It is amazing to hear that the awareness of domestic abuse is only 20 years old. Historically domestic abuse has been happening a lot longer. It only became an issue when it was found that there were as many white women being abused by their husbands as women of other races and nationalities.
If I may offer a comment on this...
Awareness of domestic violence isn't 20 years old, the White Ribbon.Campaign is. This campaign was created as a response to the massacre of 14 young women at a post secondary institution in Montréal that happen in 1989. You can read more about this event on Wikipedia. The killer very specifically selected women as targets and that was when some guys in Canada sat around the table and decided to start providing a counterweight to violence against women.
Domestic violence has been around for a very long time, probably for as long as there have been men and women. In fact, the expression "rule of thumb" comes from an old English rule that a man could beat his wife as long as it was with a stick that was no wider than his thumb. Women have been punching bags for millennia, regardless of their color. In my opinion, awareness about domestic violence started getting traction when feminism started revving up. It is only when the status of women started to change that many of women's issues came more to the forefront.
I hear your point about issues getting more attention when a more powerful group (if you will) start talking about it. That's the experience of many minority groups, whether they are racial minorities, women, people with disabilities, etc. It can be really upsetting, but I try to look at it as a good thing. Because the message is getting out there and sometimes, it doesn't matter how it gets communicated, what matters is that awareness is happening and a light is shone on things that should not be acceptable.
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thank you, Brad. You came through in spades, posting exactly the right thing. And it is exactly what the White Ribbon Campaign is about: Men Aagainst Violence Against Women. this cannot be only a women's cause - we need men to speak up and make it unacceptable for their peers to commit violence against women. It speaks loudly, when sometimes women's voices can be drowned out. Thank you for being one of the good ones.
Thank you Lene.