"Hunting for Bambi...."

Apparently, a couple of weeks ago a story broke in Las Vegas about an alleged local business, called “Hunting for Bambi, that sold men the opportunity to hunt nude women with paint-balls. Whether or not the business exists remains to be seen, but violence against women is real. This op-ed on Common Dreams makes the point that the light-hearted media banter about HFB is indicative of the denial and ignorance that perpetuates domestic violence.

...To expose the invisibility of the cultural acceptance of violence against women in an “easier” way, just ask the following question: Would the opening question on the site have been the same if the video had been titled, "Hunting for Muslims?" Or how about, “Hunting for Jews?” or “Hunting for African-Americans?” Or, Hunting for _____________ (insert the name of your favorite minority group). Would it still be depicted as a “big put-on” if named any of these and if it was “only” a video? No outrage? No condemnation? Hardly, there would be collective national and possibly even international outrage if this had been the case. This is not hard to see. Seeing how the same should apply to women, however, reveals the invisibility and unacknowledged cultural acceptance of VAW [violence against women].

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When hearing about someone being abused by a partner, the first question usually asked is, “Well, hell, why doesn’t she just leave?” Well, she doesn't “just leave” for some very good reasons. Reasons, in fact, that reflect her being in her “right mind.” For instance, she will be homeless, she will have no financial resources, her children will have no home, their school will be disrupted, she will be seen as "breaking up the family," she may be threatened with deportation, she might be reported to child protective services, her family of origin will disown her, her church group will shun her, she will be "sinning," etc.

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Actually, the question of “Why doesn’t she just leave?” is the entirely wrong question to ask. The real question is, "Why isn't the abuser held accountable?" Why does everyone expect the victim of the abuse to do something about it? When it comes to other violent crimes, do we expect the victim to do something about it? Imagine someone having just been assaulted in their home during a burglary and the police saying to the victim, "Sorry, Mr. Smith, you have to leave your home now because you have been assaulted and your home has been burglarized." Huh? Or what about a neighbor, after finding out that someone down the street had his car stolen, asking the question, “Good lord, we all know that this is a high crime area, why doesn’t John just move?”

Go read the full story here.