Resolution On Male Violence Against Women

Whereas violence against women is a major cause of reduced quality of life, distress, injury and death for women and has serious secondary effects for families, communities, and the economy;

Whereas violence against women takes many forms, including battering, sexual harassment, and rape;

Whereas more than one in five adult women experience at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood; as many as one of every two women are affected by sexual harassment over the course of their working lives; and approximately one in eight women have experienced a sexual assault in their lifetimes.

Whereas research reveals a high prevalence of acute and chronic mental and physical health consequences resulting from violence against women;

Whereas being assaulted by or witnessing assaults toward family members in childhood or adolescence increases the likelihood of mental health problems, substance abuse, and involvement in abusive relationships for both women and men;

Whereas gender and gender relations play critical roles in directing male violence toward women;

Whereas cultural norms and expectations play critical roles in promoting and shaping male violence against women and in determining the consequences to the victim and the responses of society;

Whereas understanding male violence against women requires examining the power inequalities between men and women, including legal, economic, and physical power inequalities;

Whereas women living in poverty are at especially high risk for all types of violence-particularly severe and life threatening assaults;

Whereas research focused on violence against ethnic minority, poor and older women, lesbians, and women with disabilities is limited;

Whereas psychologists, as researchers, service providers, and policy advocates, have important roles to play in educating the public and preventing and treating violence against women;

Whereas levels of assaultive and lethal violence against women remain high, despite two decades of increased awareness and legislation;

Therefore be it resolved that the American Psychological Association:

1. Support public policy initiatives in research, prevention and intervention areas, including legal and legislative reform.

2. Support legislative efforts that seek to redress gender-based power imbalances, including legislation on civil rights, dependent care and family support, and pay equity.

3. Explore avenues to improve training of psychologists to recognize and treat victims of violence and to conduct research on prevention and intervention with the women themselves, their children and perpetrators.

4. Explore interventions for children and adolescents who have been exposed to family violence and who are therefore at risk for violent behavior or victimization.

5. Explore avenues to disseminate materials available on violence against women including those of the APA Task Force on Male Violence Against Women to policy makers, professional communities, church and community groups, educational institutions and the general public.

6. Explore ways to increase public and private funding for research on violence against women.

7. Explore avenues for showcasing, in the Association's publications, research on male violence against women so as to increase the extent to which it is viewed as within the mainstream of psychological concerns.

8. Explore avenues for greater collaboration with legal, medical, and other professional disciplines on international, national, regional, and local levels to prevent violence against women.

9. Explore psychoeducational and sociocultural interventions designed to change male objectification of women.