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We should create and provide workshops for parents and
teachers.
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We should implement peer counselling as well as training so
teachers can recognize signs of abuse and become sensitized.
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What role will society play? If boys are still taught to be
strong and powerful, how will attitudes change? It is important to teach
children to appreciate themselves as well as others.
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Too often young victims of abuse are not given the
opportunity to discuss what happened to them; this reinforces the negative
experience and generates a sense of guilt which will often follow them through
life. They are also absorbing a distorted picture of life, sexual roles and
responsibility. Children, by nature, are dependant and powerless and it is
important to be honest with them about their experiences.
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We must address the links between violence and literacy; we
must reverse the "you are stupid" syndrome.
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Gender socialization, such as teaching women to put their
personal needs second to the needs of others, can place women at a
disadvantage, though some women in the group felt that being taught to be
nurturing and open about emotions is, instead, an advantage to women.
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Women still feel responsible for maintaining a successful
marriage. Often there is a sense of failure if things go wrong; emotional work
is still women's work.
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How many women leave right away when the abuse starts? Many
only leave when the abuse begins to affect their children. Often an increase in
the level of violence becomes the catalyst for leaving; many women have said
that they left when they lost hope of change or improvement or when they could
not endure the situation any longer.
- Do women in positions of "social power," such as judges or
politicians, lose their sensitivity?