“BOYS as young as nine will be targeted in the new fight against domestic violence.
Social media will also become the new way to deliver the Federal Government’s $30 million education campaign.
The Assistant Minister for Women, Michaelia Cash, has revealed boys aged between nine and 12, non-English-speaking women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are among the groups chosen for special focus …
We want them to understand the girl standing next to you is the same as the boy standing next to you,” she said.” (Source)
With respect Minister, but that is a nonsense. If you really believed that to be true then both boys and girls would be given the same instruction. In other words there would be a corresponding expectation that girls/women treat men/boys with respect. But no, that is not what is being proposed.
So congratulations Minister for swallowing the feminist narrative hook, line and sinker. In so doing you are complicit in the ongoing process of downplaying female perpetration of violence (increasing), and ignoring the many male victims of DV.
Firstly, a few words about Quentin Bryce. Quentin is a former Governor-General who recently chaired a state Taskforce into Family Violence the report for which was released in February 2015 (see related blog posts here and here).
Quentin deserves our thanks for performing that role without sticking out her hand for the sort of generous compensation demanded by other prominent talking heads of the Australian Domestic Violence Industry. Quentin was ill-advised, however, to issue statements during the course of the Inquiry that were pre-emptive and prejudicial, and which clearly signalled her own personal anti-male and pro-feminist agenda (example1, example2).
In the article linked above Quentin reiterates a key element of the feminist narrative as it is applied to the issue of domestic violence, that:
“Domestic and family violence is caused by unequal distribution of power and resources between men and women, it’s about the rigid gender roles and stereotypes that characterise our society, and the culture and the attitudes that support violence against women”
Domestic violence does indeed involve an unequal distribution of power, but where feminists get it wrong is that the man need not be the partner wielding the power. The feminist perspective also ignores the reality of domestic violence affecting same-sex couples.
Feminists cling to this notion however because it dovetails with a theoretical framework that they rely upon so heavily, known as the Duluth model.
According to the Duluth Model, “women and children are vulnerable to violence because of their unequal social, economic, and political status in society.”The program’s philosophy is intended to help batterers work to change their attitudes and personal behavior so they would learn to be nonviolent in any relationship. Its philosophy is illustrated by the “Power and Control Wheel,” a graphic typically displayed as a poster in participating locations. (Source)
What galls me most, however, is the mind-numbing hypocrisy of feminists asserting that the application of “rigid gender roles and stereotypes” promotes domestic violence, whilst their ongoing portrayal of men as perpetual perpetrators relies upon applying those self-same roles and stereotypes. Cognitive dissonance anyone?
(NB: The following is a working draft only at this point in time – see **)
In 2014 the New South Wales government implemented a program to rationalise the operation of a large number of publicly-funded domestic violence refuges and homeless shelters.
It’s my understanding that the review process was primarily driven by a desire to improve the system of management both at the state level, and at the level of individual facilities. Many of these facilities were being run by feminists essentially as private clubhouses based on individual rules and operating procedures. The refusal by feminist groups to provide accommodation for males in refuges was one of a number of contentious issues in this regard. Not surprisingly, the government sought transparency and accountability, and to maximise use of the network of refuges/shelters within the context of an agreed set of uniform standards.
Central to this reform process was a new policy framework entitled ‘Going Home Staying Home‘ which is summarized in this fact-sheet, and with many further details available here.
The review of refuges and shelters culminated in a tender process based on a set of specifications designed to ensure that refuges operated lawfully, and that broader community expectations were met. Feminists groups made a tactical error in refusing to properly engage with this process and/or commit to meet the required standards. They consequently fared poorly, with non-feminist organisations winning most of the available tenders.
Rather than admitting their own culpability, feminists chose to misrepresent the revised arrangements as indicative of a heartless government “closing” refuges to save money, before setting about sabotaging the efforts of the incumbent management groups.
A similar situation occurred when the feminist lobby accused the Western Australian government of terminating its trial of specialist domestic violence courts for financial reasons, whereas in fact they did so because the operation of the courts was found to be “counter-productive“.
Any government contemplating standing up to the Domestic Violence Industry needs to be mindful of the feminist modus operandi. In the NSW situation there were many millions of dollars of public funds on the table, and the feminist lobby was never going to bow out without a bitter stoush. Political happenings at both the state and federal level played in their favour, however, undermining the courage and conviction previously displayed by the NSW Government.
During the election campaign the Premier of NSW, clearly desperate after the ALP landslide in Queensland, actively wooed the feminist lobby. He made a number of commitments before being re-elected, and as a result it now appears that we will witness a reversal of the reforms of 2014.
The following series of articles provides readers with a time-line, albeit mostly framed according to the feminist perspective, of what occurred in NSW from May 2014 to the present day:
“In June, the NSW government released the results of a tender for three years of funding for Going Home Staying Home, its new policy for homelessness and domestic violence services. 27 women’s refuges, some of which had been open for decades, lost their funding …
Overall the NSW government has increased funding for homelessness to $515 million. But more significantly, it has dramatically changed the way it funds service.
336 funding agreements have been reduced to just 149 separate packages, which include anything from one to 13 organisations offering a range of services.
A new emphasis on local partnerships within 13 NSW regions meant that many tenders were hastily scrambled together to fit into the new funding requirement.
For women’s refuges, the news was bound to be bad, as 59 different women’s services were spread across different packages, often competing against each other.
Of 59 applications that included women’s refuges, only 32 were successful. To an outsider, this initially looks like 27 refuges will close, including Elsie’s which was one of the unsuccessful ones.
But the truth is more complicated. Some unsuccessful services are in the process of being taken over by winning tenderers, and some winning tenderers are looking rocky as the reality of making partnerships work hits home.”
The truth appears fairly simple to me … the NSW Government increased rather than decreased funding for shelters, the previous system of funding was extremely unwieldy, and in most cases shelters were not closed but rather placed under new management.
“Angry members of the state’s peak body for domestic violence have issued a vote of no confidence in the organisation, alleging mismanagement had resulted in the closure of a number of specialist women’s refuges.”
After reading Wendy’s article one is left with the impression that facility management problems only emerged after the feminists were ejected. I’d suggest that was not the case, and that significant problems were likewise evident in the management of facilities pre-June 2014. It’s unfortunate that journalists chose to look the other way at the time, and it also tells us a great deal about the priorities of current-day feminists.
The picture presented in the media is that any management deficiencies exposed in feminist-controlled facilities can be sheeted home to inadequate government support. Similar problems occurring in non-feminist run facilities are, however, a different and much more serious matter. The key factors in those situations are more likely to be reported as, for example, a “lack of specialised skills”, a lack of understanding”, and insufficient female focus.
And now I suspect we shall see the funding faucet once again thrown open for feminist groups, that an inordinate amount of money will be wasted or otherwise mis-directed, and that we shall still not see the provision of spaces with refuges for male victims of domestic violence.
(**I’ve written to the relevant state agency seeking further any information concerning both the background to the tender process and the tender process itself. I also want to confirm the figures as to how many, if any, refuges were actually closed versus how many refuges were created or expanded in capacity. Once this information is received I will amend this blog post accordingly. I would also welcome any relevant information that might be volunteered by readers)
Some other papers concerning the mismanagement of Domestic Violence refuges and homeless shelters (outside Australia)
Reinvigorating the domestic violence sector: Systematically addressing conflict, power and practitioner turnover This doctorate thesis from December 2009 discusses mismanagement and bullying within the domestic violence industry with the laughable conclusion being that the solution is to “re-invigorate the feminist principles and philosophy that has traditionally guided the sector”. Isn’t that a bit like saying the molestation of children in orphanages is best addressed by ‘re-invigorating the Catholic principles and philosophy that has traditionally guided the sector’?
Indeed, in both cases we have a group within society that has been placed on a pedestal and absolved of the level of oversight and accountability that would otherwise be considered reasonable.
On that note, this paper argues that given the failure of the feminist-driven approach to DV, that it’s time to give others a chance.
Domestic violence organisations in the USA don’t provide adequate services to male victims as they are required to do by law, and no-one does anything about it – See the related reddit discussion thread
Elsewhere in this blog you might be interested in:
Whilst some – most notably those on the payroll of the Domestic Violence Industry – are praising this is an appropriate response to the level of public concern about violent crime, others like myself are highly sceptical.
My take on this move is that it is motivated partly by the desire to be ‘seen to be doing something’, and partly as a sop to the feminist lobby. Surely only the most hard-line feminist could seriously believe that creating a new ministry will, in itself, make any significant difference in the ongoing quest to reduce the incidence of sexual/domestic violence?
So how about we take our foot off the ‘we spend because we care’ pedal, and pause a moment to ponder questions such as:
What more can be achieved with a new minister/ministry, than could be achieved in the absence of such changes? Is this administrative change really necessary in terms of delivering the sorts of tangible benefits that the community wants?
If there exists a sincere belief that a new ministry will expedite progress then, using the same logic, why not create a Minister for Reducing Traffic Accidents and/or Minister for Finding a Cure for Cancer?
Will this new initiative to anything to help break down the current substantial extent of gender bias which has seen both domestic violence and sexual assault portrayed as women’s problems with men as their root cause? Will, finally, serious attention be given to female perpetrators and their male victims?
How much will the creation of a new Ministry cost? Will it be cost-effective?
On that last point I can tell you that the costs of such a seemingly simple administrative change will far exceed what most people would imagine. I would guesstimate this to be in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. And I think I can safely state that, barring perhaps an FOI request, you will NOT subsequently read about this impost in the media.
What then are some of these additional costs that are about to be borne by the taxpayers of NSW?
Creation of new corporate logo
Design and printing of business cards for all employees
Design, production and installation of new building/office signage
Production of new stationary, brochures and other printed material
Production of new corporate gifts and products such as coffee mugs with logo, etc
The destruction/disposal of pre-existing stationary, corporate livery, etc
Updating of web site and any other online presence
Employment of new staff/redeployment of existing staff/redundancies
Bear in mind, please, that each dollar spent (wasted) to pay for the creation of a new ministry means one less dollar available to actually address the central issues of concern … reducing domestic violence, and treating/supporting its perpetrators and victims.
In this post I address the topic of murder and suicide occurring within the context of intimate partner violence. There are also separate posts dealing with suicide, and with the DV-related deaths of children.
As readers might well be aware, significant numbers of men, women and children lose their lives each year by way of incidents related to domestic violence. As in the case of non-lethal injuries and mental anguish, feminists portray women’s deaths as constituting the “overwhelming majority“, and then use this as justification for ignoring the deaths of men.
In 2015 feminist activists operating under the banner ‘Destroy the Joint’, established an ongoing tally of the number of Australian women allegedly killed in DV situations. They then disseminated this data throughout the media, generating considerable publicity using the tagline “two women each week” (are being killed by their male partners). They claimed that there had been a doubling in the rate of men murdering their partners, and that domestic violence was twice as bad in 2015 as it was in 2014.
Even if their figures were drawn from official sources it would have been problematic to draw conclusions from statistics relating to short periods of time, as the results for the period in question may differ greatly from the long-term average.
We do know however that when averaged over the preceding twelve month period the corresponding figures were (approx.) one women killed every seven days versus one man killed every ten days. We also know that, at that time, 40% of homicide victims (occurring in a situation of domestic violence) were male.
(Postscript April 2016: The report of the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence included the following statistic, “Data from the Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths shows that, of the 288 deaths of relevance to the review between 2000 and 2010, 138 were men and 150 were women (that is, 48 per cent male)”. (Volume 5, p207)
It is important to acknowledge that neither the ‘Destroy the Joint’ Facebook page, nor the various spin-off media stories, made mention of:
the corresponding number of men killed by their intimate partners or family members
the number of women killed by other women
the number of suicides linked to domestic violence (predominantly involving men)
On that last dot point, it’s worth reading this 2010 paper by Richard L Davis which addresses the relationship between domestic violence and suicide. (Postscript: This 2018 article concerns the suicide of a woman following the DV-related murder of her children. As is typically the case in MSM articles, the death of men in similar circumstances was overlooked.)
Another issue with the ‘Destroy the Joint’ tally is that (AFAIK) none of the cases it reported, at the time of writing this post, had been the subject of completed court proceedings. As a consequence it is not entirely certain that the deceased women were killed by a man, and/or that the deaths occurred within a context of domestic violence.
Furthermore, at some unspecified point in early 2015 (I suspect when deaths dropped below the previously claimed weekly average) the ‘Destroy the Joint’ tally was quietly expanded to include all women who were murdered (i.e. not just partner violence).
Jasmin Newman subsequently established the ‘Destroy the Narrative’ Facebook page to keep track of the corresponding number of male deaths at the hands of women. In December 2016 Jasmin published this paper regarding her work on this issue, which I strongly recommend you read now.
(Postscript: Sadly, Jasmin discontinued her online MRA efforts due to a concerted campaign of harassment by people opposed to her views. With regards to deaths related to DV, a new tally is being maintained by a group known as Domestic Violence Awareness Australia. Time will tell with regards to the longevity and reliability of this data source.)
Turning now to another issue. one of the statistical sources cited by ‘Destroy the Joint’ was this report by the NSW Coroner (Refer appendix C bar chart this is in the report on page 59 or 75 depending on how you read page numbers).
On first inspection it appears quite damning in relation to the culpability of men for DV-related deaths, but on further review there are a number of provisos that must be taken into consideration including:
the small sample size
the skewing of the results by the much higher incidence of DV-related deaths in the indigenous community
the fact that men are significantly less likely to report being subjected to domestic violence, and therefore many of the male perpetrators cited in the report may in fact have been victims of domestic violence (either as children, as adults, or both).
I’ll close this post with this comment contributed by ‘Phil’ in response to this article:
In order to provide solutions to any societal problem, the first step is having a complete understanding of the problem, all the relevant & accurate information, and an ability to see the bigger picture of the issue. It also requires a unified approach, appropriate systems in place to embrace & encourage change, and a shift in mindset that brings long-term & sustained behavioural change.
A great example of this is drink-driving, which is now seen as irresponsible, selfish, dangerous, disgraceful & a condemned behaviour after being culturally accepted for many years, until the effects of such actions, portrayed the destruction it was having on many lives. This change was brought about through the grief, heartache & suffering associated with losing a loved one and was driven by the love & compassion people felt for each other, their family & the broader community. Even though it was predominately men who were guilty of drink-driving, it wasn’t tackled as a gendered issue because society demanded a holistic approach to the problem, they wanted this senseless behaviour eradicated, no matter who was doing it and certainly wasn’t propelled by hatred or condemnation of one sex & not the other.
So, why has this approach not been taken when it comes to domestic violence? Why is one gender singled out as being the problem, when everyone with half a brain knows that both males & females are capable of being perpetrators of the vile acts of behaviour? How are we, as a society, meant to really eradicate this behaviour when blatant misrepresentation of the truth is communicated by groups hell-bent on only recognising some victims & perpetrators and not all? When did domestic violence become a political pawn used to generate votes & financial windfalls and one that promotes much debate & hatred, instead of a people focussed, behavioural problem that requires love & respect for fellow human beings to be solved?
It’s a figure quoted by media outlets, politicians & domestic violence advocates – 79 women killed due to domestic violence last year (2015) and the inference that these deaths occurred by their male partners. This is the figure devised by the Facebook page, Destroy the Joint {1}, who maintains a body count of women killed in Australia due to violence against them.
On September 24th 2015, newly appointed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a new $100 million domestic violence package with former Australian of the Year & self-appointed expert of domestic violence, Rosie Batty, Turnbull stated in his press conference that 63 women had been killed to date in 2015. This gave the perception that all of these deaths had occurred due to domestic violence and at the hands of a current or former male partner of the deceased.
But when you look into these deaths in detail, you will find that the figure quoted is more propaganda by the “radical feminist” brigade who are insistent on only recognising female victims of domestic violence and ensure funding is siphoned through their sexist organisations. Of the 63, less than half were found to be killed by their current or former male partner (44%) and in total, 60% of these deaths were committed by male perpetrators known to the deceased.
I am in no way trying to minimize the impact of these tragedies as any life taken is a vile act of brutality towards another human being, what I am highlighting though is the gross misrepresentation of data that is being communicated to only further their own cause – not actually provide solutions to ending Australia’s domestic violence crisis other than to falsely propagate that it is a “gendered issue”.
Upon further analysis of the 79 women killed last year, here are my findings (based on information provided by ‘Destroy the Joint’):
43% killed by current or former male partner (34 in total) 16.5% killed by known male (13) 13.9% killed by a female (11) 11.4% killed by unknown male (9) 8.9% killed by either victims son, brother or father (7) 6.3% killed by an unknown perpetrator (5)
From the information provided & the perception of all these women being killed due to intimate partner violence being driven by various outlets, this represents an over inflation of the figures by a mammoth 132%! Destroy the Joint claims at least 75% {2} of these deaths are perpetrated by males known to the female victim but the figure actually equates to 68.4% and again their accuracy is found to be questionable. This is especially damaging when it is being used as “factual” information by government agencies, domestic violence groups, & prominent media outlets that inform the public, when analysis shows the information to be incorrect.
Paramount to solving any problem is having the correct details, being truthful in your communications and having a thorough understanding the issue at hand. With embellished & distorted information like this being used, clearly this is not about solving domestic violence holistically, merely being used as a catalyst to gain further funding.
{1} https://www.facebook.com/notes/934084536639291/ https://www.facebook.com/DestroyTheJoint/ {2} Destroy the Joint disclaimer – “Please note: We do not confine our count to only deaths attributed as domestic or family violence, as we believe all violent deaths targeted against women are the result of societal misogyny. Most of these cases are subject to court proceedings but we do know that in at least 75 per cent of the cases reported from 2012 to 2015, the victim knew her alleged killer. We include women killed by other women (lateral violence). Their relatively small but equally sad number confirms that most violence against women is perpetrated by men.”
Recently, I was viciously attacked for the post I made scrutinising the claims by Destroy the Joint about the women killed in violent circumstances last year. These attacks were cold, calculating, methodical, vile & extremely derogatory towards myself but worse still, my family & in particular, my children. It appears that I may have hit a nerve by revealing the truth about the misrepresentation of the information provided by them and the perception that there were 79 women killed in domestic violence scenarios last year.
Normally, I am not bothered by these types of attacks as they occur on such a regular basis and I have become desensitised to the constant taunts I receive. But, these were different, they were filled with so much hatred & vile language that I found myself a bit shaken by them and was appalled that some felt it warranted to continue this vitriol towards my children when I was not retaliating to their relentless abuse.
This type of toxic behaviour is quickly becoming normal, especially in the world of social media, with people spewing hatred towards one another purely because of a difference of opinion on a certain subject. Is this the type of behaviour, values & morals we want instilled in our next generation? Are we, as a society, truly considering the long-term impact this will have on future generations and teaching them to be accustomed with hatred instead of love? In order to overcome this problem of domestic violence, the solution cannot be based on hatred between the genders – it requires solutions based on love, respect, compassion, understanding & acceptance of every human being regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race or religion.
I will leave you with a quote from the remarkable Nelson Mandela to ponder – “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
(Postscript February 2020: Whilst most articles about DV-related domestic violence still don’t bother to provide corresponding statistics for male deaths, we are told that ‘Australia is a nation of dead women, and we’re becoming numb to it‘. The level of feminist hypocrisy and disconnect remains staggering.)
(Postscript May 2020: I just learnt today – not from the mainstream media – that the number of women killed, in the UK, by their partner was now at a 40 year low – Source)
Other related references, including DV-related murders that you are unlikely to read about in the ‘Destroy the Joint‘ page – or in overseas equivalents such as, for example, @CountDeadWomen in the UK:
*Anything that might be put down to illness (poison) *Or accident (car, fire in bed, pushing) *Proxy violence (hitmen, white knight, swatting) or *Drive him to suicide. Or failing that, stab him, say you were abused, & label it self-defense.
Outcast powderkeg men, by Bettina Arndt (22 April 2022) What factors drive men to commit murder after their marriage falls apart? Could changes to the police & justice system prevent such murders occurring?
Are all missing persons female? (17 March 2022) USA. This is not specifically related to DV murders, but rather to the prevailing practice of ignoring or minimising male victims.
Lethal lovers: National strategy needed to end domestic homicides (22 February 2022) The feminist perspective, which continues to be to ignore female perpetrators and their many male & female victims. A more detailed article in the Canberra Times, addressing the same topic can be found here.
The forgotten victims of Australia’s female killings epidemic (6 May 2021) Now, for balance, let’s throw in a feminist perspective from Candace Sutton. Can you spot the difference?
‘There are more male victims of domestic violence than we think‘ An article by Janet Fife-Yeomans in the Daily Telegraph (23 February 2021) Australia. According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 61 of the 146 people killed in domestic-violence related homicides in New South Wales were men (i.e. 42%).
Spotlight on why men kill partners (21 April 2020) This research project represents a collaboration between the Australian Institute of Criminology and Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS). Clearly women killing men is not that big a deal (?!)
Woman accused of stabbing partner to death claims self-defence (21 January 2020) We will see how this case concludes, but obviously when men are consistently portrayed as violent and abusive, then an argument of self-defence is more likely to be convincing.
The reckoning: One city, four murders (18 October 2019) By Richard Guilliatt. This is not specifically about DV-related murders, but addresses some interesting and related issues
“While it’s well-known women are at risk of being killed by an intimate male partner at separation or divorce, my analysis shows that some men are at risk of death at the hands of a current or former female partner in certain situations, like financial insecurity such as the drawing up of a new will,” she said.
Media double standards: Where are the panel discussions about vengeful ex-wives who kill their ex-husbands’ new girlfriends? Instead, a story about the ‘tragedy,’ and what a nice teacher the killer was (29 November 2018) Video
Dividing the Sexes: Critique of the Coroner’s Report on Domestic Violence Homicide (3 June 2018) Most DV-related homicides in Australia in the first half of 2018 were committed by women. A reality very much at odds with the misandric messages issued by the feminists who have adopted the Eurydice Dixon tragedy as their current cause celebre.
Joe Cinque’s Consolation: violence, delusion and the question of guilt (11 October 2016) Australia. Friends were told of the impending murder but did nothing – was this an inevitable outcome of community being conditioned to think that female-perpetrated violence is a rare and unlikely aberration.
A cycle of violence: when a woman’s murder is called ‘understandable’, by Laura Bates (27 July 2016) UK. Feminist perspective that ignores the fact that explanations/excuses are also routinely found when women kill their partners (in fact I would suggest that this is more common in such situations)
Domestic violence will flourish because of government funding cuts (2 May 2016) Australia. According to Jenna Price the pussy-pass works in reverse .. men do all the killing but the justice system lets them off the hook. Reality check please. All in all, an extremely misandric article. Reddit discussion thread here.
“The number of women convicted for domestic violence rose by 30% in the year to April 2015, from 3,735 to 4,866. It marks an upward trend – the number of convictions involving female perpetrators is now six times higher than it was ten years ago”
“The reality is 12 people have died in domestic violence [related incidents in 2016] and eight of them have been men. Men are dying at the rate of two to one, but we show only show one male victim out of half a dozen or eight females.” And yet at the same time ‘Destroy the Joint‘ tweeted that nine women had been killed in the same period. Someone’s maths skills are seriously impaired.
“Michelle Davies, domestic abuse strategy manager for Safer Cornwall, said it was “difficult to pinpoint” why more men than women have died in domestic situations in Cornwall over the past five years.”
“In 2015, statistics from the Ministry of Health recorded three women killed in the province of Seville at the hands of their partners or former partners. There is no official count for murdered men, but through the news published by the media know that this crime was the second in 2015 … (In the first case) a neighbor beheaded her husband and then cut the veins.Like the (recent) case, the woman had a mental disorder.” And in a related reddit discussion thread it was noted that:
“As expected, (the) “battered woman” and “mental issues” justifications appear in the news. And as expected, the case is treated as “domestic violence”, not “gender violence”. At least 29 men have been murdered by their partners (and in comparison, 48 women) in Spain this year, according to the press.”
Stop the tide of female blood (11 September 2015) More of the usual gender biased narrative from feminist journo Wendy Tuohy, but do take the time to scan the readers comments
Some other deaths you won’t read about in the ‘Destroy the Joint‘ page involve those men who paid the ultimate price for intervening to protect women who were being assaulted. Some of their stories can be found in this post.
On 25th November 2014 the White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) celebrated its annual ‘White Ribbon Day’, whereupon they beat their chests about the wonderful job they (say they) are doing, and sought to fill their coffers via donations and merchandise sales.
I visited their Facebook page at that time and noticed quite a number of dissenters posting comments there. In true feminist fashion these were slyly removed during the course of the day (as discussed in this blog post). WRC representatives responded to the nay-sayers by castigating them for complaining about WRC’s focus on female victims, and/or by telling them to go and start their own organisation to address violence towards men.
Without doubt there would be many people out there who would say, how could anyone be so mean-spirited as to criticise the White Ribbon Campaign? So what if they focus solely on female victims of domestic violence, at least they are still helping someone? Surely any publicity that raises awareness of the problem of domestic violence is a good thing? Lots of celebrities support WRC so they must be doing something useful otherwise those people wouldn’t risk their reputations, right? Right?
The WRC believes, or at least tries to make others believe, that those opposing it are misogynists who are angry about its sole focus on female victims. In actual fact, in most cases, that is not the root cause of disquiet about their operation.
So, if this issue isn’t the main issue of concern, then what is?
1. WRC’s lack of honesty and transparency, and their censorship, shaming and attacks on others holding alternative views
Publicly, the WRC’s rationale for focusing solely on female victims is based on their claim that the “overwhelming” majority of domestic violence is perpetrated by males upon females. Privately, the driving force behind WRC is its rigid adherence to feminist ideology.
These false assertions have the effect of denying male victims of domestic violence appropriate recognition or support, and of unfairly demonising men in general. Another outcome is the lack of attention given to abusive women through, for example, the provision of behaviour modification programs for female offenders.
Thus the problem is not that the WRC focuses on male violence towards women, but that – for strategic reasons – they fail to acknowledge other significant elements of domestic violence. No, in fact they do more than that. They argue that those whose priorities differ from their own are (at best) ignorant and misguided, and at worst that they are abusers themselves.
The message disseminated by WRC seeks to make a complex social issue appear simple. This is useful in attracting and maintaining the interest, and subsequently the financial support, of the public. Part of this involves inventing a single easily-identifiable bogey-man – the heterosexual male.
WRC’s approach also handily puts the onus for addressing the problem onto men and absolves women of any responsibility in relation to either causing the problem or fixing it.
2. The fact that WRC diverts, both strategically and inadvertently, public and private funds away from programs where they might be used more effectively in the fight against domestic violence and/or in assisting victims of DV
The effects of misrepresentations by WRC, when combined with substantial marketing efforts, political acumen, and a social environment highly supportive of feminism, sees WRC exert a significant influence on government policies and decisions regarding resource allocation to DV.
WRC compromise efforts to reduce domestic violence and assist male victims because they misrepresent both the nature of the problem and the nature of potential solutions. In so doing they side-track us from identifying and implementing more effective solutions. This skews the nature of research undertaken, in turn skewing the nature of support services provided.
WRC are not satisfied for a reasonable share of funds to be directed towards feminist groups like their own, they want all available funds so directed.
Questions have also been raised as to WRC’s ability to competently manage public funds, and the extent to which its operations are financially self-serving. Ironically this is happening at the expense of men, given that men contribute the majority of tax revenue.
According to White Ribbon Australia’s corporate annual report for 2013, they gambled their donations in the stock market and lost one fourth of their current assets! In other words, they lost almost $500,000 AUS playing the stock market with the public’s donations! Here is what their corporate annual report states:
“Total equity declined from $1,193,398 to $751,611 as a result of the trading loss.”
Society’s current predilection for placing feminism and feminist organisations on a pedestal, goes hand in hand with inadequate government oversight and serious lapses in accountability. History has shown us that this type of situation usually ends badly. It is quite simply a scandal waiting to happen. (I talk about this problem in my post on the Domestic Violence Industry)
WRC’s involvement in running programs in schools
White Ribbon’s involvement in running what are essentially feminist indoctrination programs in schools has been a source of considerable concern for many. This is the subject of the sources listed below, and is discussed further in this blog post.
Why does the White Ribbon Campaign make these errors of judgement, and why will it continue to do so?
WRC will continue down its current path because doing so supports feminist ideology and helps grow the influence of that movement, a goal that is of paramount importance to them. As a consequence, targeting anything or anyone that threatens the feminist narrative in relation to domestic violence is accorded a high priority (see my posts on Tanveer Ahmed and Sallee McLaren for example).
Secondly, it is financially lucrative for WRC to continue their current operating model. Misrepresenting the nature of domestic violence, and exaggerating its scale, stimulates further public support and government funding. This then channels additional funds towards themselves, other feminist enterprises and individual feminists (as per my post on the Domestic Violence Industry).
We stop violence at the source. And the source is men (28 June 2016) White Ribbon CEO Libby Davies defends White Ribbon (see article below), and in so doing happily throws men under the bus. Oh, but see the readers comments that follow (240+ at last count), NONE of which support Libby’s misandric stance. Here is a subsequent radio interview with Tom Elliot concerning Libby’s article, with further comments from Tom here.
I first came across this proposal in a post within the Facebook page of the feminist advocacy group ‘Domestic Violence NSW’. I contributed a comment which they quickly removed (as recounted in another of my blog posts), and which I will now re-iterate and expand upon here.
“Women’s access to justice is the key thing and the key things that most women complain about is not being believed, not being heard, not having appropriate support or response.
“That’s one of the key findings of most research, and of course that puts police in the firing line, but one way of alleviating that is to have specially trained police who work in these police stations.”
(Professor Kerry Carrington is Head of the School of Justice, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, and author of Feminism and Global Justice, Routledge, 2015. Her original blog post on this subject can be accessed here)
But Prof. Carrington doesn’t just want specially trained police, she wants specially trained female police. In fact Prof. Carrington’s idea goes even further than that, calling for women-only police stations, a proposal that carries with it more than a whiff of separatism or gender apartheid.
In terms of enhancing the battle against domestic violence, to what extent would Ms. Carrington’s idea contribute above and beyond that which is, or could be, achieved with the existing system of mixed-gender police stations?
It’s probably fair to assume that some women would be more comfortable reporting domestic abuse to female police officers. I certainly understand and support that with respect to (for example) having female officers assist traumatized female rape victims. As a consequence one tangible benefit of women-only police stations could be an increase in the percentage of female victims of domestic violence lodging reports of violence.
But even if that were the case, would these further reported crimes translate into more effective sanctions, and eventually a corresponding reduction in rates of perpetration? I’m not convinced.
And given that the percentage of male victims of domestic violence currently lodging reports is substantially lower than for female victims (7% vs 21%), then perhaps addressing that segment should be accorded a higher priority?
I think we can assume that it is not Ms. Carrington’s intention to press for one male-only police station for every two female-only stations (to reflect the fact that one in three victims of domestic violence are male). Thus the proposal is sexist and discriminatory in that it provides a publicly-funded service for women in the absence of a similar service for men
Another point to consider is that domestic violence is only one of many crimes dealt with by local police stations. Even if women-only police stations were more effective at addressing domestic violence, would it be practical and cost-effective to establish special police stations to tackle one particular crime?
In the broader scheme of things, additional reports of domestic violence might well result in incremental increases in government funding for the domestic violence industry. But one has to ask just how effective has that consortium’s efforts been in reducing the incidence of domestic violence over recent decades? Hardly inspiring, I would suggest.
And what of other potential negative aspects of Ms. Carrington’s suggestion?
It reinforces the false view that women are more empathetic and/or that male police officers are incapable of displaying empathy (even specially trained ones)
It reinforces the false view that domestic violence is limited to men’s violence towards women (and ignores the reality of male victims and female perpetrators)
It reinforces the notion that it is appropriate to have differing systems of justice for men and women, rather than one uniform and consistent justice system for all Australians
It may be the case that some citizens would be subject to inconvenience, or even additional danger, as a result of finding themselves further removed from a traditional mixed-gender police station. There would be some additional cost associated with the proposal, and thus there would be a corresponding ‘opportunity cost’ in that funds would be unavailable for alternative and perhaps more effective measures aimed at curbing domestic violence
The term “factoid” has two somewhat distinct definitions:
“an invented fact, believed to be true because of its appearance in print”
“a briefly stated and usually trivial fact” (Source)
Feminists have a well-earned reputation for making liberal use of the former so I was immediately sceptical when I first came across this graphic posted on a Facebook page by radfem group ‘Destroy the Joint‘. Sure enough, in a short space of time I saw the same statistic quoted elsewhere by others.
I set out to confirm its validity by posting a query on that original Facebook page, and then by searching the web site of the Centre for Injury Studies at Flinders University. No luck in either case.
Eventually the answer came to me via the team at the oneinthree organisation, who kindly advised that:
“You will find the source data at http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129542324. Page 23 has the table you want. Yes, one woman is hospitalised every 3.3 hours on average from family violence. One man is hospitalised every 7.4 hours on average from family violence.
But where it gets interesting is that one man is hospitalised every 55 minutes after violence perpetrated by “unspecified persons”, while one female is hospitalised every 4.9 hours after violence perpetrated by “unspecified persons”. Because of the emasculating shame and embarrassment that male victims of family violence suffer when they disclose their experiences, it is very likely that many more of those “unspecified persons” are partners and family members for male victims.”
So my conclusion? Assuming the raw data, as originally collated, was accurate then the statistic used on the graphic is factual. It’s value in the DV debate is compromised however through the failure, by feminists, to provide corresponding figures for men. This is, of course, a tactic that is almost de riguer for the feminist lobby.
In addition, and as oneinthree note, we need to delve deeper into the statistics to see whether just the self-disclosed information provides an accurate picture of what is actually happening ‘on the ground’.
I read an article yesterday entitled ‘A connection to hope in a world of violence‘, concerning the operation of a charity active in the sphere of domestic violence and sexual assault called ‘DV Connect‘. It featured the usual feminist spin that comes with the territory, but the part that turned my stomach was the following:
“Every now and then a perpetrator calls, desperate to find where his spouse is. Often these men present themselves as victims, hoping to unearth the addresses where their partners might be seeking safety from the storm.“
Now, just a quick reminder to readers that at least one third of the victims of domestic violence are men. Staff at DV Connect are apparently so astute that they can confidently differentiate between those men (actual victims) and that very small minority of men who are actually abusers. A remarkable feat by any standards.
“DVConnect is the only state wide telephone service offering anyone affected by domestic or family violence a free ‘crisis hotline’ 24 hours a day 7 days a week
We offer free, professional and non-judgemental telephone support, wherever you live in Queensland.
DVConnect Womensline takes over 4000 calls every month from Queensland women who are in fear of or in immediate threat of danger from Domestic or Family Violence, and on average we assist over 350 of them and often more than 400 children to be moved to safety every month.
We can arrange practical assistance such as counselling, intervention, transport and emergency accommodation for Queensland women and children who are in danger from a violent partner or family member”.
Yes, you read that correctly, their telephone support is “non-judgemental”. I guess they just mean the service provided for female callers, because they seem perfectly willing to judge the men who call … as mainly comprising perpetrators.
And notice how, within the space of a few lines, they morph from an organisation providing services to “anyone affected by domestic or family violence“, to one that’s here to help “Queensland women“.
DV Connect provides both a Mensline and Womensline service. The Mensline page in their web site has been re-written since I originally wrote this post, and now makes mention of men seeking help as both perpetrators and victims of domestic violence. The Womensline page assumes that women can only be victims of domestic violence despite this being obviously untrue.
Details regarding how the Mensline services operates in a discriminatory manner can be found in this reddit discussion thread.
I was unable to locate DV Connect within the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission’s register, but their 2013/14 annual report can be downloaded here. A few extracts illustrating the gynocentric bias within this organisation are shown below:
(p9) “We not only work with almost every specialist and community service throughout Queensland around the safety needs of women and children but we also have the unique position of having a ‘helicopter view’ of the sector as a whole … The physical and psychological safety of women and children living with domestic violence is the overriding focus of our work both on Womensline and Mensline.”
(p14) “An even smaller number of men call Mensline because of violence from a female partner or family member. Often this violence is on a very different level to that experienced where the male is the perpetrator of violence. Most of these situations do not have the element of fear in these relationships …”
(p17/18) “Sadly, hundreds of women, children and their beloved pets across Queensland are constrained in violent and fearful relationships because the fear and practical challenges of leaving are just too overwhelming.”
“Every month in Australia six women die at the hands of their intimate partner, at least one of them is from Queensland” and “Sadly in the year ended June 2014 we held 10 rallies for 18 women who died at the hands of their male partners“.
Minimal mention is made of male victims, apparently less important than pets. And when they are acknowledged (as above) their experience is discounted/diminished. And no mention anywhere, in the entire report, of female perpetrators.
I wish I could say that this type of unfair gender-stereotyping was rare or unusual, but I can’t. The fact is that most organisations working in the field, both government and non-government, are just as biased. Their web pages, their helplines, and their brochures and PR material, all relentlessly drive home a message of men as perpetrators and women as their victims. I provide a few examples of this in other posts within my blog, such as this one.
One of the outcomes of this situation is that only a small number of men call seeking assistance and/or to report what is happening in their homes. I would further suggest that another outcome is the large number of suicides by men involved in situations of actual or alleged domestic violence.
Perversely, DV advocacy groups then use this fact (very small number of male callers versus female callers) to to ‘prove’ their claims that very few men are victims of domestic violence. They also use it as a basis for, for example, reducing the level of services provided for men whilst ramping up the services for women.
Men know full well that they won’t be taken seriously if they call these organisations, and that they may be accused of being perpetrators in denial. Many also know that even if they are given a sympathetic hearing then there are no actual support services available to them (e.g. beds in shelters). In fact, by and large, the only services provided for men are anger management classes (yet, ironically, no such classes are available for the women abusing them).
And invariably (and ridiculously) when anyone dares to question the status quo they are attacked on the basis that they are either ignorant, wilfully denying that women are victims of DV and/or uncaring about the plight of female victims.
But back now to DV Connect’s annual report. The financial statement included within the report informs us that the organisation’s total revenue in 2014 was $3,231,446. The statement does not provide a breakdown of their revenue sources, which is somewhat unusual. I have, however, subsequently been advised by the relevant agency that:
“DVConnect Ltd received $2,853,133 in 2013-2014 and $2,666,064 in 2012-2013 from the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services to provide domestic and family violence and sexual assault support services.”
As is typical for the sector, the overwhelming bulk of DV Connect’s expenditure goes towards salaries and employee-related expenses:
“DVConnect now employs 54 staff including a small management and administration team and almost 50 counselling staff all of whom work varying shifts to cover our 7 day 24 hour telephone service.”
In May 2015 it was announced that “DV Connect will receive an extra $750,000 per year for two years, on top of existing funding ($3.17m in 2014/15) for services including counsellors to expand its Womensline telephone support service.”
This reddit.com discussion thread discusses the discriminatory nature of the Mensline service, and calls on people to write letters in an attempt to resolve this situation.
Further information about DV Connect is available from their web site and Facebook page
And elsewhere in Queensland?
Here are two screenshots from the web site of a Queensland Government agency. The wording assumes that any men seeking help in relation to domestic violence are perpetrators, and that any women seeking help are victims.
Unfortunately this bias is replicated in the web sites of other similar Australian government and non-government agencies. One example, involving a Western Australian government agency, is addressed in another post in my blog.
Postscript 27 March 2015: In order to provide further insight into the mindset within DV Connect, let me relay what just occurred. I contributed a comment to the Facebook page of DV Connect, in relation to an item about the release of the QLD Task Force report on family violence. I simply noted that I had prepared some comments on the report and included a link to the relevant page (refer screensave below). By the next morning the comment that I posted had been removed from public view. It seems that DV Connect wants to prevent their supporters accessing alternative perspectives. That looks a lot like ‘controlling behaviour’ to me.
To the left is what I see when I visit DV Connect’s page whilst logged-in to my Facebook account. The screen-save below shows what is visible to members of the public, i.e. no comments
Postscript 14 April 2015: Further censorship with the removal of my comment in response to an inaccurate statement in the DV Connect web site. I simply cited the relevant ABS statistic, but I guess the reality that men face more violence than women was just too triggering.
On 11 September 2015 Di Mangan was quoted as saying that they couldn’t justify running the Mens Helpline on a 24 hour basis as so few calls were being received. Gee, I wonder why?
Fast forwarding now to January 2016 and along comes another advertorial for DV Connect, naturally with male victims & female perps air-brushed out of the picture.
“Mangan said abusive men were “emboldened” by the public murders that shook Queensland in 2015, noting that many of the calls received by DV Connect were from men warning that they wanted to harm their partners. Some of the men wanted help while others were calling to make a threat.”
In November 2017, the Courier-Mail published ‘DV Connect chief executive Diane Mangan axed from role amid dispute‘. I’d like to think this move was about improving efficiency & accountability, rather than just personalities, but have little faith in either of the parties involved.
The sort of gender discrimination practiced by DV Connect has been discontinued in one part of the United Kingdom as described in this November 2017 article by HEquel.
Postscript 6 March 2022: This form of anti-male gender-bigotry is now VIC government policy
“I’m proud to announce the Palaszczuk Government is providing additional funding of $2 million to DVConnect to keep up with the high demand”said Shannon Fentiman (3 August 2022).
Ms. Annastacia Palaszczuk MP
Premier of Queensland and Minister for the Arts
Dear Premier
As you are aware, the Special Taskforce on Domestic and Family Violence released its report entitled ‘Not Now Not Ever’ on 28 February 2015. I am one of many people who earlier contributed a submission for consideration by the Task Force. I have now reviewed the Task Force’s report and wish to provide you with my thoughts on it.
Firstly some general observations
My first impression of the report was favourable in that its tone was generally inclusive and gender neutral in comparison to the more overt anti-male bias of many other reports regarding domestic violence (DV), such as The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, 2010-2022. The weakness of the Bryce report though was that the words were not followed-up with conclusions and recommendations when it came to the issue of female perpetration and male victimisation. In addition, there were many things left unsaid in relation to these aspects of DV that should have been addressed.
No mention was made in the report of the extent of anti-male bias in the pre-existing debate concerning DV, nor for example of the corresponding lack of resources devoted to male victims. Likewise no mention was made of the puzzling lack of family violence perpetrator intervention initiatives provided for violent or abusive women.
The report continues the trend of earlier reports in that it features an inflated emphasis and reliance on communication/education/awareness programs, without properly justifying what had been achieved to date – nor what gains might be predicted in the future. This is confusing as the problem does not seem to be that people are unaware of domestic violence, as was confirmed in the focus groups. How and why will more “awareness” result in lower rates of perpetration? Has this been achieved in Australia? In any other countries? Indeed no effort was made to detail the full extent of previous expenditure in this area, either absolutely or relative to total government expenditure related to DV.
The fact that a document word search of the Task Force’s report, using the terms ‘male survivor’ ‘male victim’ or ‘female perpetrator’, returned no results is indicative of the extent of gender bias present therein.
I am curious as to why copies of public submissions were not made available online (except of course those people who sought anonymity). Publishing submissions, as for example occurred with the federal Senate Inquiry, would have been consistent with the desire for awareness raising advanced in the report. I have no doubt that there would have been many submissions lodged that, like my own, challenged the dominant feminist narrative regarding DV. It is of concern that no extracts/quotes from such submissions featured within the body of the report, and that all of the references cited were written by those adopting and promoting a pro-feminist perspective. It appears, for all intents and purposes, that all such submissions were simply swept aside.
There is a major anomaly in that no ’round table’ was held with members of mens/fathers groups, yet special meetings were held with (for example) members of the Indian and African communities? This despite the fact that the need to involve men was stressed within the body of the report, and that men comprise a substantial number of the victims of DV.
It was pleasing to see that the LGBTI community was included in the discussion, as was the issue of elder abuse. Given the latter however I am unclear why (non-sexual) child abuse that occurred in the home was not also discussed in the report. Was this decision made because the pattern of perpetration was at odds with the dominant feminist narrative?
Comments in relation to specific matters raised in the report
Foreword:“Today there are more than 300 women’s refuges around Australia and there have been many advances in the past 40 years in how we deal with domestic abuse”
Why was there no mention of how many beds in refuges are currently available for men?
“It is through listening, sharing and understanding the experiences of those subjected to abuse and violence that we can start to understand how we can put an end to violence, and the action that must be taken.”
And yet no serious effort was made in the report to listen to and understand the circumstances of male victims, and men generally.
Executive Summary: “On average, across Australia, one woman is killed by her partner every week.” (p6)
Why was no mention made of the corresponding number of male victims?
“Initiatives such as White Ribbon (a male-led campaign) and Australia’s CEO Challenge (a workplace domestic violence prevention program) are driving campaigns to break the silence surrounding domestic and family violence.”
Yet no attempt was made to quantify the extent to which rates of perpetration have been affected. Does simply “breaking the silence” actually help survivors? Especially when the ‘awareness’ campaign relentlessly drive home a gender-biased and blame-ridden message of ‘men are violent/women are their victims’?
“The majority of people who experience domestic and family violence in Queensland are women. This is not to say that women cannot be the perpetrators of fear and violence upon male victims.”
On a positive note it was pleasing to see that the Task Force did not follow suit and use the misleading phrase “overwhelming majority” as has featured in many other similar reports.
“Men can be and are victims of violence and coercive control, and are victims of domestic and family violence homicides. Any domestic and family violence, regardless of who the victim and perpetrator are, is unacceptable.”
It transpired that this is/was essentially the report’s sole concession to specifically recognising the existence of male victims and their right to be heard and to receive support.
“The Taskforce recommends that Government commission specific reviews into the impacts of domestic and family violence for two targeted vulnerable groups – people with a disability and the elderly. There is a distinct lack of sound and helpful evidence on the impact of domestic and family violence for these two groups, and the Taskforce strongly believes that more is needed to understand the needs and dynamics of elderly and disabled victims”.
The inclusion of these two groups is to be applauded, but men should also have been included and discussed as an at-risk minority for the same reasons as given for including the other minority victim groups.
“The attitudes, knowledge and beliefs of individuals and communities can and do create a culture that justifies, excuses, perhaps trivialises or even condones or encourages domestic violence.”
I disagree with this assessment. Later in the report the Task Force offers, as its sole supporting evidence, the findings of a national survey that did not even bother to ask questions about the community’s views about violence towards men. Thus its findings were compromised by the lack of statistical context or any valid point of comparison.
(p8) “Culture and attitudes affect the ability of victims to report violence and seek help, and influence the willingness of the community to hold perpetrators to account. It affects the behaviour of the professionals within our police, justice, welfare and service-provider systems when called on to deal with and respond to domestic and family violence. Importantly, culture and attitudes inform and influence the decisions of bystanders to either intervene or ignore incidents of domestic and family violence.”
This is highly applicable to the situation of male victims yet no mention was made of them in this regard – a further reason why men should have been included as an at risk minority and consulted with via a separate round-table meeting.
(p12) “Leaving a violent partner or home situation is a difficult step for a victim. If a victim does not know where to go, or does not feel understood or supported by a service, or worse, if there is no service for the particular need, the victim may return to the violence and not try to leave again. Compassionate, coordinated responses provide much needed support to victims trying to leave and will ensure greater success than disjointed and disengaged services can.”
(p13) “Much of the focus in this report and elsewhere is placed on victims, but cultural change needs to happen to stop perpetrators from using violence and coercive control in their relationships. Any integrated service response must include programs to address perpetrator behaviour and hold perpetrators to account”.
Why was no mention made of the need for perpetrator programs for violent women? There is a cultural problem with the community ‘looking the other way’ in relation to abusive women and the Task Force report only perpetuates that situation.
No male perspectives were provided in section 3, and Section 3.3 made no mention of the mens/fathers rights perspective put forward in any of the submissions. This section of the report was given over to advancing one ideology, and one alone, that being gender feminism.
(p105) “Training and games provide opportunities to engage boys and men in conversations and actions around understanding domestic and family violence, without the involvement of women and in a traditional or stereotyped ‘masculine’ environment. Just starting the conversations will make significant steps toward changing attitudes and behaviours.”
This implies that men/boys are the problem and/or that girls don’t play sport, and/or that sporting venues constitute a “a traditional or stereotyped ‘masculine’ environment”. This is inaccurate, unhelpful, and simply conforming to dated stereotypes. Why not have the same program for girls/women? Why could this not have been written as:
‘Training and games provide opportunities to engage adults and children in conversations and actions around understanding domestic and family violence, without the involvement of members of the opposite gender’
(p142) “Further, in the National Crime Prevention Survey, one in four young Australians admitted having witnessed physical domestic violence against their mother and/or step-mother”.
It would have been more appropriate to report that ‘23% of young people between the ages of 12 and 20 years had witnessed an incident of physical violence against their mother/stepmother and 22% against their father/stepfather’ (Source)
(p151) “Alarmingly, the most recent national survey about community attitudes towards violence against women revealed that significant numbers of Australians believe there are circumstances in which violence can be excused. More than 1 in 5 agreed that partner violence can be excused if the person is genuinely regretful afterward (21%) or if they temporarily lost control (22%). These statistics are disturbing and indicate attitudes that trivialise violence by suggesting that violence against a partner can be excused. There is no excuse for domestic and family violence”.
It should have been noted that this survey did not ask about community attitudes towards violence towards men, thus there is no context in which the results may be interpreted. If the surveyors had bothered to ask about men, they might well have found that the community was even more complacent about violence towards men than women. This is not to suggest that any such complacency is good/better, but rather that the issue is one of social attitudes towards violence generally rather than sexism towards women.
(p152) Both Our Watch and White Ribbon ignore female perpetration of violence. There are other groups working in the field that hold a different perspective. Why was no mention made, for example, of the One in Three organisation?
(p154) “We will only achieve long-term and lasting change if we address the causes of domestic violence. International evidence shows the causes are complex – unequal distribution of power and resources between men and women, rigid or narrow gender roles and stereotypes, and a culture and attitudes that support violence”
The two references cited to support this assertion were written by a hardline feminist researcher and a feminist advocacy group. Feminists rely heavily on a theory known as the ‘Duluth Model’ in their approach to DV. Whether or not the factors they mention are, in fact, the primary “contributing factors” is highly debatable. Alternative perspectives should have been provided in this section of the report, in order to provide a more thorough and more balanced coverage of the topic. An example of an alternative perspective worthy of consideration is presented in this article.
(p155) “The most recent data released from the Australian Bureau of Statistics in August 2014 shows a widening of the wages gap between men and women in Australia with women currently earning 18.2% less than men.”
This is an average figure for all men and all women and cannot and should not be extrapolated as an indicator of gender bias or discrimination. The so-called gender gap is a complex issue and one that is routinely misrepresented by feminist advocacy groups
(p156 and again at p162-167) “There appears to be a significant gap between an individual’s belief that the violence is wrong, and the willingness to talk about the violence or take action to do something about it.”
(p159-160) Mention should have been made of the fact that the media focuses overwhelmingly on male-perpetrated domestic violence, and on promoting a view that only men are responsible for such behaviour. This mirrors the message disseminated in most existing education/awareness campaigns such as those mentioned in the Task Force’s report.
(p171) “It is crucial for men to show leadership in the community in their actions to prevent domestic violence and to address the social and cultural causes of domestic violence. It is also important for them to demonstrate the value of healthy and respectful relationships.”Surely the same could, and in fact should, be said about women? Why wasn’t it?
(p173) The White Ribbon ‘breaking the silence’ campaign has been criticized for only focussing on the responsibilities of boys to treat members of the other gender with respect. It basically shames boys for being male and let’s girls ‘off the hook’ entirely in terms of how they act towards boys. This is not gender equality, it is gender bias or sexism.
(p176-179) This section is unbalanced and excessively influenced by feminist ideology. It absolves women of any responsibility whilst pushing all responsibility onto men (despite the fact that it admits that few men commit violence against their partners)
“Domestic violence is a men’s issue because their wives, mothers, sisters, daughters and friends are being harmed. We know that most men do not commit violent acts in the home, however their attitudes are pivotal to accountability and responsibility for that violence because the majority of violence against women is perpetrated by men.”
Instead of that wording, why not this version instead?
Domestic violence is a women’s issue because their husbands, fathers, brothers, sons and friends are being harmed. We know that most women do not commit violent acts in the home, however their attitudes are pivotal to accountability and responsibility for that violence because a substantial proportion of violence against men is perpetrated by women.
Women must also challenge violence committed by other women!
Some further revised wording for the Government’s consideration:
‘There are three key forms of action that people can take in helping to reduce and prevent intimate partner violence:
Avoiding the personal use of violence against their partner
Intervening in the violence of other people
Addressing the social and cultural causes of violence’
(p235) “Currently, there are 14 services funded by the Queensland Government to provide perpetrator intervention initiatives for the following regions: Townsville; Mount Isa; Gold Coast; Murgon; Toowoomba; Rockhampton; Brisbane; Cairns; Roma; Maroochydore; Ipswich; and Logan. In addition, there are two services funded by the Commonwealth”.
How many of these cater for violent women? Any of them? Surely this is relevant to the discussion?
Comments in relation to the Task Force’s recommendations
17. It was most pleasing to note that the monitoring and evaluation of programs was identified as a priority area
18-23. These recommendations demonstrate an excessive emphasis/reliance on communications. How will this help? Apart from just sounding good? No clear nexus between spending money here and actually fixing the problem
24-29. It should have been made clear that such programs should be aimed at both boys and girls (re: respecting the other gender) and not simply a platform for anti-male messaging.
Why was there no suggestion of using female role models? This goes against the general thrust of the report, and implies that it is only male behaviour that is the problem, and that no effort/adjustment is needed on the part of women/girls
31-37. The recommendations in relation to domestic violence leave should have clearly identified that both men and women would be eligible for such leave
67-70. The names of alleged perpetrators and victims should be protected to the same extent. If the victim’s name is withheld until such time as a conviction is recorded, then so to should the alleged perpetrators name be protected from publication
“… reviews and updates the Professional Practice Standards: Working with men who perpetrate domestic and family violence”.
To be consistent with the general thrust of the report it would have been desirable to have this document reviewed and re-launched as Professional Practice Standards: Working with PEOPLE who perpetrate domestic and family violence OR have a separate document written for female perpetrators. To do otherwise is simply to unquestioningly accept an unacceptable and gender-biased status quo.
84-88. Why was no mention made of the existing supply of and demand for shelter beds for male victims?
96-98. Why was no mention made of the fact that this type of specialist court has just been de-funded by the WA Government as they were found to be counter-productive? (Source)
Conclusion
The continued focus on the feminist perspective towards domestic violence, and the exclusion of other perspectives that are equally or perhaps even more valid, is deeply troubling.
Mens violence towards women is a very important issue, but at the same time we must remain mindful of the fact that it is but one component part of a bigger issue. Everyone is important and we need to focus on achieving a reduction in violence to adults and children whether they be male, female or transgender.
I believe that real gains will elude us until such time that we adopt a holistic, practical and non-ideological approach to this most pressing and complex social problem.
And this incredibly sexist and biased policy move seemingly based on a survey that didn’t even bother to ask about public attitudes to violence towards men, thus robbing it of proper context in which we might interpret its findings.
(Australian data – 
