what does it mean"at the hands of"?

[helloemily]

I was confused by "at the hands of "in the setence "What makes this fat curve so surprising is that fat people is a horrible time at the hands of society".Thank you !

[nightingale]

This is what I look up in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary:
If you experience something at the hands of somebody or at somebody's hands, they are the cause of it.

[helloemily]

As a chinese girl ,I'm much obliged to receive you reply after I posted my question.If I did'nt express my thanks in time,please forgive me . Because I'm a college student,and we just use the computers at a fixed time in the class.
Now best wishes!