Myth: Wife assault is a new Social problem.
Fact: Sexual assault is experienced by Canadian women every day – at home, at work, at school and on the street.
In Canada, it wasn’t until 1968, when the federal Divorce Act was passed, that physical and mental cruelty became grounds for divorce.
Myth: Wife assault is not a widespread problem.
Fact: One-quarter of all women have experienced violence at the hands of a current or past martial partner (includes common law).
Myth: Wife assault occurs more often among certain groups of people.
Fact: Wife assault occurs in all ethnic, racial, economic, social and age groups. However, violence in more affluent groups is often hidden because these women use shelters, legal clinics and other social services less often.
Myth: Assaulted women could leave their abusive partners if they wanted to.
Fact: A woman may stay in an abusive relationship for many reasons. For example:
- She hopes the relationship will get better
- She doesn’t want to break up a family
- Her partner’s abuse isolates her from friends and family
- She fears for her own and her children’s safety
- She depends on her partner’s income
- She has lost self-esteem because of her partner’s abuse
- She has nowhere else to go
- Her partner has threatened to harm her if she leaves
- She is worried about her or her partner’s immigration status
Myth: Women often provoke assaults and deserve what they get.
Fact: No woman ever deserves to be beaten. Assaulted women report a wide range of incidents that trigger violence. For example: "I fried his eggs the wrong way", "I didn’t turn down the radio enough", or "I went out with friends without asking his permission". Abusive men often claim their partner provoked an assault to avoid responsibility for their own behaviour. In fact, the true source of violence is the batterer’s desire for power and control over his partner.
Myth: Men who assault their partners are mentally ill.
Fact: Wife assault is too widespread to be caused by mental illness.
Most men who assault their partners are not violent outside the home. They don’t hit their bosses or colleagues. When abusive men hit their partners, they often aim the blows at parts of the body where bruises don’t show. If abusive men truly mentally ill, they could not limit their violence in this way.
Myth: Alcohol causes men to assault their partners
Fact: Alcohol can make it easier for a man to be violent. But the real cause of wife assault is the batterer’s desire for power and control over his partner. Batterers often use alcohol as an excuse to aviod taking responsibility for violent behaviour.
Myth: Men are abused by their partners as often as women are.
Fact: More than 92% of changes related to spousal assault in Ontario are laid against men. Most charges laid against women are counter-charges laid by assaultive partners or stem from acts of self-defense.