Deterring genital abuse
by eskwillhelp » Mon Jan 13, 2014 12:55 amI've noticed, both in the mass media and websites, that accounts of violent assault on males' genitals usually mention no significant consequences for attackers. It doesn't matter much whether the attacker is female or male, but I'm focusing more on female attackers. This state of affairs should be changed, to the point that people generally will assume that a variety of bad things will happen to anyone who attacks that way.
I'm not talking about domestic violence, which is more complicated. I'm talking about other situations in which the two people's lives are less entwined.
I think the first way to get good results involves teaching people in detail why those assaults are so unacceptable.
I suspect many attackers assume those attacks are merely inflicting pain. Even if we just focus on the pain, they should know that, if a victim lacks previous experience with the extreme pain, he might feel like he has been horribly injured, which adds to the psychological trauma. A groin attack sometimes is more than a regular assault, due to the level of pain intended and the risk of permanent injury: depending on the guy and nature of the hit, it can be closer to torture than to a hit to other body parts.
But there is more than pain involved. For one thing, links to pages like http://www.mens-rights.net/law/violence/testicular_abuse.htm explain that there are lasting health and fertility consequences.
It also helps to focus on the reasons given for the assaults. Searching on Google for something like "why girls kick balls" yields various answers.
One answer: some girls are convinced that guys believe they are tough and girls are weak (and the girls want to punish/counter this real or imagined arrogance). I'm surprised that girls keep saying that, because I'm sure many guys don't think that. Those guys that do think so, don't necessarily think they are invincible. I suppose many cultures or individuals do exaggerate male toughness and female weakness, but girls are not entitled to disprove it by hitting testicles.
Another answer (surprisingly common) is that many girls exhibit arrogance and entitlement, thinking they may physically punish those whose words they dislike. They should learn that a person can say the meanest, most degrading things but, no matter how much despair or distress is caused, they still have no right to physically assault him in any way.
And there are other answers that need to be countered: amusement at the reaction (victims' facial expressions and words), misandry, sadism (laughing at the hurt), ignorance or misunderstanding (thinking the laws of assault and battery don't apply when females hit males), and seeking a power trip (girls normally are too weak to hurt men, so it's a special opportunity).
The second way to deter groin attacks involves men creating fear by punishing attackers.
Such attacks are clear grounds for a lawsuit in small claims court. Even if he doesn't win, there is value in creating trouble for her. While in court, or sooner, the victim can seek a restraining order, thereby forcing the attacker out of any social circles the two have in common.
If the attacker is enrolled in any martial arts programs, the people in charge of those programs should be informed. Hopefully they will either expel the attacker from their classes or at least punish that person.
Many of these assaults happen during school years. If it happens on campus, the victim also could demand an agreement with the school: the victim waives legal claims against the school and staff, in exchange for incident reports and other evidence which would then be used in the lawsuit against the attacker.
As part of that agreement, the school should agree to permanently expel the attacker, especially if he/she has any history of school violence; this is useful partly for revenge (expulsion would seriously affect the attacker's academic and social life) and because the victim shouldn't have to face the attacker again.
There is one risk with my suggestion: the attacker maybe could sue because the expulsion was not based strictly on school policy, but instead was coerced by the victim. The victim certainly would need to consult a lawyer for advice about how to safely do all of this.
One problem is that the two parties often are underaged. So maybe the victim's parents would have to sue the attacker's parents, because minors cannot represent themselves in small claims court? In any case, parents definitely must be motivated enough to get involved.
Another problem with the victims being underaged is that they sometimes are ashamed to report the crime. Perhaps they have a notion that getting beaten by a girl is unacceptable, or feel shame when admitting to being rendered helpless so easily. Sometimes it seems like kids observe a law of silence about violence amongst themselves, sort of like the Italian mafia.
Once word gets around about all the bad consequences that attackers deal with, people should be less inclined to attack in the future.
Hollywood's screenwriters are in a unique position to educate on this matter. These ideas haven't been covered much onscreen, so it would be original and interesting, if the writers can figure out how to handle it.
Other than that, I'm not sure how the word should get out.
Do any of you have experiences with discouraging or punishing genital attacks? Comments about my ideas?
Thanks for reading my long post.
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