Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Doesn’t Start At Home: When 1 in 3 women are victims of domestic violence, how can it?
Today ends Women’s History Month and I’ve seen next to nothing in mainstream or online media relative to other marginalized groups’ celebratory months.?Sure there’s been a focus on reproductive rights but there is so much more to women’s history than that.?The continued marginalization of half the world’s population is being put on the backburner at a time when we are demanding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.?50% of those people demanding this are women.
When we talk about DEI how is it that the global epidemic of physical, social, economic, educational, legal, and mental abuse of women is not part of the discussion?
Women’s salaries have increased TWELVE CENTS since 1967 and will likely take another 200 plus years to achieve economic parity.?How can any minority have a chance at progress when the largest marginalized group is still well behind???
In more than two-thirds (68.2%) of mass shootings analyzed,?the perpetrator either killed family or intimate partners or the shooter had a history of domestic violence, according to a study published in?Injury Epidemiology by Lisa Geller, MPH.?Almost every minority group has been victimized by a mass shooter from the LGBTQ+ communities in Colorado and Orlando to the Black community in a Buffalo supermarket to the Asians targeted in an Atlanta Spa and so on.
In searching for studies on the link between children who witness domestic abuse and intolerance towards race, religion, or sexual orientation I found nothing.?What I did find was the term ACE:?Adverse Childhood Experiences and a study by the NIH that investigated the impact on a child in a domestic violence household; their brains, physical health, and future behaviours.?Here are some interesting facts:
A boy who sees his mother abused is 10 times more likely to abuse his female partner as an adult. A girl in the same circumstance is more than six times as likely to be sexually abused as a girl who grows up in a non-abusive home.1
Domestic abuse stems from many areas including historical family patterns, mental health, low self-esteem, and other complicated issues.?These are all applicable to intolerance of any minority.?The one that struck me as most relevant was the “imbalance of power”.?The belief in where power should lie and the notion of superiority. ?This is where intersectionality collides.
My hypothesis is the intersectionality of domestic abuse and how that can extend beyond the home.?If a person can harm the one closest to them, it cannot be that hard for them to extend that violence to others they believe they should have power over.
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When diagnosing domestic violence, there are questions to help a potential victim identify it.?I re-read them as each major marginalized group.?Here’s a sample of the questions that could resonate with them.
Just as harming animals is strong indication of psychopathy and high risk for committing acts of violence, my hypothesis is that homes with domestic violence can foster future generations of intolerance and disrespect of not just women, but other minorities.?Without focusing on the root of the problem and the cycle of perceived superiority, we face an uphill battle in our quest for DEI.
There are many groups looking at ways to make DEI real at work, in education, and in the community.?I recommend looking at the earliest moments of indoctrination to the notion of justified dominance and superiority over another human being.?That starts in the home.?To stop the cycle, we need to focus on the valuation of women and not let their voices be silenced in their time of crisis to make a real dent in DEI efforts.?Happy Women’s History Month 2023.
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