The World Needs More Men Like This

Sometimes it feels like women are the only people talking about domestic violence. This isn’t true of course, and there are many, many men who are touched by domestic violence in their lives—but for whatever reason, few of them speak out about it. It’s powerful to hear anybody, man or woman, speak out against violence, but we can’t help but think that it’s especially important for young men to hear other men talking about this issue.

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Actor (formerly of Star Trek fame) Patrick Stewart recently took to The Guardian to open up about his own harrowing experience with domestic violence in his childhood home. Besides revealing details that we are sure were painful to share with the public, Stewart reiterated the words that every man and woman in the world should hear:

I witnessed terrible things, which I knew were wrong, but there was nowhere to go for help. Worse, there were those who condoned the abuse. I heard police or ambulancemen, standing in our house, say, “She must have provoked him,” or, “Mrs Stewart, it takes two to make a fight.” They had no idea. The truth is my mother did nothing to deserve the violence she endured. She did not provoke my father, and even if she had, violence is an unacceptable way of dealing with conflict. Violence is a choice a man makes and he alone is responsible for it.

After the media storm surrounding the abuse incident involving Douchebag Chris Brown and Rihanna (and the subsequent public reaction after it), it’s more important than ever for young men and women to hear this message. Thank you to Patrick Stewart for being brave enough to say it.