Many Think Women Should Be Hit

That's what a new survey released in Britain found this week. One in seven people believe it is acceptable in some circumstances for a man to hit his wife or girlfriend if she is dressed in “sexy or revealing clothes in public”.

A similar number believed that it was all right for a man to slap his wife or girlfriend if she is “nagging or constantly moaning at him”.

The findings of the poll, conducted for the Home Office, also disclosed about a quarter of people believe that wearing sexy or revealing clothing should lead to a woman being held partly responsible for being raped or sexually assaulted.

Although a majority of 1,065 people over 18 questioned last month believe that it is never acceptable to hit or slap a woman, the poll found that those aged 25-39 were more likely to consider that there were circumstances in which it was acceptable to hit or slap a woman.

Men and women over 65 and those in the lower social class groups D and E are more likely to believe that woman should be held partly responsible for being raped or sexually assaulted, Ipsos Mori telephone poll found.

Though the study was conducted in the UK, if you've followed public and/or media reaction to Christ Brown's assault on Rhianna, you know these feelings are espoused in the US as well.

It seems that the domestic violence movement has entered into the backlash stage, going from general acknowledgement, at least in public, that violence against women is bad, to resistance to that notion.

According to Wikipedia, "backlash can also refer to 'blaming the victim', which occurs when people in the surrounding environment shift blame, from the criminals, to their victims; and/or, further, blame those victims for subsequent controversies and conflicts, sometimes long after the initial crime is reported or discovered. Backlash, under these circumstances, is often a result of speculation and jumping to conclusions; such as that the victim must have been at fault, in order for the crime to have been committed. The victim may also be accused of attention-seeking, covering for incompetence, or lying (among other things) when reporting a crime. Various 'old-school' attitudes pressurize victims into either 'keeping their mouths shut' about certain crimes, or suffering further consequences."

Sound like anything we've seen recently?