Theresa O’Connor ’22, Staff Writer
In every culture across the globe, there is a pandemic that goes unnoticed. This is known as violence against men. Despite societal demands that we do everything we can to stop violence against women, men are subject to violence at a far higher rate than women are. One of the reasons is because men are more prone to violence than women. The majority of violent acts that take place in every society are committed by men. Why exactly are men more likely to be violent than women?
Men have higher levels of a hormone known as testosterone than women do. According to Jarryd Bartle “No other hormone has such a bad reputation as testosterone — responsible for horny, sweaty teens and grumpy, risk-taking adults. However, many of the effects of this little hormone are commonly misunderstood.” When a man’s testosterone level spikes it can trigger aggressive behavior. Testosterone levels are known to increase when a man is in challenging or competitive situations with other men. Another reason why men are more likely to be victims of violence is because men are more likely to be violent towards other men than women.
The fact that testosterone levels in men rise when they are in conflict with other men can help explain why men are more violent towards each other than women. Crime statistics from the FBI reveal that men are more likely to be the victim of a crime than women. According to Warren Farrell, “The more violent the crime the more likely the victim is to be a man.” A man is twice as likely to be a victim of both regular assault and robbery than a woman. Men are also three times more likely to be a victim of aggravated assault. Homicide statistics reveal that most murder victims are male, accounting for eighty percent of all victims. A recent example, according to NBC 10 News, is earlier in the month of March two teenage boys brutally murdered a man. They were both charged with assault and arson after they sprayed him with an ignitable fluid and set him on fire. He died a few days later from his injuries. This is a clear example of male on male violence. Statistically, men are more likely to die violently than women. One reason why men are more likely to be crime victims than women is because criminals have a code of chivalry against hurting women.
In the criminal world which is male-dominated, criminals have an unwritten rule that says one does not harm women nor children. Because of this doing something to a female is strictly prohibited. In the mafia, there is a code of ethics that states members are only allowed to murder other men. If a member of the mafia kills a woman the other members are mandated to kill him, even if it the killing was accidental. This rule is observed in prison where crimes against women are frowned upon.
Seventy percent of all men in prison are doing time for either drug crimes or crimes against men. In prison inmates have the habit of carrying out vigilante justice against those accused of crimes against women. If a man is in jail for raping a woman, he has to worry about getting killed by another inmate. Any crime against a woman will result in an inmate being punished severely. At the most he will be beaten, and he will also be at high risk for getting raped. According to Statista, “98,000 women were raped in 2019 compared to 100,000 to 140,000 men proving that the rate at which men get raped in prison is higher than the rate at which women get raped outside of prison.”
Men are more likely to be the victims of all violent crime including rape. Men are subject to assaults, rapes, robberies, and murders at a higher rate than women. Testosterone helps explain why men are more likely to be victimized than women. Society says that we need to bring an end to violence against women. However, there is an even greater global pandemic known as violence against men.
