omen,’ Pope John Paul II says that it is a sinful situation when a woman is, “the object of domination and male possession.” He affirms that the passage at 3:16 of Genesis (“Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you”) does not mean that men are created to rule over women. On the contrary, the “ruling over” that we have seen in history is the result of sin and broken relationships between God and humanity and among people. All parents want their children to do the right thing, so when a child doesn’t eat or dress properly, a mother or father may be upset or even mad. But, an abuser doesn’t need a reason to be mad or hit. When an abuser gets violent, it is because of something that he or she sees, feels, or thinks. It is never because of something the child does. It is the parents’ role to provide for their children’s physical needs. They must protect their children from physical harm and provide for their children’s needs for love, attention, and affection. Parents must protect their children from emotional harm and provide moral and ethical guidelines. Violence is only one method abusers use to get their way. They also threaten and deprive people of things they need to live, like money or food. Child abusers may lock children in the house during the day with no one to watch or feed them. A woman abuser may take his wife’s money and pull out the phone. In many cases, the father is the active abuser and the mother is the silent partner. However, this is by no means the only family scenario. In some families, the mother is the active abuser and the father is the passive one. Most of the time, child and woman abuse do not occur together, however, in almost half of all homes where there are abused children, the mother is also abused. One common belief is that when a husband hits his wife, she will then beat her children. Sometimes this is ...
