(no subject)
Reported violent crime is on the rise in Sweden: how well that corresponds to actual crime is always a tricky question. It is not anywhere near an 'explosion of violence' and other things that the newspapers are fond of reporting. One thing, though, confuses me about violence.
The vast majority of those tried and sentenced for violent crimes are men - about 90% of violent crime in 2005 was committed by men. Still, whenever anyone suggests that maybe violence is a male problem, angry men rise up everywhere to deny this, saying, generally, that women's violence is underreported, and that not all men are criminals.
However, those are hardly valid arguments. It may be that people don't report violence by women, if we refer to assault - but if women truly committed as much violent crime as men, it should show in reports of armed robbery (no one ignores a bank robbery because it was committed by a woman) and murder (again, no one ignores a murder for that reason). It doesn't.
If you're response to these statistics is an injured 'but all men are not criminals!' think again. Depending on how much violent crime against women goes unreported, it may well be true that men are more often victims of violence. Murder victims are certainly more often male. However, those crimes are still committed by men. If you're not part of the problem, but a nice non-violent gentle man, you are still in danger of becoming a victim of violence - violence exerted by another man.
Since the perpetrators of violent crime are overwhelmingly male, why on earth is violent crime not a male problem? Why is it always treated as the problem of a sub-group, social or ethnic, of men, not of men in general? Yes, men from socially disadvantaged groups are more likely to commit crimes than men from privileged groups (not actually sure if this is true of violent crime - it is true of theft), but no matter how privileged a man is, he's still mare likely to commit violent crime than a woman is. Being male is the major factor.
So what does one do about it? Well, despite what is said about feminists, I'm actually not advocating the selective abortion of 75% of male fetuses. No, really not. I'm mostly straight; figure it out for yourselves. I do think, however, that men, collectively, might start to own this problem, and do something about it.
The vast majority of those tried and sentenced for violent crimes are men - about 90% of violent crime in 2005 was committed by men. Still, whenever anyone suggests that maybe violence is a male problem, angry men rise up everywhere to deny this, saying, generally, that women's violence is underreported, and that not all men are criminals.
However, those are hardly valid arguments. It may be that people don't report violence by women, if we refer to assault - but if women truly committed as much violent crime as men, it should show in reports of armed robbery (no one ignores a bank robbery because it was committed by a woman) and murder (again, no one ignores a murder for that reason). It doesn't.
If you're response to these statistics is an injured 'but all men are not criminals!' think again. Depending on how much violent crime against women goes unreported, it may well be true that men are more often victims of violence. Murder victims are certainly more often male. However, those crimes are still committed by men. If you're not part of the problem, but a nice non-violent gentle man, you are still in danger of becoming a victim of violence - violence exerted by another man.
Since the perpetrators of violent crime are overwhelmingly male, why on earth is violent crime not a male problem? Why is it always treated as the problem of a sub-group, social or ethnic, of men, not of men in general? Yes, men from socially disadvantaged groups are more likely to commit crimes than men from privileged groups (not actually sure if this is true of violent crime - it is true of theft), but no matter how privileged a man is, he's still mare likely to commit violent crime than a woman is. Being male is the major factor.
So what does one do about it? Well, despite what is said about feminists, I'm actually not advocating the selective abortion of 75% of male fetuses. No, really not. I'm mostly straight; figure it out for yourselves. I do think, however, that men, collectively, might start to own this problem, and do something about it.