The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Yes, there are beaten men, too

2020-05-12T23:45:06.278Z


Moran Samon


Chen Lieberman's film in the "The Source" debriefing program (Network 13) scours the singer and actor Shuli Rand's relationship with his former partner. This blamed Rand about five years ago for physical and emotional abuse, and this even prompted calls for the cancellation of the 2016 Minister of Education for Jewish Culture Award. Lieberman's video exposed recordings of abuse on the part of the spouse. 

The complex story that the film has put on the table is a repressed phenomenon: there is violence against women, of course, but there is also violence against men. As a family lawyer, I represented myself and was often exposed to the stories of men who suffered from domestic violence and did not dare to speak until they were cornered. Even cases of verbal, emotional, and sometimes financial abuse are more profitable than we think. Reducing or minimizing male abuse is largely a violent act in itself. 

Certainly, women's organizations, radical feminist activism, and the "believe you" culture that accompanied the MeToo movement have contributed to the rooting of the absurd norm that a woman must believe in as a woman and merely because she is a woman, as if lies and manipulations should be attributed only to men. 

But this is a broader cultural phenomenon. Even in our modern and open society, it is still difficult for us to think of men as victims of violence or abuse, physical or mental. This cultural dictation has meant that men suffering from violence are afraid to be exposed, and among large groups the mere thought of a man as a victim is seen as unfounded. 

Chen Lieberman did not remain in the comfort zone of social perceptions and dictates of political correctness. She asked Shuli Rand, "Why didn't you get up and go?" - and in fairness, she admitted that she would not have referred a similar question to a woman who is a victim of violence. Her film suggests the way we must go further, as a society, to acknowledge the existence of the phenomenon of domestic violence against men, which largely undermines the dominant narrative, that domestic violence is a one-way phenomenon.

Shuli Rand acted courageously as he agreed to expose himself and the violence he experienced. Many men, as mentioned, prefer not to tell, to shame, for fear of being perceived as weak in a culture that enshrines powerful masculinity, or for thinking that they will not be believed. It is precisely Rand's case that a strong, charismatic person in the public sphere can be a victim of violence in the private sphere. 

Revealing the story of Shuli Rand thus broke conventions, and may have even shattered social taboos about domestic violence. Days will tell what their contribution will be to correcting the norm of suppressing violence against men in the family, but this is a pioneering and important media move. 

Adv. Moran Samon is a family law expert 

For more views of Moran Samon

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2020-05-12

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.