The reality of domestic violence.

Let me preface this by stating that I am neither a men's rights activist or a feminist.  However, I am a humanist.  As such the recent surge in feminism in the atheist movement and the counter surge for men's rights has intrigued me.  Ideally, these two issues should not be seen as contrasting.  Feminism is about furthering gender equality with a focus on female rights issues.  Men's rights activism is about furthering gender equality with a focus on male rights issues.  Unfortunately, the "you're with us or against us" stance of the FTB and A+ crowd has created a schism that doesn't need to exist.  This post will be my attempt at addressing one issue that both sides are misrepresenting: domestic violence.

Contrary to the often spouted feminist line, women are as likely to resort to violence in relationships as men are (http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm).  Men are not violent aggressors and women are not passive victims.

Contrary to the MRA line, men do not suffer as greatly from domestic violence as women do (http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/datasources.html).  Women are more than twice as likely to receive injuries and 4 times as likely to be killed from a partner.

The reality of the situation is, in my opinion, quite obvious to anyone.  Men tend to be larger and stronger.  As such, a man is more likely to cause harm when violent than a woman is.  This does not excuse the women though.  A woman assaulting a man is just as guilty as a man assaulting a woman.  Being larger and stronger does not justify the misappropriate outlook of being more prone to violence.  If women were larger than men, men would be the ones being seriously injured and dying from abuse.  This is not simply my opinion, it is what the actual evidence states.

If anyone actually can point out where I am wrong, I would appreciate the discourse.  However, I do not think I am wrong.