Friday, August 14, 2009

Abuse Can Come From Need to Control

By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Long Beach, California
13 August 2009


Domestic violence can start when one partner feels the need to control another, a US-Cambodian social worker in Calfironia said recently.

“Abusers may feel this need to control their partner because of low self-esteem, extreme jealous, difficulties regulating anger and other strong emotion, or when the y feel inferior to their partners’ educational and socio-economic background,” said Om Reaksmei, a case manager for domestic violence in California. “Some men with very traditional beliefs may think they have the right to control women, and that women aren’t equal to men.”

Domination can take the form of emotional, physical or sexual abuse, she said.

Studies suggest that violent behavior often is caused by an interaction of situational and individual factors. That means that abusers learn violent behavior from their family, people in their community and other cultural influences as they grow up. They may have seen violence often, or they may have been victims themselves.

Sony Pream, program coordinator said: “Children who witness or are the victims of violence may learn to believe that violence is a reasonable way to resolve conflict between people, the painful world of the abused child-turned-abuser.”

“Boys who learn that women are not to be valued or respected and who see violence directed against women are more likely to abuse women when they grow up,” Om Reaksmei said. “Girls who witness domestic violence in their families of origin are more likely to be victimized by their own husbands.”

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Om and Sony are dealing with domestic violence from the assumption that women are the victims of domestic violence, and that women are not the instigators of domestic violence.


Om and Sony should reexamine domestic abuse from a more impartial angle.

Anonymous said...

so true. plus, some individual needs education that they should treat everyone the same. no sexism and no discrimination against khmer women. they only do it in the stone age and dark age, but nowadays, things are so much different in cambodia; thus, that kind of outdated mentality ought to be changed as well for the sake of cambodia. no more excuses and look down on khmer women, ok! after all, they give birth to your children and the all children in the world, so we all need women. please treat everyone fairly. thank you.

Anonymous said...

khmer women can help build the nation, too, so please no look down on women. make sure to change with time as well. this is not the stone age or the dark age, ok!

Anonymous said...

they are somebody's mother, somebody's daughter, somebody's sister, etc... please don't look down on women! be educated, please! please change the old way! god bless khmer women.

Anonymous said...

and somebody's loved ones as well! without women, the world would stop exist. all we ask is to treat women fairly. thank you.