Battering (domestic violence against women) is a learned behaviour, no link to alcohol consumption

Submitted by maltmarch on Sat, 02/17/2007 - 3:21pm. ::

I have a very simple question to ask the pro-prohibitionists.  If they ever do consume alcohol, will they follow it up by beating up their spouse?  Well, all the people I know who drink certainly don't. 

Pro-prohibitionists claim that domestic violence seems to be a direct result of alcohol abuse, but some researchers question the cause-and-effect relationship.  Studies of domestic violence frequently document high rates of alcohol involvement, and alcohol use is known to impair judgment, reduce inhibition, and increase aggression. Alcoholism and child abuse, including incest, seem connected also.

But those who study the dynamics of domestic abuse say there is no real research to indicate that alcoholism causes domestic violence.  Although research indicates that among men who drink heavily, there is a higher rate of assaults resulting in injury, the majority of men classified as high-level drinkers do not abuse their partners. According to the Women's Rural Advocacy Program in the US, no evidence supports a cause-and-effect relationship between the two problems. The relatively high incidence of alcohol abuse among men who batter must be viewed as the overlap of two separate social problems, it claims.

Pro-prohibitionists must realize this in order to address the issues they are truly concerned about €“ otherwise their actions are not only going to waste, but are detrimental to the progress and social welfare of the state.  Some of the revenue derived from the relaxation of prohibition can be used to impart education in the state for domestic violence, rather than living in self-denial that domestic violence currently does not take place in Gujarat. Besides, alcohol consumption in Gujarat will take place whether or not there is prohibition, and I hope the pro-prohibitionists start tackling the issues of domestic violence as an issue in itself, rather than take the easy way out and wrongfully blame it on the bottle. Moreover, alcoholism in itself only affects a small portion of the society, whereas prohibition affects the entire state and impinges upon rights of all individuals.