BBC3
show aimed to shed light on public perceptions of violent women
But
documentary received criticism for casting blame on outside factors
Tweeters
were 'disappointed that it was sympathetic towards abusers'
By
Caroline Garnar: Viewers of a BBC
Three documentary which looked at the rise of female violence have
taken to Twitter to criticise the show for offering excuses for the
perpetrators.
The
Rise of Female Violence, which aired last night at 9pm, aimed to
highlight society's skewed perceptions of female-on-male violence
versus-male-on female violence.
But
by offering alcohol and 'low self respect' as reasons behind women's
violent behaviour, people took to Twitter to argue: 'People don't look
for all these excuses when a man attacks a woman. So why are we making
excuses for women's bad behaviour?'
Offering alcohol and 'low self
respect' as reasons behind women's violent behaviour Tweeters argued
'People don't look for all these excuses when a man attacks a woman. So
why are we making excuses for women's bad behaviour?'
Holly Hunt thought the show was good
for highlighting the issue, she added she was, 'Disappointed that it was
sympathetic towards abusers! Males wouldn't have that luxury'
The
programme, presented by BBC reporter Alys Harte, looked at women who
beat their boyfriends, those involved in drunken brawls and teenage girl
gangs to find out if females are getting angrier and, if so, why.
But the show has been criticised for offering excuses for women who act violently.
'There's
one obvious factor to blame: more of us girls are drinking heavily,'
says Alys over footage of 'two for one' offers at bars and a waitress on
the dancefloor selling a tray of Jaegerbombs.
'I
feel like #riseoffemaleviolence is just blaming alcohol. Sure it makes
you violent but some women don't need booze to make them violent,'
Tweeted Charlie Adams.
Referring to 24-year-old Izzy Ash
Lucas Tweeted, 'If you react in such a violent way when you drink booze,
that's clearly a sign to stop boozing'
'I feel like #riseoffemaleviolence is
just blaming alcohol. Sure it makes you violent but some women don't
need booze to make them violent,' said Charlie Adams
Chloe B agreed: 'Why is it always blamed on alcohol? Downing 3 blue WKDs is no excuse for vile behaviour.'
Alys spoke to Izzy for whom 'getting drunk and getting into fights has become a way of life'.
Aged
24, she reckon she has around 30 convictions for alcohol-related
violence, and her problem started when she attended university.
But Tweeters were unsympathetic.
'If
you're violent when drunk, why would you continue to drink?' asked Rose
Jessica, later adding: 'The solution would be to stop drinking
alcohol?'
Ash
Lucas agreed: 'If you react in such a violent way when you drink booze,
that's clearly a sign to stop boozing', while Just Jorden offered up
the obvious, 'Maybe.... maybe you should STOP DRINKING Izzy!'
And
it wasn't just alcohol that took the blame. The show took hefty chunks
of time looking at the reasons behind female violence.
'Behind the story of every violent woman there's a story of low self respect or self harm,' said Alys.
And it wasn't just alcohol that took
the blame. The show took hefty chunks of time looking at the reasons
behind female violence. Chloe Price complained, 'I wish we'd heard more
from victims instead of trying to explain away the perpetrator's vile
behaviour'
Audrey accused the show of claiming
female violence had 'nothing to do with personal responsibility but all
to do with external causes/issues'
And this in particular riled Tweeters as it made the show appear to view the female perpetrators in a more sympathetic light.
'People
don't look for all these excuses when a man attacks a woman. So why are
we making excuses for women's bad behaviour?' asked Kay Whittle.
While
Holly Hunt thought the show was good for highlighting the issue, she
added she was, 'Disappointed that it was sympathetic towards abusers!
Males wouldn't have that luxury.'
Audrey
accused the show of claiming female violence had 'nothing to do with
personal responsibility but all to do with external causes/issues'
and Chloe Price complained, 'I wish we'd heard more from victims instead
of trying to explain away the perpetrator's vile behaviour.'
As
women account for 15 per cent of arrests in England and Wales, but less
than five per cent of the prison population, the programme also asked
if females get off more lightly than males when it comes to punishment.
'Wounding with intent and GBH? Seriously? She tried to kill him!' protested Christina Healey
The programme asked if females get
off more lightly than males when it comes to punishment. Grace Payton
think so. She stated, 'I think the law should be tougher on women, they
shouldn't be allowed to get away with such horrific crimes'
Alys followed the case of Crystal Smith, who was accused of attempted murder after she stabbed her husband Simon.
Crystal
was found guilty of the lesser charges of wounding with intent and
grievous bodily harm, and sentenced to nine years in prison.
'Wounding with intent and GBH? Seriously? She tried to kill him!' protested Christina Healey.
While
Grace Payton stated, 'I think the law should be tougher on women, they
shouldn't be allowed to get away with such horrific crimes.'
Flowers had '*hugs*' for Simon who
was stabbed by his wife, thanking him for sharing his story and praising
BB3 for highlighting the issue
Indeed, a number of Tweeters felt the
documentary was a needed one. 'Domestic violence against men is a big
yet often hidden issue. Well done #bbc3 for highlighting
#femaleviolence,' said Laura Nelson
Meanwhile Saffron and Alastair Sloan
appeared to have their minds changed by the documentary. Saffron called
the show an 'unbelievable eye opener'...
... while Alastair Tweeted, 'Had
written off female-on-male domestic violence as an anti-feminist
fantasy. This BBC3 doc on #FemaleViolence suggests otherwise. Shocking.'
Flowers had '*hugs*' for Simon, thanking him for sharing his story and praising BB3 for highlighting the issue.
Indeed, a number of Tweeters felt the documentary was a needed one.
'Domestic
violence against men is a big yet often hidden issue. Well done #bbc3
for highlighting #femaleviolence,' said Laura Nelson
Meanwhile Saffron and Alastair Sloan appeared to have their minds changed by the documentary.
Saffron
called the show an 'unbelievable eye opener', and Alastair Tweeted,
'Had written off female-on-male domestic violence as an anti-feminist
fantasy. This BBC3 doc on #FemaleViolence suggests otherwise.
Shocking.'
No comments:
Post a Comment