The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

There has been a heightened awareness of domestic violence. We can agree that there have been too many incidences of women who endure the most forms of disrespect and abuse physically, mentally, and psychologically.

Many families are struggling because the atmosphere at home is a war zone.

This constant negativity has eroded the family environment and caused the family and communities to weaken.

Children are carrying a heavy load because they witness the abuse. Regardless, our impressionable children act out on society for not coming to their aid. So it is safe to say that the state failed them.

But a hidden monster has not been exposed because the victims are embarrassed to speak out.

In Bahamian society, it is macho to endure pain, and many who express displeasure are called hurtful names. Therefore, the man never talks but suffers in silence.

The best-kept secret is the man who experienced torture by an aggressive woman who exploits his inability to respond for whatever reason.

So the woman makes demands because she mistakes his non-combative demeanour as a weakness. Whenever she wants an advantage, she demands it and inflicts verbal and physical abuse until she gets it.

He takes the abuse because he does not want to embarrass himself by reporting it to an insensitive police force who would laugh him out of the station before rendering help. So he avoids getting in trouble by saying nothing.

But the Bahamian society has no place for the abused male and no sympathy. So where does this broken and confused man go for help? No real man would let a woman constantly beat him mentally, physically, or otherwise.

The abusive woman constantly threatens him for being his gentle spirit; he does not want his buddies or family to know that he is easygoing, so he never seeks help; cancer continues to eat, and sooner or later, one person expires.

The culturally based myth that men are perpetrators and women are victims is exceptionally damaging to the thousands of male victims of sexual, mental, and physical abuse who live unacknowledged by our society.

It is time for our narrow-minded, petty society to call a spade a spade.

The fictitious male chauvinistic culture has only slowed the potential progress this country desperately needs to advance.

The family is broken, and the church and the pretenders retard the growth by not condemning negative behaviour under the disguise of supporting families staying together.

Oh, yes, we are the great pretenders!

It is time for us to air all our dirty laundry so we can clean it up and move on our way to building a better country. Incest is my next stop.

IVOINE W INGRAHAM

Your Conscience

Nassau,

June 18, 2023.