<p>Actually, I believe abuse can be a byproduct of culture. In patriarchal societies especially, sexual harassment and abuse of women is more widely accepted. I also think that the fact that “family shame” supercedes reporting abuse is a cultural byproduct and encourages propogation of violence towards women.</p>
<p>A major part of feminism and women’s rights movements here in America (which, btw, do not exist in a lot of patriarchal societies) was setting up a framework within our justice system in which abusers can be prosecuted. If a culture exalts the authority of men over women, propogates the notion of “family shame” to such an extent that wives are overlooked, and the justice system is unresponsive to or uneducated about abuse cases…It appears to be impossible to make the argument that abuse against women is not in many ways determined by culture.</p>
<p>The block of text you quoted actually supports the view that culture influences the propogation of domestic violence in some countries.</p>
<p>This is not a stereotype about Muslims, but a statement about societies that are a.) patriarchal and/or b.) have conservative notions of “family shame” that paralyze appropriate action. These items seem characteristic of many Middle Eastern countries nowadays, although that is not to say American society was not like that at one point, either (and in some instances still can be)!</p>