Let there be slavery???

Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the United States.

  
      In seventh grade I remember having to go through the Safe Dates program. One of the issues discussed was the person you're dating telling you what to wear, who to hang out with, and pretty much what to do.
      To me this seems like a mild form of slavery. Mild probably not being the right word because women, and some men, suffer through extreme situations. Being told what to wear by your partner will probably be the milder form of ones freedom being taken away. The cases that most of us hear about is women being abused by their partners and some of them even snap and end up killing their partners.
      There are many people who still believe that man rule the household and that the woman does what the man tells her to do. In Spanish there is a word that pretty much describes this, MACHISMO. So if you think about it, this is a type of slavery that many might not think of it being so. But in this situation isn't the man the master and the woman the slave? The woman does as she is told and is punished if she does something wrong. Most women will probably be punished with some sort of sexual abuse. How can a man do this to someone that he is supposed to love? And how can a woman think this is okay?
      I remember watching a show once where the man even called his wife his property. It is just shocking to think about people still believe that a person can be property. I guess it would be ignorant of me to think that this doesn't go on and no one thinks this way. But I am aware that it does. In Africa many young girls are sold into sex slavery and some even by their own families. Living in a society where this sort of thing is rare is what makes us blind to this problem. For a nation that once was into slavery we shouldn't forget why it was abolished and we should all be aware of people that may still be suffering, so that we may be able to help them.
    On the risk of sounding like Public Service Announcement I have to say:
     How can we turn a blind eye to something that is so disgusting, so wrong? Next time you hear about someone being abused or treated like property just think about what you can do. People our own age are suffering through this and if you feel that someone you know is being abused, try to help them realize they have someone to rely on and that they should get help. Remember that this could be happening to anyone and even though this was focused more on women, there many man who also may be going through this.

   Approximately one in five female high school students reports being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner