Alarmingly many Finnish men think women have themselves to blame for violence

A QUARTER of under 35-year-old men believe women may deserve the violence they experience because of the way they look, dress or behave, reveals a survey commissioned by the Coalition of Finnish Women’s Association (Nytkis).

The corresponding share among all men was 21 per cent.

“Our survey reveals that although not all men tolerate violence against women, a far too large a share of men are alarmingly tolerant of it,” Silla Kakkola, the secretary general of Nytkis, summarised the results in a press release on Tuesday.

“Men normalise violence against women with their attitudes. We have a lot of work ahead of us to change these attitudes, and here men themselves have a key role.”

The survey was conducted last summer as part of an anti-violence campaign championed by the Finnish National Observatory on Violence. It drew a total of 1,058 responses from 18–79-year-old men living in Finland.

The majority of respondents, it found, recognise their own responsibility for putting a stop to violence against women, with 84 per cent viewing that men should take greater responsibility for stopping violence against women. Almost four-fifths (78%) of respondents also viewed that men should do more to intervene in remarks that insult or objectify women.

The results are partly contradictory, though. While 21 per cent of respondents viewed that women may deserve the violence they experience, 90 per cent stated that there is no justification for violence against women in any circumstances.

“[The responsibility for violence] lies with women themselves, they shouldn’t hang around half naked. Or get wasted and go out alone,” one of the respondents was quoted saying in the survey report.

“Women themselves [are to blame]. They should be able to ‘navigate’ men and know when to give in, even if they knew how things really are,” said another.

“If women stopped using psychological violence against men, men wouldn’t use physical violence,” argued yet another.

Age was found to be the most important contributor to attitudes.

While 22 per cent of 18–24-year-old respondents viewed that it may sometimes be necessary to resort to violence to gain respect, the view was shared by only six per cent of 65–79-year-old respondents. Under 35-year-olds, the survey also found, were the most predisposed not only to tolerate violence against women, but also to tolerate all sorts of violence.

Misogynistic views, in turn, were most prevalent among the youngest group of respondents, 18–24-year-olds.

Kakkola on Tuesday stated that the alarming findings call for changes to education, legislation and influences drawn from social media. It is also necessary, she added, to increase the availability of interventions and support services to both the victims and perpetrators of violence – instead of scaling back such services as the government has proposed.

“It is important to stir up societal debate and have a better understanding of the root causes of violence,” she said.

“We are concerned particularly about how the modern-day media culture and social media influence attitudes and the normalisation of violence. Everyone, including men, suffer from violence. We want to contribute to society waking up to these shocking attitudes toward women, particularly among young people.”

She also estimated that the results indicate that the task of putting a stop to violence against women is even greater than previously thought.

The survey also appears to reveal a distinction between gender equality and feminism in the minds of men. On one hand, two-thirds of respondents viewed that efforts to promote gender equality also promote the standing of men; on the other, half of respondents gauged that feminist movements restrict the rights of men and only 37 per cent that feminist movements can also promote the standing of men.

Well over half (60%) of respondents additionally viewed that gender equality has already been achieved in Finland.

“[…] If women were to take roles that come more natural to them, it’d also reduce violence significantly. Women pull out the so-called woman card when it benefits them and the equality card [at other times], meaning men are always at a disadvantage, which can lead to violence simply because of frustration,” one respondent analysed.

Aleksi Teivainen – HT