concern needs to be addressed.

Domestic abuse is a form of discrimination. Male activist groups, like Men's Rights Movement (MRM), advocate domestic violence inflicted on men by their significant other as a problem that is ignored and under-reported.

This is often the case as men primarily dislike describing themselves as a victim, for fear of being ridiculed.

Judicial facilities often disregard domestic abuse cases that are presented by men - they may even be considered to be false claims.

This happens because the legal system is uneducated about women's violence against men.

These cases are also overlooked when a man chooses to defend himself.

There are many cases where a women lashes out at her significant other, then proceeds to file abuse charges.

An example of this was in the case of a man who was beaten by his wife while he tried to protect his two children.

His conviction is under appeal.

The man finally called police to report the attack, then left the house with his children after striking back once at the woman.

He was never interviewed by police or prosecutors, but was later charged and convicted of assault and required to pay a $500 fine, perform 100 hours of community service and have absolutely no contact with the woman.

Outrageous!The public really needs to understand that men can be abused and men can be victims.

Another form of discrimination is sexual abuse. There are multiple sexual assault cases recorded in which a man is sexually abused by either a male or female.

The title given to this is male rape.

In 2014, a study concluded that 46% of male victims reported a female perpetrator.

Regardless of these statistics, men are assumed to be invulnerable.

Because of this assumption, in the majority of male rape cases, men are not accepted as victims.

This is not necessarily true, as in multiple sexual assault cases, the abuse occurs at a very early age.

I have met two young males that were victims of rape at a young age, and in both cases it was inflicted by an older male.

In my research, I came across the story of a 28-year-old man who was raped when he was 8 years old.

It occurred at a nursery school that the young boy attended.

The nursery school owner's oldest son isolated the 8-year-old away from adults and peers.

He then proceeded to hold down the young boy and sexually assault him.

This was a disgusting crime, and when the victim chose to speak up about the assault, he was told to ''man up'' by his friends and family!This certainly offers an insight into the expectations of men in today's society.

It seems many people do not understand the concept of male rape or that it is an issue.

This needs to be brought to the attention of society, as it is a real issue that is affecting real people.

I genuinely feel the lack of men's rights in today's culture needs to be addressed as a serious issue.

Men are abused in their homes and convicted of assault, even when striking back was purely self-defence.

The blatant discrimination stops rapists from being convicted and it traumatises young men to the point where they may refuse to speak out about their experiences.

 


 

 By Caitlyn Anderton, Year 11, Tokomairiro High School


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