ABSTRACT
Violence within a couple is an almost exclusively male prerogative: intimate partner violence enacted by women, although not entirely absent, is significantly less, both in quantity and in gravity. The difficulty males have in accepting female equality and the change in traditional roles cannot however be invoked to excuse violence and oppressive behaviors. Women that endure violence are in a very difficult position, as their rebellion can elicit more violence, in a crescendo that can end in death. Male violence frequently emerges as a primitive modality when they do not know how to confront the difficulties and dissatisfactions in their relationships. In some cases, violence is the result of a dislocated aggression, provoked by tensions that have origins outside the family. In substance, violent adults have lived their infancy in distorted relationships, and are not capable of nurturing the will to live and build serene and mature affections.
