When trying to have an informed discussion about how much violence and sexual assault is perpetuated by men in society with other men it’s almost always a very frustrating experience. The response tends to be “men are the victims of that violence more than women”. As if that negates the issues somehow.
Yet to my mind that makes it even more important for them to discuss it in an open way. If men make up the majority of victims of violence at the hands of other men then they have a vested interest in helping to find actual ways to tactile the problem. Instead they use that statistic to shut down useful dialogue.
It would be refreshing to be able to discuss this with men without the defensiveness and minimising.