When we think of domestic violence, the image that most often comes to mind is that of an aggressive male perpetrator and a beaten female victim.  However, the American Journal of Public Health’s most recent large-scale study of domestic violence shows that in reality, women are actually more often the perpetrators. Analyzing data gathered from 11,370 respondents, researchers found that “half of [violent relationships] were ... Read More

I’m not going to lie. When Rihanna took Chris Brown back I was not happy. In fact, I bordered on morally outraged. How could the girl who had me fantasizing about singing, "Want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world" to the boy who was breaking my heart be so…stoopid? How could the star that millions of young girls idolize set such a bad example as to take a man who has abused her back? Easy. Rihanna is human, ... Read More

[Trigger Warning: This post contains a description and photos of physical assault that may potentially be triggering for survivors of such abuse.] Just as Congress was debating the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, photographer Sara Naomi Lewkowicz’s 39-frame photo essay “Photographer As Witness: A Portrait of Domestic Violence” was featured in Time Magazine and is receiving serious backlash and hate from ... Read More

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, most people are focusing on dinner plans, gifts, and parties. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), on the other hand, proposes a slightly different agenda. Seven out of ten women experience violence at some point of their lives, and UN Women is working to change that. The organization works to end all forms of violence by aiding the passage of ... Read More

Later this month, NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit plans to shoot an episode that features convicted rapist, Mike Tyson, as a guest star. Tyson will play Reggie Rhodes, “a murderer on death who is also the victim of a difficult childhood.” You may recall that the boxer physically abused his wife, Robin Givens. Or that in 1991, he raped Miss Black America contestant, Desiree Washington, in a hotel room in ... Read More