There is a memory that I can never forget, every Saturday morning when I used to wake up at my parents’ house, the first thing I saw was our neighbor Mrs. Karen and my mother having coffee. What’s so special about that right? In fact, what I couldn’t forget were the bruises on Mrs. Karen’s arms that she tried to cover every time. Every week, I used to listen to the same debate between Karen and my mother; my mother trying to convince her to leave and report her husband who was beating her on daily basis, while she always replied, “It is my fault, I did this …”.

35% of women worldwide have experienced domestic violence from their partner; moreover, 38% of murders of women were committed by an intimate partner. What is more astonishing is that there are a lot of women globally who believe that a husband is justified in beating his wife.  Accepting domestic violence is the main problem. Afghanistan has the highest percentage of 82.5% women accepting domestic violence and majority of women in Africa share the same belief of accepting domestic violence from husband.

The 5 main reasons a woman justifies her husband when beating her are:

Neglecting children
Going out without telling him
Arguing with him
Refusing to have sex with him
Serving him a bad meal

We observed that marriage at young age of 15 years old and younger has a direct effect on women’s attitude towards surrendering to domestic violence from her husband. At this young age an adolescent, who is not yet a woman, is vulnerable and feared from her husband that is older than her, in which her mindset changes towards obeying his orders and pleasing him.

The solution should be on the level of accepting domestic violence and then on domestic violence itself. Education is the solution. Education would help women understand their rights and let go of the social norms inherited from previous generations. After Education comes the implementation of marriage laws that would strictly forbid the marriage of minors; moreover, aggravated sentencing on acts of domestic violence that would fear the husband from laying his hands on his wife.

Jordan invested in educational attainment which decreased the percentage of women believing that a husband is justified in beating his wife from 65.40% in 2002 to 14.10% in 2018. This proves that education impacts greatly a woman’s attitude towards domestic violence, gains her confidence and courage to confront her husband and not accept mistreating her especially beating her.

There are millions of women in the world that share the same attitude towards domestic violence as my neighbor Mrs. Karen and they are all victims for not being well educated since they were young. NGOs are requested to focus on educating these victims, because without education they will still believe that domestic violence is justified, and upcoming generations will inherit the same attitude. Government officials are requested to prohibit marriage of minors through marriage laws and aggravate sentencing for criminals committing domestic violence.

“One of the most basic things we can do is let the men in our lives know it’s not okay to mistreat a woman.” – Tim McGraw