What to see something shocking? Look no further than the graphic below. Represented are the percentage of girls and women around the world aged 15–49 who believe that a husband or partner is justified in hitting wife under certain circumstances.

Jordan is at 90 percent. Ninety percent. Guinea follows, at 85.6 percent. At the other end is the Ukraine, which, at 5 percent, is the lowest of the 67 countries polled by UNICEF in a 2001-2007 survey of household attitudes towards domestic violence.

Lest you think these examples are outliers, on average, half of the female population polled responded that it's … Read More

I store my secret and satisfying lover in the hidden compartment of an ottoman in my bathroom. Towels are piled high over it, and inside I store all my overflow of beauty and hair products. Deep within that pile is a compartment I stash my "toys." For the past month, I've been finding my vibrator with the batteries dead and always left in the "on" position. I like to conserve energy, so I know I NEVER would have wasted a AA battery in a recession with an amateur move like that. I didn't have the guts to confront my husband, … Read More

Weeks after Rihanna and Chris Brown's names became (potentially forever) linked to domestic violence, the couple has apparently rekindled their romance, according to People.com.

An unnamed source told the site that the efforts to reconnect have been "mutual" and that the young pair "care for each other." Feelings aside, the world will watch in wonderment as Rihanna takes back a man who allegedly beat her on the night of February 8. Brown was arrested for making criminal threats, but charges have not been pressed.

Since the night of the assault, which left the 21-year-old singer with visible signs of battery, … Read More

Domestic abuse is about control and power, usually a man getting and keeping control and power over a woman. To simplify it, someone who commits domestic abuse is a control freak, and for the sake of argument, we are going to use the pronoun "he." An abuser can't feel good about himself unless he feels he is in total control of a woman and the relationship.

The abuser will use physical violence, threats of physical violence, isolation, yelling, screaming, and emotional, sexual or financial abuse to attempt to control his wife and in return control the relationship. He … Read More

Can everyone just accept that Boy George, like Vincent van Gogh, is too beautiful for our laws, cultural norms and conceptual understanding of the illusion of experiential reality and call it a day? No? We're going to do this the hard way, aren't we? Fine, cruel world, we'll play it however you care to, we're game.

The luminary being born by the human name George O'Dowd is in some hot water (enough to flash fry a buffalo in 30 seconds) about something that was surely just a misunderstanding. According to DListed, Boy George (in Spanish, Niño Jorge) … Read More

Unexpected Facebook message the other night: an old friend from middle school delivered a thumpin' to her husband and was arrested for assault and battery.

I don't know the circumstances at all—not that that really matters.  It's domestic violence and it's wrong and it's not the way for a couple to solve a conflict. 

But I'd be lying if I didn't admit I am fascinated.  I conceptualize a woman hitting a man differently from a man hitting a woman.  There is a cultural stereotype against angry women: she's a bitch, or she's crazy.  Women are not expected to lash out, … Read More