Marriage is a beautiful creation of God, wherein a man and woman take vows to share joys and sorrows for a lifetime. But for many years in India, most of the marriages have been one-sided since only women are asked to make sacrifices for their husbands. Everyone knows about physical abuse and violence that wives undergo and lately, various laws have recognized this issue and acted upon it to protect women. But there is another kind of abuse prevalent in almost every household in India — EMOTIONAL ABUSE.
This kind of abuse has not been recognized much because it is difficult to identify its symptoms. Even their victims are unable to realize what they’re going through because of the manipulation involved. It entails the use of abusive language or derogatory comments, leading to low self-esteem and loss of self-confidence.
In a relationship, self-respect is as important as love. But some men in India have been disrespecting their wives for many years, primarily because they consider women as inferior to them. This belief arises from the fact that they are the bread earners for the family. This, they believe, allows them to have a right to let out their frustration and anger from the workplace on women. Since childhood, most of the boys are pampered and cherished so much so that they start believing that they will always deserve this love and respect, even if they don’t provide this in return. Hence, they believe it is the duty of the wives to bear with all the odds of married life and always try to please their husbands, who have a right to treat them the way they want. All this leads to anxiety, depression, panic attacks, loss of self-esteem, etc, among women.
It is the need of the hour that men realize their mistakes and value their wives and understand that they too work all day to please their family and they too undergo hardships which they never confess to anyone. They need to be acknowledged, loved, and respected for what they do. Here, the parents have to understand and raise their sons the right way and present themselves as good role models for their future relationships. Also, the girls should be taught to not tolerate any kind of disrespect for the sake of their husbands and married life. They should be able to voice out their sorrows and confess their feelings to their spouse. Moreover, parents must support their daughters to grow independent and allow them to be the decision-makers of their own lives so that they can live independently. Hopefully, both men and women would realize the fact that in a marriage, both of them have equal duties, rights, and statures towards each other!