[This article was originally published on The Medium]
In 2013, Layla Moran and her ex-boyfriend were arrested after a Liberal Democrats Party Conference. The two of them were getting into a dispute, which culminated when Layla slapped her ex across the face. The two of them were released from jail after charges were dropped. This caused some controversy. A lot of people brought up their displeasure of how Layla had been involved in a domestic violence dispute.
In 2019 (6 years after the incident), Layla decided to make a statement about the incident. She claimed that she felt “threatened” in the heat of the moment. A lot of her fellow female associates defended her. They claimed that “admitting her wrongs” was good enough. And that she doesn’t need any further explanations. They just decided that since the story was acceptable enough to them, everyone else can stop criticizing her.
However, a lot of people were not satisfied with her response. And they definitely weren’t satisfied with the dismissive attitudes that her political colleagues were taking. This led to many people bringing attention to the double standard of how female perpetrators of domestic violence are treated. If men committed even a slap, the entire nation would be in an uproar. There would be heavy condemnations from the news media, journalists, politicians, and protesters. But it was a woman that committed a slap, so they don’t care.
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown decided to take the problem a step further. She wrote an article downplaying domestic violence against men by comparing it to violence against women. It’s called “Layla Moran was wrong to hit her partner. But domestic violence by women is not the same as domestic violence by men”. She essentially acknowledged the violence against men is wrong. But she set a standard about how domestic violence is only important if your life is in danger. And, of course she set that standard because men are biologically stronger than women and can cause more damage-therefore shifting the topic to domestic violence against women. She went on to attempt to shame the men who dared to speak out against Layla and her actions. She was trying to turn the perpetrator into the victim for the backlash she was receiving. It’s disgusting and outright distasteful on Yasmin’s part.
Of course this article caused a lot of backlash as well. Unfortunately, if you have lived in this universe for 15+ years, you know how this goes. Nothing will happen. Layla will continue to be a member of the Liberal Democrats. Yasmin will never be called to explain why she wrote such horrific nonsense in her article. Layla will continue to have large amounts of support from women. Just like Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Cardi B, Amber Heard, and the like. This double standard of physical and sexual violence that men have to face will continue.
And, it’s honestly sad. Men can suffer domestic violence at the hands of women. And people will excuse it. They will rationalize it. They will dismiss it. And after words, they will move on with their lives as if this situation never happened. This is just a small insight on what it means to be a male who suffers domestic violence.
Source (s)
Original Article: https://inews.co.uk/opinion/comment/layla-moran-lib-dems-domestic-violence-273416
Yasmin’s Article: https://inews.co.uk/opinion/comment/layla-moran-lib-dems-domestic-violence-273416
HuMANity 