gender inequality – Prawn of the Patriarchy

Male victims of domestic violence – some personal accounts

“There’s a lot of men suffering the same Abraham, men are less likely to report it though. Its a two way street. I found it degrading after having my bipolar partner restrained by police to be put in an ambulance, that the literature given to me and having called the help line, that it was all geared towards women. Even the men’s help line, when called and told of being involved in domestic abuse, being questioned about what I’d done to abuse her.

You know when she’s off tap and I’m being pushed to the limits, I could just knock her block off, I can handle myself, if it was a bloke doing it, it wouldn’t even be an issue, but its a woman and mother of my children, I’m better than that. My kids have had to witness it for years, they even ask how i endure it without retaliating. But its my job to be their role model, not sport stars or entertainers. I stay composed, controlled. I was safer in Afghanistan or Iraq. It’s time for men to stand up and be more vocal. I’ll start it off.”

“Its not the violence although she has slashed my car tyres to stop me from leaving and has threatened me with a knife on many occasions. It’s the threats to kill herself, or ringing my work, or on many occasions showing up at work because I won’t do exactly what she asks. Several suicide attempts, what am i to tell my kids if I stay at work and she rings and tells me she’s taken an overdose and i keep working. The ambulance wont come on their own anymore when she loses it, the police have to come, because she is violent to the ambulance driver. I’d post videos, but I don’t want her identified on the internet. My kids have been embarrassed enough, they don’t need all their friends knowing.

I said I would start this off, all my friends on here know now, but no-ones going to use it to try get to me, most are smart enough to know better. Like I said if it was a male that was threatening me it wouldn’t be an issue, I did my time in conflict zones, I can handle myself. My pay goes into an account she controls, I get an allowance. I got my pay put into my own account awhile back and she went to our head office and made a scene, nearly got me sacked. So I changed it back to stop her going back. My boss has said to me how I manage to be early every day, get through my day and churn out a high standard work is beyond him. Never late, never take a day off, always try to be upbeat. I do what i do because i am my kids role model, not some sports star or celebrity, I set a standard, I tell them not to react, stay calm and I practice what I preach. (Source)

“I have encountered similar violence by a wife towards her husband and I can promise you, it’s no laughing matter. Especially when men are often brought up to never lift a hand up against a woman. Thankfully, they are no longer together, but she still has most custody of their beautiful little boy. She has gone out of her way to use the son to hurt him, but thankfully family, friends and even a judge has seen through her and have provided him with much needed support. He is a lovely dad who was snared by a vicious, vindictive woman” (Source)

Male family violence victim recounts two-year ‘run-around’ to find support service in Victoria (27 April 2023)

Female prison reform boss is jailed for ‘worst case of coercive behaviour’ judge had ever seen (25 February 2023) UK

Domestic Abuse: Depp vs Heard. What did we learn? (1 December 2022)

The double whammy of being a survivor of domestic abuse who is blind and male (2 November 2021)

Woman, 44, jailed for beating her boyfriend with a dumb bell and a saucepan | Daily Mail Online (4 August 2021)

Abbey Clancy ‘punched’ Peter Crouch after baby got lost (yahoo.com) (28 May 2021)

Woman stabbed boyfriend and hit him with frying pan in row over sleep (15 February 2021) UK

Man, 35, whose ex poured acid over him as he slept reveals he ‘can’t pass one day’ without swearing at attacker (13 February 2021) UK

Dismissed, minimised and ridiculed: The harmful responses to male victims of rape (30 April 2020)

Male domestic abuse victims seen as ‘under the thumb’ (21 April 2022)

Amber Heard hired P.I. to dig up dirt on Johnny Depp, but ‘fixer’ spoke to 100 people who all ‘couldn’t say enough about his generosity and tender heart’ (2 April 2020)

Amber Heard slammed for body-shaming Johnny Depp by calling him ‘fat’: ‘He looks much better after split’ (12 February 2020)

Johnny Depp and the dangers of ‘Believe Women’ (5 February 2020)

‘I can’t promise I won’t get physical again, I get so mad I lose it.’ Amber Heard admits to ‘hitting’ ex-husband Johnny Depp (1 February 2020)

Stacey Dash – co-star of the movie ‘Clueless’ – arrested for domestic battery in Florida (1 October 2019) USA

Duluth worked even better than I expected (25 July 2019)

Florida woman, 21, ‘choked her boyfriend and squeezed his genitals until they bled’ (12 June 2019)

Mum hit boyfriend around head with crowbar after he dropped slice of pizza (23 May 2019) UK. Suspended sentence + 150 hours of community service.

Man stabbed in the neck in alleged domestic attack (15 April 2019) As others have pointed out, none of the articles about this incident used the term ‘domestic violence’ (as is now typically the case when men are injured or killed by their partners)

Male domestic abuse victims ‘suffering in silence’ (1 March 2019) UK

Doco reveals the horrific abuse man suffered at the hands of his controlling girlfriend (18 February 2019)

Nurse Michelle Fernandez banned after stab conviction (15 February 2019)

‘I was scared stiff and terrorised by my wife’: How more men are speaking up about being assaulted by their partners (28 November 2018) UK

Ken describes the abuse he suffered (27 September 2018) Video

Adelaide Hills woman runs man down in car (29 June 2018)

Glee star Naya Rivera charged with domestic violence against her husband (26 November 2017)

Sydney man stabbed in domestic incident (14 November 2017) Australia

Abused husband, 45, who suffered 12 years of beatings at hands of his hard-drinking teacher wife set up a spy camera to film her campaign of violence (8 September 2017) UK

Actor and domestic violence survivor Bryan Wiseman accuses police of homophobia (19 August 2017)

Abused husband reveals ‘drunk’ wife’s bloody car key attack (4 August 2017)

Domestic violence perpetrated by Australian women in the first half of 2017 (2 July 2017)

Actress Stephanie Davis arrested for ‘giving boyfriend Jeremy McConnell two black eyes’ in drunken row (4 July 2017) Reddit discussion thread and linked article

Fiancee stabbed me 28 times and left me hour away from death just weeks after asking me to marry her (27 May 2017) UK

Woman on the run two years after poisoning husband’s cereal to avoid having sex with him (6 March 2017) USA

SAPD: Officer issued bogus ticket to victim of assault to ‘f— him over,’ made racist joke (28 February 2017)

‘My intestines were out… and she was grabbing hold of them’: Man tells court how his ex-wife ‘tried to disembowel him with a carving knife’ (8 February 2017)

This is my story, as a male survivor of domestic violence (3 February 2017) Reddit discussion thread

Uptown woman arrested after kicking boyfriend’s face in front of police (17 January 2017)

Woman jailed for stabbing boyfriend because he ate all their chips (8 January 2017) UK

Woman spared jail for domestic abuse that left boyfriend in fear (20 December 2016) UK

Dad Abused By Wife Breaks Silence To Call James (9 December 2016) UK

First picture of designer boyfriend of arrested ‘Catwoman’ Jocelyn Wildenstein after she ‘slashed him with scissors’ and ‘poured hot wax on his face’ during late night brawl (8 December 2016)

The forgotten male victims of domestic violence (28 November 2016) China

Woman jailed for kicking her partner down the stairs (20 November 2016) UK

FIU’s Jonnu Smith out for season after suffering multiple burns (11 November 2016) USA, and here is one person’s comment re: that incident

A kiss for the wife who stabbed him 13 times (3 November 2016) UK

Businessman, 54, was branded with an iron and had pushed burning cigarettes up his nostrils every time he refused to have sex with his violent girlfriend (1 November 2016)

TV cop star arrested in domestic dispute (31 October 2016)

My wife emotionally abuses me … need advice (27 September 2016) Reddit discussion thread

Ex-husband of Labour’s domestic abuse Minister ‘still has nightmares about her’ after attack during divorce (25 September 2016) UK

West Virginian, 39, Put Out Cigarette In Her Boyfriend’s Eye, Police Charge (14 September 2016) USA

Furious bride-to-be, 24, bit her fiance’s ear and slashed his face with a broken glass (10 September 2016)

Women thought she was setting her ex-partners car on fire (7 September 2016) Video

Chalet holiday ended with drunken woman stabbing her boyfriend (4 September 2016)

ABC Life Matters story on male victims of domestic violence (10 August 2016) Australia

Women on men domestic violence – Personal stories (24 July 2016) Video about a Chinese/American family

Woman charged after alleged reckless wounding (18 July 2016) Australia

Man writes about his controlling wife. Advice columnist rightly points out that if sexes were reversed, it would be labeled abuse (30 May 2016)

Wife Battered Husband Over Candy, Flowers (11 May 2016) USA

Domestic violence: Men are victims, too (25 April 2016) USA

Why are so many middle class wives beating up their husbands? FEMAIL explores why women are lashing out at their partners – and the horrifying consequences (24 March 2016) UK

Wife rips off her Romanian husband’s testicles with her bare hands (10 March 2016) Features this readers comment:

“Predictably the top comment is from a woman ridiculing the incident. He doesn’t sound a particularly great husband but would you have found it as amusing if a man had ripped off his wife’s breast because she wasn’t a good wife? Nope, didn’t think so. The comments here just show the gulf in society’s attitudes towards violence to men and women from the opposite sex.”

Sharon Edwards: Violent wife murdered lawyer husband (8 March 2016) UK

“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”

‘This is actually abuse’: My Kitchen Rules viewers slam Dee for ‘bullying’ husband Tim and tell him to divorce his domineering wife as #SaveTim trends online (1 March 2016) Australia. I have noticed a general pattern with these ‘reality’ style TV shows of women quite often being abusive towards male companions or male contestants in a way that would cause public outrage if the genders were reversed.

The dangers for men in domestic violence, by Jasmin Newman (8 February 2016) Australia

Police: Woman beat man with belt for not getting out of bed (4 February 2016) USA

Cops: Iowan, 33, Battered Husband When He Declined Her Request To Have Sex (25 January 2016) USA

Cops: Woman Attacks Fiancé Over Recycled Ring (13 January 2016) USA

Man’s girlfriend first ‘keys’ his car, breaks a window, and then tries to drive into him (9 January 2016) Video. USA

Statistics and stigma: The silence around men and domestic violence (24 November 2015) Australia

A Logan woman said she was not diminishing the problem of domestic violence against women, but wanted people to know that men also suffered abuse (24 October 2015)

False accusations preventing men from reporting domestic abuse – study finds (28 September 2015) UK

“The number of women convicted of perpetrating domestic abuse has more than quadrupled in the past ten years from 806 in 2004/05, to 3,735 in 2013/14”

‘Domestic violence against men is no laughing matter’: Lottery winner calls for protection of victims as he speaks out after being attacked by his former girlfriend (5 October 2015) UK

Men and their children, forgotten DV victims (21 September 2015) Australia with related reddit discussion thread here.

Man stabbed in head and leg during domestic fight in NSW (21 September 2015)

A Critique of Feminism: A Humanitarian Won’t be Silenced about Sexual and Domestic Violence (24 August 2015)

Submission #424 to the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence (28 May 2015)

Submission #757 to the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence

John Humphrys challenges Alison Saunders over ‘Violence Against Women & Girls (Crime Report)’ (25 June 2015)

We need to help individual victims of domestic abuse, whatever their gender (22 June 2015)

‘I had always been scared of my mum’: Breaking the cycle of violence (19 June 2015) Australia

Personal accounts by abused men (June 2015) Australia

Fine for throwing mug, butter knife at boyfriend (29 April 2015)

SA court told wife stabbed her husband, in front of sleeping son, after sexually complex relationship (28 April 2015)

Auburn woman who tortured family for years gets life in prison (20 April 2015)

Home violence not just at the hands of men (28 March 2015)

Jealous ex of footballer Erik Walden leaves their two children alone in car and breaks into his home threatening him and girlfriend with loaded gun before attacking them with bat and knife (21 March 2015)

Scalded husband: ‘No shame’ for male domestic abuse victims (13 March 2015) also covered in this Huffington Post UK article

We need to speak out for all victims of family violence, by Roger Smith (2 March 2015)

‘I’m a big, strapping bloke. Who would believe I was a victim of domestic abuse?’ (26 February 2015)

Woman mauled boyfriend with kitchen roll holder after penis prank backfired (19 February 2015)

Male victims of domestic violence (17 February 2015) Video

Columbia University professor who teaches peacekeeping skills to cops, firefighters is charged with assaulting boyfriend (17 February 2015) and related reddit mensrights discussion thread

GF has started getting violent on me. I left her today after she beat me. People’s reactions have been insane (8 February 2015) Reddit mensrights discussion thread)

The day my wife beat me up because she hated my haircut (26 January 2012)

Reddit men’s rights discussion thread created by a male victim of domestic violence (16 December 2014)

Male domestic abuse victim: I could have died after attack and Male domestic abuse victim: Men are scared to come forward (5 December 2014)

http://www.shrink4men.com/2014/10/05/in-his-own-words-scenes-from-an-abusive-marriage/

Man stabbed 13 times by girlfriend says she had history of attacking him (1 August 2014) USA

25 men subject to domestic abuse tell their stories (28 May 2014)

Enraged: Victoria Police’s response to violence towards men (February 2014)

The personal stories of two Victorian men

Good Op-Ed from a Norwegian newspaper about domestic abuse (1 September 2014)

Domestic violence: Male victim tell of wife’s abuse (15 June 2014)

Irish TV feature on male victims of domestic violence (June 2014)

My wife hugged me to say sorry for beating me up… then knifed me in the back (13 January 2011)

https://mencanbeabusedtoo.wordpress.com/ (also includes some comments about Elizabeth Broderick, former Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner)

http://www.theshedonline.org.au/discussions/lifestyle-family-and-relationships/abusive-wife

http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/2bxo3w/domestic_violence_and_scottish_law/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Jackson man stabbed during child custody dispute (missing words = domestic violence) (21 August 2014)
http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1ir6aa/excellent_post_about_women_harmlessly_hitting_men/

In a comment he contributed to this article, Chad Tindale wrote:

“Police were once called because my girlfriend, at the time, was stabbing the bathroom door (behind which I was locked) with a knife. When the police arrived, she was still drunk, and still holding the knife. They told us to keep it down so that they didn’t have to come back… then they left me there… with her… with the knife. You’re not a hero when you rescue a man from a woman, so it’s often just easier to leave them there… leave them with her… with the knife.”

Men Aren’t Victims (Because Women Say So) (29 December 2014) and related Reddit mensrights discussion thread

NSW provides a world of opportunity. For women

I received an email on 21 June 2022 advising me of the following. No mention of any opportunities for men – I guess that will follow later …

“The first Women’s Opportunity Statement was published today alongside the NSW Budget 2022-23. The Statement sets out the NSW Government’s plans to make New South Wales the best place in Australia for women to live, work and raise a family, and commits $5.6 billion towards outcomes for women and $10.9 billion towards children’s education and development outcomes over the next 10 years. The Statement draws on the findings of the Women’s Economic Opportunities Review, and the advice of the Expert Reference Panel, chaired by Sam Mostyn. A letter from the Review’s Expert Panel to the NSW Treasurer was also published today.

The Statement sets out the following five strategic priority areas of reform:

Increase women’s workforce participation
Improve the experience of women in the workforce
Support women in small business and entrepreneurs
Support and raise awareness of women’s health needs
Respect for women and women’s financial security

Alongside the Statement, we have also released the NSW Treasury Technical Research Paper Women’s economic opportunities in the NSW labour market and the impact of early childhood education and care, which sets out NSW Treasury research on the key drivers of unequal outcomes between women and men in the labour market, as well as the modelling approach used to assess the package of early childhood education and care reforms announced by the NSW and Commonwealth Governments.

Kind regards,

WEOR Secretariat”

On reproductive rights and child support

** This is a draft post only as at 4 July 2022 **

See the following references:

Conservatives Waffle on Abortion and Women’s Accountability (3 July 2022) by Janice Fiamengo

Couple who asked for female embryo sues fertility clinic over baby boy (28 March 2022) USA. These gender-bigots don’t deserve to have a child

It’s over! (12 October 2017) Reddit discussion thread about child support and parental alienation

I sent my Member of Parliament an email about Financial Abortion rights for men (11 October 2017) Reddit discussion thread, which includes a link to this December 2016 article

When the abuse of men is considered to be violence against women and girls

I first heard about this UK Home Office ‘initiative’ via a Tweet this morning (31 March 2022). Merely the title alone is an outrageous affront to men and boys. They should remove the ridiculous gendered approach to crime and justice, not double-down and build on it. I find it hard to believe that even a marginally competent senior bureaucrats allowed it to slip through.

Here is a link to the relevant policy paper.

The Home Office advised us that “This document updates and replaces the first Male Victims Position Statement, published in 2019, and reiterates the government’s commitment to ensuring that male victims of crimes which disproportionately affect women and girls are supported.

It draws on responses to the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Call for Evidence, relevant data, and a comprehensive literature review.

It complements the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, which apply to all victims of these crimes.”

As I said, it’s an affront and when I find the time, energy and patience to respond in a thoughtful manner, then I will do so.

Accelerating Women (Telstra Business Awards)

Australian telecom behemoth ‘Telstra’ runs a program they’ve entitled the “Best of Business Awards”, within which there are eight categories. One of these categories specifically relates to gender, and it’s called ‘Accelerating Women’.

It’s said to be for “businesses actively challenging exclusion and inequality to create meaningful and lasting equity for women” (Source).

There is no award category specifically for men and/or boys. Why? Because males are doing so well in society that they don’t need (let alone deserve) any encouragement?

I’m not sure, so let’s ask them. (Done)

If and when they choose to respond then rest assured that I will post details here. Alternately should this post remain unchanged from this day forth, then you may confidently assume this organisation to be little more than a biased virtue-signaling joke.

Jobs for the girls

This is a job description that appeared in the Queensland Government’s website for vacant employment positions in December 2021.

You might well ask, ‘are there any equivalent positions available in relation to the prevention of violence against men and boys?’. Dream on!

Principal Program Officer, Justice and Attorney-General, Office for Women and Violence Prevention

The Office for Women and Violence Prevention support women and girls to participate fully in the social, economic and cultural opportunities that Queensland offers; and to achieve their full potential.

We deliver services and supports that victims and their children need to be free of violence, and that ensure perpetrators are held to account for their actions and given opportunity to change their behaviour.

We also drive reform to strengthen community and whole of government responses to gendered violence by changing community attitudes and behaviours, integrating service responses and strengthening justice system responses.

The proposed annual salary is $112,502 – $120,480

From the position description:

“The team leads and delivers the Investing in Queensland Women grant program, utilizing tools such as Smartygrants and P2i. We lead and support Queensland Government sponsorship agreements with high profile partners such as the Women of the World Festivals and the Australian Women in Music Awards to ensure benefits are delivered for Queensland women and girls. We also liaise with community groups and organisations across Queensland to engage the community on a range of initiatives that promote and protect the rights, interests, leadership and well-being of women and girls.”

Australia’s E-Safety Office: A potentially sound initiative now awash with feminist kool-aid

What finally prompted me to write this post was a tweet issued by the Australian Human Rights Commission yesterday about ‘Scam Awareness Week’, with an associated forum apparently being run by a group called the eSafety office.

I mean to say, imagine an agency heavily funded by tax-payers (predominantly male) to support and protect all Australians, but which devotes the overwhelming majority of its efforts on services for women/girls … sounds like a potentially scam-rich environment to me. And who better qualified to champion such a model than the #AHRC?

The Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner was opened on the 1 July 2015, with an initial budget allocation of $2.4 million per annum. My, my, how it has grown since. They described themselves in the following manner:

“The Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner is a one-stop-shop for online safety. The Office provides Australians a range of up-to-date information and resources, coupled with a comprehensive complaints system to assist children who experience serious cyberbullying.” Sounds good so far.

“The eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) is Australia’s national independent regulator for online safety” (Source). Their mission is to “safeguard Australians at risk from online harms“. Not ‘women’ mind you, but ‘Australians’. The key legislation that it operates under is the Enhancing Online Safety Act, 2015, but in its Plan it’s noted that its “remit has been broadened since our establishment four years ago” (p3). I’d suggest that perhaps it’s narrowed, in fact.

eSafety is an independent statutory office supported by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). It’s budget, courtesy of Australian tax-payers, is considerable. This year, for example, their allocation includes $21 million for “a women’s online package” (Source).

ACMA/eSafety currently reports to the Hon. Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts.

The e-Safety Strategy doesn’t seem to hammer home a strong bias towards barracking for women/girls versus men and boys – just a few mentions re: gender – in fact. Under ‘Programs’ for example it mentions the provision of support for “those who are most susceptible to online harm. These include women experiencing domestic violence …” (p8). And men experiencing domestic violence aren’t harassed online? Oh, sorry, I digress. The Plan also notes that “in 2017 parliament expanded our remit to all Australians” (p12).

Now let’s briefly look, mainly with reference to their web site and primary Twitter account (@eSafetyOffice), at what the Commission actually does nowadays. And how it interprets the term “all Australians“. A good place to start is the e-Safety women’s page … because “all women have a right to be safe online“. And no, there isn’t an e-Safety men’s page. I’d suggest browsing the women’s page now, before continuing with this post.

See, for example, the paper entitled ‘Lifeline or weapon? How technology is used to control and silence women‘ (7 September 2021) which is one of the listed papers and media releases with a gender focus. Nowhere is mention made of women as perpetrators and/or males as victims, and that’s not because such folk constitute rare aberrations. It’s essentially because of the pervasive , and largely unchallenged, influence of feminist ideology. Minister, are you awake?

Next you might perhaps take a look at ‘Understanding the attitudes and motivations
of adults who engage in image-based abuse‘ (12 September 2019). More than 50 mentions of the term ‘men’ here, but all such references relate to portraying men as perpetrators of abusive behaviour and/or as attendees of behaviour change programs. No women are presented in this manner – not one. And yet – reverting to real life now – look at the significant number of court appearances of women for ‘revenge porn’ – targeting both men and other women (examples here).

What follows now are some snippets of information drawn from the 2020/21 annual reports for the ACMA and eSafety:

The word ‘women’ appears 62 times in the report whilst ‘men’ appears 0 times.

The gender ratio of Authority members who are male/female is 2:7, and the gender ratio of Executive Management members who are male/female is 1:6.

The annual base salary of the (female) CEO = $344,631, and the annual base salary for nominated ‘Key Management Personnel’ = $2,656,056 (this group includes seven females and one male).

The budgeted revenue from government for ACMA/eSafety in 2020/21 was $100,615,000 (p161 of Annual Report)

In the ‘Commissioner’s Foreword’, the number of references to men/boys was 0 (p201 of Annual Report), whereas in ‘Our year at a glance’, the number of references to men/boys was 0 (p204 of Annual Report)

(Update 7 July 2022: A must-read article by Bettina Arndt)

Finally, I’ll now run through the corresponding programs and consultancies that the Office thoughtfully provided specifically for the assistance of men and boys …

<the sound of crickets chirping>

Oh, and news just to hand, the eSafety Commissioner’s contract has just been extended for a further five years.

Thank goodness, presumably that means there’ll be more time to reach out and help women like this:

Influencer slams ‘jealous women’ for posting ‘hate comments’ (11 March 2022)

Some other relevant posts in this blog:

Regarding online harassment

Fudging the figures to support the feminist narrative

Australian taxpayer funded organisations that do little/nothing for men (other than demonising them)

#GenderEqualityWhenItSuits: A submission to the Review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012

To suggest that the Australian Government is currently committed to achieving gender equality is an absolutely farcical proposition. Can an organisation be only half committed? I think not.

I say this as the extent to which the government acknowledges and supports men/boys, relative to the support it expresses for women/girls, overwhelmingly favours the latter. Further, not only is this bias not seen as a problem, it is considered by many to be fair and appropriate.

Neither politicians nor senior bureaucrats dare ask ‘why?’, let alone say ‘stop!’, to proposed developments that might further this imbalance. They know full well that any such gesture would result in immediate negative sanctions. And conversely, that few would be likely to publicly speak in their defence. Such is the overdone mood of the matriarchal moment.

One element of the problem is the lack of a government agency, or even a section within an agency, that is designated to gather or disseminate information, or develop policy, in support of men and boys.

Another is the issue of remnant chivalry, a factor that in an environment of true gender equality, would be recognised as nought but an outdated traditional gender stereotype.

Related online information:

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/sadly-australian-politicians-only-find-the-courage-to-criticise-the-feminist-lobby-after-they-retire/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/on-blocking-out-non-feminist-perspectives-and-opinions/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/when-even-the-prime-ministers-office-imposes-pro-feminist-censorship/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/feminism-and-the-death-of-good-manners/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/regarding-the-term-gender-traitor/

Q: Is there a Minister for Men and/or an Office for Men?

A: No, there is neither, and none is proposed.

Q: Do government agencies provide as much public acknowledgment and support for men/boys as they do for women/girls? A simple example might be publicly acknowledging International Men’s Day versus their response to the multitude of recognised and supported days for women and girls.

A: No, they do not. International Men’s Day is ignored entirely by both state and federal agencies.

Ask the Australian Human Rights Commission, for example, if they have ever issued a tweet or social media notice to celebrate International Men’s Day. Ask any state or federal agency.

Related online information:

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/november-19-is-international-mens-day/

Q: Does the government invite representatives of men’s and/or father’s rights groups to participate in committees, in fora and/or (for example) regulatory reviews related to gender issues? For example, the One in Three organisation (http://www.oneinthree.com.au)

A: No, they do not. Nor do they support the establishment and operation of such organisations.

Q: Do women of high public profile (for e.g. female politicians) and/or women’s groups seek to support men/boys either generally or in relation to specific issues?

A: No, generally not. Contrast this to the actions of many high-profile men.

Related online information:

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/heforshe-men-pressed-into-service-with-nary-a-hint-of-quid-pro-quo/

Q: Does the government fund research that explores aspects of the reality experienced by men/boys and/or encourage gender-related research to address or consider issues from both a male and female perspective (for example via the actions of the Australian Research Council)?

A: No, they do not. More and more often males are not surveyed in such studies, unless asked in relation to their views on women’s issues (and with zero reciprocity applying)

Related online information:

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/fudging-the-figures-to-support-the-feminist-narrative-domestic-violence/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/achieving-personal-financial-security-is-important-for-everyone-but-dodgy-research-helps-no-one/

Q. Is there compatibility with regards to the extent of funds that the government assigns to groups/agencies and/or issues that primarily affect men/boys, versus what is provided for women/girls? Where relative advantage to a particular gender can be recognised, does the government assign approximately equal support for each gender?

And what about with regards to our foreign aid program?

A: No, they do not. There is a huge disparity in favour of women/girls. The government doesn’t even appear to keep track of how much is spent on men/boys (i.e. there is no Budget Statement produced for men/boys). And not only that, many of the groups that are funded often express views that are particularly negative towards men/boys.

Meanwhile, our foreign-aid program is now deliberately skewed towards providing support for women/girls.

Related online information:

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/re-instatement-of-the-womens-budget-statement-in-australia-bring-it-on-but-consider-men-too/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/the-australian-federal-election-of-2019-men-boys-remain-invisible/

https://budget.gov.au/2021-22/content/womens-statement/index.htm

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/discrimination-against-males-in-the-context-of-humanitarian-agenciescauses/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/australian-taxpayer-funded-organisations-that-do-littlenothing-for-men/

Q: Do government or government-funded agencies devote as much time and energy to acknowledging, supporting and remedying issues that affect men/boys as they do in the case of their representations for women/girls?

Some examples of organisation to consider might include WGEA, the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, ANROWS, the Australian Institute of Family Studies, and the Australian Institute of Criminology.

A: No, they do not. There is a huge disparity in favour of acknowledging, celebrating and supporting the preferences and privileges of women/girls. This often appears to occur in association with a saturation of staff and management who are devotees of feminist ideology.

Ask the Australian Human Rights Commission (for example) if they have ever had a male appointed to the position of Sex Discrimination Commission. Ask them how many times, in (say) the past ten years, they have developed a program or policy that intended as being primarily supportive of men/boys (and was publicly identified as such)?

The AHRC is the ‘go-to’ agency for those seeking to act in a manner that may be seen as providing unequal benefits for one gender over another … an example being to offer a scholarship only to women, or to publicly recruit (only) women for a particular role. Ask the AHRC to state the percentage of times they have exercised this power in a manner that favoured women over men.

Ask the WGEA about how much they have looked at the costs (financial and otherwise) faced primarily or solely by men and boys. And about the growing number of segments in the labour market where women’s salaries exceed those of men. And about those organisations where the staff gender ratio for female representation well exceeds 50% (for example the federal public service), and what (if any) remedial action has been taken.

Related online information:

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/weve-set-a-target-of-having-10-of-our-senior-management-team-female-by-2017/

We’ve all heard of the gender ‘income gap’, but what about the ‘expense gap’?

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/gender-bias-at-the-australian-human-rights-commission/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/profound-gender-bias-at-the-australian-human-rights-commission-part-2/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/regarding-the-granting-of-gender-specific-scholarships-in-australia/

Q: Domestic Violence is perhaps the highest profile issue in the whole gamut of gender-related topics now being addressed. Many studies support the notion that at least 1/3 of the victims of domestic violence are male (and up to 2/3 in certain contexts).

The Government spends hundreds of millions of dollars ostensibly trying to remedy this scourge. How much of this money is used (for example) to psychologically treat abusive and/or violent women? How much is spent to assist male victims of abuse?

What action is the government taking to ensure both fairness and effectiveness of expenditure? How many of those receiving taxpayer funds are driven by feminist ideology. Does this detrimentally affect their performance for example via prompting them to persist with ineffective principles and strategies, purely because doing otherwise could be seen to compromise their belief system?

A: Well under 1/10^th of the money allocated to treating domestic violence finds its way to assist the male and female victims of violent and abusive women. This is a disgrace, and meanwhile the (seemingly allowable) response from the feminist lobby is to cry ‘epidemic!’ and demand that the government give them more money. Meanwhile more men suicide.

Related online information:

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/so-what-exactly-is-the-domestic-violence-industry/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/has-there-been-a-surge-in-domestic-violence-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/major-sporting-events-domestic-violence-myth/

http://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/domestic-violence-one-sided-media-coverage-and-bogus-statistics/

http://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/on-the-experience-of-male-victims-of-domestic-violence/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/female-violence-now-increasingly-seen-as-appropriate-empowering/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/on-suicide/

Q: The so-called ‘Gender Wage Gap’ is another high-profile gender issue, and one in which the WGEA has been, and remains, closely involved. Has the manner in which this issue has been presented and addressed to date, been indicative of a commitment to gender equality?

A: No, anything but. The WGEA has even been criticised for the biased manner in which the issue has been approached. Depending on how one drills down into the data, there are several, and a growing number of, instances where female wages exceed male average salaries. This aspect is largely invisible in the public coverage of the topic. Somehow, I very much doubt that’s a coincidence.

Related online information:

http://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/the-myth-of-wage-disparity/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/that-tired-old-feminist-chestnut-that-is-the-gender-wage-gap-resurrected-in-australia/

Q: With regards to the specific issue of workplace conditions and workplace safety, is as much emphasis placed on key issues as viewed from a male perspective, as from a female perspective?

A: No, very little emphasis is placed on the consideration of issues from a male perspective, with the exception of the multitude of situations where men’s welfare is ignored entirely.

Related online information:

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/on-women-and-their-place-on-the-corporate-ladder/

https://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/recruitment-bias-by-female-hr-staff/

Conclusion

The Government’s commitment to ‘gender equality’ is largely limited to championing the legitimate and purported interests of women/girls, whilst doing little or nothing about the multitude of negative factors impinging on the health and happiness of boys/men.

Rather than continuing with the use of the feel-good term ‘gender equality’, the current situation can best be viewed through reference to the notion of ‘Gamma Bias’.

“Gamma bias occurs when one gender difference is minimised while simultaneously another is magnified.

The gamma bias phenomenon can be conceptualised as a symmetrical 2*2 matrix of cognitive distortions, the gender distortion matrix. The matrix below describes examples of gamma bias, where perceptions of men and women are differentially magnified (capital letters underlined) or minimised (lower case letters in italics).

	GOOD	HARM
DO (active mode)	FEMALE male (celebration)	MALE female (perpetration)
RECEIVE (passive mode)	MALE female (privilege)	FEMALE male (victimhood)

(Source)

If the Government really wants to be a champion of gender equality then it should begin to treat the genders equally.

And that means equal rights and equal responsibilities.

It also means putting professionalism and impartiality in front of the ideology du jour.

It’s that simple.

Other potential sources of interest

A link to copies of submissions to the Inquiry

A link to the WGEA Review Report

Grant awarded to boost gender equality and diversity in Australian politics (23 March 2023). Another generous ($5 million) hand-out to the feminist lobby with zero corresponding support provided for men’s groups.

Janet Albrechtsen article entitled ‘Closing gender pay gap about privilege not equality‘ (30 November 2021)

Bettina Arndt: The rape conviction rate – a scandalous deceit of parliament and the public (19 January 2022) This has nothing to do with the review, but just demonstrates the outrageous level of anti-male gender bias that’s now practiced and accepted.

Opinion: The data are clear: The boys are not all right (9 February 2022) An example of the USA situation

Women’s leadership and development program (8 September 2022) All about 76 projects set to receive $15.84 million in federal grant funding. Anything equivalent for men/boys? Dream on

The Australian 2021 Federal Budget through to the 2022 election

Firstly, and by way of background here are links to some of my earlier posts on related topics:

Australian 2016 Federal Election: No party willing to step up to the mark for men & boys

The Australian federal election of 2019: Men & boys remain invisible

Re-instatement of the Women’s Budget Statement in Australia? Bring it on, but consider men too

Last night the Australian Treasurer, the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP presented his Budget speech 2021-22. Nothing has changed, and nothing will change in the near future. Women were handed substantial allocations of money, whilst men and boys essentially got nothing (in terms of dedicated gender-specific grants).

Sure enough, in his lengthy speech Josh mentioned the word ‘women’ 17 times. He mentioned the word ‘men’ once … and that being in condemnation:

“On average women retire with less superannuation than men.“

In addition there was an 80+ page ‘Women’s Budget Statement | Budget 2021-22‘, which was the first one produced since 2013.

According to various commentators the 2021 budget contained the following allocations for women & girls. Here are some excerpts:

“As Morrison seeks to repair his image with women, there is a range of measures on women’s safety, economic security, health and wellbeing totaling $3.4 billion.

This includes $1.7 billion for changes to child care, $351.6 million for women’s health, and $1.1 billion for women’s safety.

“We will help more women break into non-traditional trades, with training support for 5,000 places,” he said

There will be 2,700 places in Indigenous girls academies to help them finish school and enter the workforce.

More STEM scholarships will be provided for women. Another 5,000 places are being made available in higher education short courses.” (Source) See also this post in my blog.

Other related sources

Women stormed the 2022 election in numbers too big to ignore: what has Labor pledged on gender? (22 May 2022)

Hey, guess what, guys? Women vote too – and they may decide the outcome of this election (18 May 2022)

Women have been at the centre of political debate in the past two years. Will they decide the 2022 election? (10 April 2022) “In focusing so tightly on the male vote, Morrison has neglected women”. Oh please, TV shots of him shaking the hands of factory workers hardly equals “focusing so tightly on the male vote“.

Women’s Budget Statement 2022/23 (29 March 2022)

New research asked government insiders how to fix gender discrimination in Australia – this is what they said (7 March 2022) From the feminist perspective

What Australian women need from the next government, by Lucy Dean (23 February 2022) We need someone to write and publish an article like this for Australian men. And we need it now.

2021 Women’s Budget Statement 2021-labor-womens-budget-statement.pdf (alp.org.au)

Hold the celebrations — the budget’s supposed focus on women is no game-changer (theconversation.com) (13 May 2021)

Budget 2021: Women’s safety measures beefed up by $1.1b (afr.com) (11 May 2021)

Male victims of domestic violence – Do ‘help-lines’ actually help?

Some time ago I wrote a post about an Australian domestic violence organisation called ‘DV Connect’ and how they treated men who contacted them. I’d suggest taking a read of that now if you have the time. This other post may be of broader interest.

I haven’t written anything more about the topic. Yet at the same time, it is something which is put in our face every time the media (TV) runs an item on domestic violence and finishes with the advice to call (such and such agency) if “you are troubled by violent or abusive behaviour from your partner”. Which leaves everyone thinking that at least some help is available for (all) victims of domestic behaviour. But it’s not so.

Most agencies in the domestic violence sector will either turn male callers away or will (officially) cater for them, but on the (wink/nudge) understanding that they are either abusers trying to locate their partners, or are simply abusers in denial.

But now the topic of whether domestic violence help-lines actually do assist male callers has been raised again by an English researcher, Deborah Powney (Twitter id = @Firebird_psych). On 14 April 2020 Deborah began sending daily tweets as per the following:

“Can @RefugeCharity @ukhomeoffice be clear whether the 24 hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline directly supports male victims of domestic abuse or not? Can they clearly state what happens when a man calls? @ManKindInit @nicolejacobsST @10DowningStreet @patel4witham“

Simple question. Shouldn’t take long to answer. And she waited. And while she did, she asked one or two further questions, for example:

“Could you provide the numbers of female perpetrators you have helped in the past 12 month? Could also provide the number of female perpetrator programmes that Respect have accredited in the same time period?” (To @RespectUK on 29 April 2020)

It took until 15 May 2020 before Deborah received an initial response.

“Hi, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is branded as a women’s helpline, however if we do receive calls from men the Helpline our staff will always listen, risk assess, address any safeguarding issues and validate the experience. They will then refer them to the Men’s Advice Line which provides specialist support for men.”

Deborah responded the same day, as follows: “Thank you for your response. Just to clarify – you do not help male victims at all – other than ‘immediate’ referal to the @RespectUK men’s helpline. Is that correct?”

@RefugeCharity further responded (also 15 May 2020)

“Hi, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is branded as a women’s helpline, however if we do receive calls from men the Helpline our staff will always listen, risk assess, address any safeguarding issues and validate the experience. The national domestic abuse helpline, which Refuge runs, is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days week. If male callers contact us, we refer them immediately to the men’s advice line, which is a specialist service for male victims of domestic abuse. They will then refer them to the Men’s Advice Line which provides specialist support for men.”

On 15 May 2020 Deborah then asked:

“Can @RefugeCharity@ukhomeoffice be clear what support the 24 hour National DA Helpline gives to male victims of domestic abuse when the @RespectUK taxpayer- funded “Men’s Advice Line” is closed (from either 5pm or 8pm weekdays to 9am & weekends) @nicolejacobsST@pritipatel”

While waiting for a response to the above, on 17 May 2020 Deborah queried another troubling aspect of the UK Government’s current DV response:

@martintandc @RespectUK @JoTodd4 Could you clearly explain why you make specific reference to male terrorists in your Toolkit for working with Male Victims of domestic abuse for the Men’s Advice Line? @nicolejacobsST @pritipatel @ukhomeoffice @mankind @MartinDaubney @PhilipDaviesUK

“For instance, the biggest denominator in acts of terrorism and mass killings is that almost all of the perpetrators are men. Women suffer mental illness at roughly the same rate as men, but almost none commit large-scale violence. Similarly, the levels of suicide for men are much greater then for women, because of social pressure on men not to seek help to deal with their emotional problems”. (Source)

Response subsequently received from a reader (19 May 2020)

From reading this material it seems obvious to me that staff in the relevant agencies had not considered how male callers were being dealt with, let alone how they should be dealt with. The topic was not even ‘on the radar’ as it was seemingly seen to be unimportant, and offering to assist men at all was seen as merely a token gesture.

You might wish to now refer to Deborah’s Twitter account to see if any further responses have been received from government, domestic violence industry, or readers.

(Some information about Deborah’s current research project regarding the experience of male victims of domestic violence can be found here.)

Readers may also find these papers to be of interest:

National domestic violence helpline wants only women (12 December 2022)

“The nation’s official anti-domestic violence and sexual harassment hotline (1800 Respect) is battling in SA to have only women answering telephone calls for help”

1IN3’s submission in response to the discussion paper: Implementation considerations should coercive control be criminalised in South Australia, by One in Three (12 April 2022)

How government-funded services in Australia discriminate against male victims of domestic and family violence by presuming they are perpetrators, by One in Three (6 March 2022)

ICMI20: Glass Blind Spot – “What Happens When Someone Calls the National Domestic Abuse Helpline?” – YouTube (15 November 2021) Video

Exploring the Experiences of Telephone Support Providers for Male Victims of Domestic Violence and Abuse (29 July 2020)

Understanding the Profile and Needs of Abused Men: Exploring Call Data From a Male Domestic Violence Charity in the United Kingdom – Benjamin Hine, Sarah Wallace, Elizabeth A. Bates, 2021 (sagepub.com) (28 June 2021)

What happens when people call the Men’s Advice Line? (6 May 2020)