Domestic violence (DV), also referred to as Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) or Family & Domestic Violence (FDV), is a shocking blight on the community. This is a scourge that inflicts substantial negative impacts on the lives of countless men, women and children. Whilst definitions have evolved and broadened, DV is loosely defined as “physical, sexual, or psychological harm by a current or former partner or spouse“.
It is important to acknowledge that DV encompasses man on man, women on women, man on woman, and woman on man violence (both cis- and transgender). Further, in many instances violence is perpetrated by both partners as shown in the accompanying diagram. There is also a strong nexus between the incidence of child abuse/neglect and subsequent perpetration of domestic violence by affected individuals upon reaching adulthood.
The Wikipedia entry for ‘Epidemiology of domestic violence‘ provides readers with useful background information on this topic. For those willing to read something a little meatier, I would recommend this paper by esteemed DV researcher Malcolm George. Malcolm walks the reader through the historical context to the current debate about gender differences in violent behaviour and the way that society responds to the issue.
Many of those working within the DV sector, particularly here in Australia, only choose to acknowledge one element of the problem – that part involving male perpetrators and female victims. It is no coincidence that most staff within these government agencies, universities and NGO’s are strongly influenced by, and biased towards, feminist ideology. The feminist position is unequivocal, and it is that domestic violence = men’s violence towards women. Here is an example of that mindset, and here are many others.
This routine failure by feminists to recognise and discuss male victims, female perpetrators and bi-directional violence is no accident or coincidence. It is a deliberate strategy to build their brand, and in so doing demonise the overwhelming majority of men who have never, and would never, hurt or abuse their partner.
As a result, and in order to support the feminist narrative, a great deal of ‘cherry-picking’ and misrepresentation occurs in relation to the statistics provided in DV literature. In addition, the design and implementation of survey instruments is too often tainted with bias. This issue, that of feminist efforts to hide or discredit legitimate research and/or generate false or misleading statistics, is explored in this further blog post.
You will note, as you scroll down this page, that there are a multitude of sources of DV statistics, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States. Here in Australia, much less research has been undertaken – particularly in relation to male victimisation. One of the more significant sources is the Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey 2012, which found that one in three victims of domestic abuse were male. The results of overseas studies generally found levels of male and female victimisation that were closer to parity, and in some instances even higher rates of victimisation for men that women.
Unfortunately many journalists display remarkable tunnel-vision when addressing the topic of IPV. Indeed some have suggested that the media is complicit in the same sort of systemic gender bias against males noted earlier amongst those working in the field of DV.
Turning to my first example, an article called ‘Til death do us part’ which appeared in The Australian newspaper. It consisted of five pages of heart-wrenching coverage of men’s violence towards female partners, but made no mention of any other form of domestic violence, i.e. m-m, f-f, or women on men. Similarly this February 2014 article from The Mail newspaper also neglected to mention that men can be victims too.
Fiona McCormack also ignores male victims and female abusers this item on Australian ABC TV … except in an aside where she implies that anyone who raises the issue of women abusers is only seeking to “excuse” the behaviour of male abusers. This is very much akin to the feminist predilection of labelling anyone who questions various aspects of sexual assault (e.g. false rape allegations) as being “rape apologists” “victim blamers” etc.
Now let’s turn to this article by Charlie Pickering (more about Charlie here). Charlie is concerned that more attention is paid to the issue of random one-punch attacks on men, than on the violence visited nightly on women people in their homes. He goes on to state:
“For a long time, the term domestic violence has softened and normalised what is really going on. A more accurate term is ‘men’s violence against women’. Not ‘violence against women’, because that takes the responsibility for it away from those who need to be made responsible.”
This belief, that by acknowledging male victims and female perpetrators, we are somehow ignoring the validity and the pain of female victims is absurd, yet unfortunately commonplace in public discourse. The fact that there may be somewhat fewer male victims does not, nor should not, make domestic violence a gendered issue.
A precious few writers, like this one, suggest a more practical and unbiased approach to the issue:
“When it comes to the statistics about domestic abuse, it doesn’t matter to me how many men to how many women experience domestic violence. Domestic violence is a power issue more than a gender issue. Intimate Partner Violence affects men and women, and I really do not care in what proportion …
Within anti-domestic violence advocacy, there seems to be a trend to pit female victims against male victims and vice-versa. I do not know who is behind it, nor do I know if there is a “who” to blame. I do know that blame has no place in this fight against domestic abuse, especially when victim blames victim for any reason …
In a perfect society, men and women are equally protected under the law not because more laws were made to protect one sex but because in each mind and heart of all people, women and men are respected equally, and the individual contributions or crimes are our only measures of judgment. However, this ideal is as far away from our current reality as the idea that no person would seek power over another.”
Many others within the wider community have, however, embraced a biased and incomplete representation of DV, liberally salted with misinformation, at face value. Who could blame them, given that so many sources are bellowing out the same relentless message about male perpetrators and female victims, whilst studiously ignoring other elements of the issue.
Here in Australia, let’s look at this page within the web site of the Department of Social Services entitled ‘Women’s safety’, and the linked 28 page literature review prepared by ‘Urbis’ consultants at a cost of $220,000. One would have assumed, especially given the enormous cost, that the review would have encompassed all forms of abuse and perpetration. But, unfortunately, it did not.
In fact the review states that “Male perpetrators of domestic violence or sexual assault against men and female perpetrators of either offence against men have not been considered in this literature review. It is acknowledged that in practice the great majority of programs will be targeted towards men who commit domestic violence or sexual assault against women.”
Yes, that makes perfect sense … there are no programs for female offenders so let’s pretend they don’t exist. Such circular logic is (almost) unbelievable. And no, there is no corresponding ‘Mens Safety’ page within the DSS web site.
To be fair, the authors of some studies do admit that there are many female perpetrators and male victims, and that little research has been directed towards these groups. They also admit that there are probably many similarities between male and female perpetrators of IPV. They then invariably proceed, however, to offer a variety of justifications to continue their focus on the ‘domestic violence = Mens violence towards women’ model (example).
When misleading statistics are repeatedly exposed the feminist reaction is to move the goalposts by expanding the reach of the definition of domestic violence to encompass sexual violence, and less tangible forms of non-physical ‘violence’. This serves to both maximise the perceived magnitude of the problem, as well as support the anti-male narrative.
Naturally those areas where female perpetration is substantial, such as child abuse and elder abuse, are totally ‘out of bounds’. This theme is explored in this separate blog post. The same approach has been taken by feminists to prop up the notion of the existence of a ‘rape culture‘ in western societies.
Those of us concerned about men’s rights seek to have all aspects of domestic violence considered, as well as seeking remedies to specific issues such as:
- the lack of resources to assist abused men and their children
- laws and legal procedures that are based on the assumption that the male in the relationship is the abuser
- negative and biased behaviour towards men who seek assistance, for example the screening of (only) male callers to abuse help-lines to determine if they are in fact perpetrators (example)
A selection of statistical sources that haven’t been doctored to support the feminist narrative
A graphic depiction of the latest statistics relating to domestic violence in Australia, by the One in Three group (15 August 2022)
Domestic Abuse Offenders by Sex/Gender (28 October 2021)
Half-Truths, Falsehoods, and Lies: New Report Documents Long-Running Domestic Violence Misinformation Campaign (USA) (20 September 2021)
Coercive control and domestic violence, by Prof. Nicola Graham-Kevan (7 June 2020) You Tube video of conference presentation
Domestic abuse by women triples in a decade with female attackers carrying out almost a third of assaults (26 January 2020)
New AIC paper appears to cherry-pick data to fit “gendered violence” narrative (30 October 2019)
Male Victims of Domestic Violence Suffer Severe Effects, Canadian Study Reports (15 April 2019)
Assessing the risk of repeat intimate partner assault, by NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics & Research (December 2018)
Are a third of domestic abuse victims men? (6 December 2018) UK
Dunedin study gender violence truths (13 June 2016) Video
References examining assaults by women on their spouses or male partners: An Annotated Bibliography by Martin S. Fiebert. This bibliography examines 286 scholarly investigations: 221 empirical studies and 65 reviews and/or analyses, which demonstrate that women are as physically aggressive, or more aggressive, than men in their relationships with their spouses or male partners. Here is a link to an updated June 2013 version of Fiebert’s bibliography.
Partner Abuse, Volume 1, No. 1, 2010 The first edition of a new journal created to showcase academic research into domestic violence without gender bias
Partner Abuse State of Knowledge Project – Facts and Statistics on Domestic Violence at-a-Glance. Sponsored by the Journal Partner Abuse, November, 2012. This study is also discussed in this article
Male Victims of Intimate Partner Violence in the United States: An Examination of the Review of Literature through the Critical Theoretical Perspective, by Caroletta A. Shuler (2010) and related reddit discussion thread
Extensive listing of mainly North American research findings related to domestic violence (29 April 2015)
Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile (27 January 2011) Almost equal numbers of male and female victims of DV
Partner Violence as Female-specific in Aetiology
Intimate partner violence: Facts and statistics (1 September 2014) Included some discussion of ‘Patriarchal Dominance’ theory
Domestic violence rates are higher for homosexual couples than for heterosexual couples (18 November 2013)
Male victims of domestic violence: A Substantive and Methodological Research Review by Michael S. Kimmel (2001)
Women who perpetrate intimate partner violence: A review of the literature with recommendations for treatment (January 2007)
Disabusing the definition of domestic violence: How women batter men and the role of the Feminist State by Linda Kelly 2003
Unprecedented domestic violence study affirms need to recognise male victims (21 May 2013)
One-third of domestic violence victims in active-duty families are men (27 August 2014)
Partner Violence Against Men in England & Wales and the Gender Bias of Public Bodies (2014)
Aggression in British Heterosexual Relationships: A Descriptive Analysis
The Truth About Domestic Violence – You’ll Never Believe… (a must-see video on Youtube)
Research into domestic violence-related deaths (USA/2010) More for men than women
Newer perspectives on domestic violence (April 2010)
http://freethoughtblogs.com/hetpat/2014/06/11/can-we-finally-nail-down-those-male-victim-statistics/ (United Kingdom)
See recent Swedish DV research here
“Almost 24% of all relationships had some violence, and half (49.7%) of those were reciprocally violent. In non-reciprocally violent relationships, women were the perpetrators in more than 70% of the cases.”
A summary of credible research about domestic violence
This video features an incredibly fast rundown of published domestic violence research that runs contrary to the feminist position (15 June 2016)
http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/28smbv/gender_symmetry_in_domestic_violence_and_why_it/
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=gender+symmetry&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=
http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/c3lvm/faq_studies_showing_high_frequency_of_women/
A 2009 source but which still contains some useful information and references
Some Australian statistics/background info
Live chat on how police hate enforcing unfair feminist laws (thinkspot.com) (20 July 2021) Bettina Arndt interview with former police officer
1IN3’s Questions on Notice for Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Family Law System (19 October 2020) Re: Issuing of domestic violence orders against abusive women
The disaster that is Australia’s Domestic Violence Policy, by Helen Dale (12 February 2020)
Yet another study finds equal levels of abuse by men and women (2 February 2020)
New AIC paper appears to cherry-pick data to fit “gendered-violence” narrative (30 October 2019)
Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia, 2018 (28 February 2018)
ABS Personal Safety survey results 2016
Senior public servants demonstrating their unswerving support for the feminist narrative regarding FDV (12 April 2017) Video
Western Australia: half of reported domestic violence harm caused by 2% of offenders (15 December 2016)
ABS violent crime statistics released July 2016
Behavioural change program for men at risk of committing domestic violence launched in ACT (14 June 2016) Violent/abusive women are completely left out of this program – an outrageous demonstration of gender bias (lodge a complaint here). More on crazy developments in the ACT at ‘Domestic violence levy: Canberra sets an absurd precedent‘ (18 June 2016)
Is a national approach needed to address domestic violence in Australia? (1 April 2016) Provides brief overview of what’s happening in each state
ABC Fact File: Domestic Violence in Australia (6 April 2016)
More than 125,000 women homeless because of domestic violence (15 February 2016). The only figures for male victimisation that were mentioned – because they appeared to support the feminist perspective – were drawn from this media release from a government agency. What’s not mentioned though is that the relatively low numbers of men seeking assistance are indicative of factors other than simply lower rates of male victimisation, incl.:
- the rampant genderbias of ‘help-lines’, advocacy groups and even government agencies
- the (widely-known) lack of resources available to help male victims (with or without children, and
- the much greater incidence of non-reporting of DV by men (compared to women)
FactCheck Q&A: is domestic violence in Australia on the decline? (3 February 2016) Also includes 75+ readers comments
Australian DV statistics fact-sheet produced by the organisation ‘One in Three’
‘Domestic Violence in Australia: Are women and men equally violent?‘
Domestic Violence, by Chris Lloyd (21 January 2015) Very thorough, especially in relation to Victorian DV statistics
Anglicare WA survey summary with further details available from Anglicare WA’s web site (2014)
A 2014 article that discusses teen dating abuse and found roughly equal number of male and female abusers.
Boys Victims of Dating Violence, Too (29 January 2016) USA
This paper by the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse is also worth reading, although I disagree with aspects of it. It is entitled ‘The Gender Debate in Domestic Violence: The Role of Data‘ (May 2013)
An April 2014 discussion about domestic violence and its relationship to urban planning practice.
Intimate Partner Abuse of Men, by Tilbrook, E., Allan, A., and Dear, G. (2010)
Articles on IPV sourced from the ‘A Voice for Men’ web site (various authors)
The irrefutable proof is in: DV is not gendered (except when it is, which is most of the time) by David King (2 August 2016) Australia. Recommended reading
Steven Pinker: sex, violence, and failure of enlightenment (11 September 2015)
This article and related reddit discussion concern a move in Victoria, Australia, to alter the law in relation of using self-defence where death of a partner occurs (article) (discussion)
NCFM Vice President responds to criticism about MRA’s and the AVfM conference in Detroit (25 July 2014)
Recruiting domestic violence spies by Jim Muldoon (18 July 2014)
http://www.avoiceformen.com/mens-rights/domestic-violence-industry/the-cycle-of-the-female-abuser/ (15 July 2014)
http://www.avoiceformen.com/mens-rights/the-state-of-play-for-men-domestic-violence/
http://www.avoiceformen.com/feminism/feminist-lies-feminism/the-feminists-great-equality-lie/
http://www.avoiceformen.com/men/mens-health/callout-to-australian-british-and-canadian-men-for-help/
On male victims of domestic violence by M. R. Walks (17 February 2012)
http://www.avoiceformen.com/mens-rights/domestic-violence-industry/when-a-girl-hits-you/
http://whatmenthinkofwomen.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/dv-debate-paul-elam-against-feminist.html
General sources regarding Intimate Partner Violence
Prevalence of recorded family and domestic violence offending: A birth cohort study (17 September 2024) The Australian Institute of Criminology has a known pro-feminist bias, but one statistic was interesting “nearly 1 in 10 men (9.6%) born in NSW were found to have been processed against by police for a family or domestic violence offence by the age of 37.” Now we just need to account for the influence of distorting factors such as false allegations.
‘It is getting worse’: Anne Summers says rise in domestic violence ‘horrific’ (27 May 2024) Yet another feminist spiel about a one month blip in statistics, lacking any mention (at all) of female perpetrators & male victims
Pauline Hanson asks some pertinent questions of the Australian Government regarding their pitiful lack of support for male victims of domestic violence (May 2023) Video
Australia’s new national plan to address domestic violence ignores one third of victims (19 October 2022). This is the response to the Plan produced by the ‘One in Three’ organisation.
Media ‘loses reader trust’ by painting the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial as ‘misogynistic’ (3 June 2022)
Johnny Depp and The Tragedy Of Male Abuse Victims (28 May 2022)
Domestic Violence Is Not the Result of Patriarchy (21 May 2022)
Evidence shows children who are smacked are more likely to be involved in partner violence in adulthood (3 May 2021)
Australian media is failing to cover domestic violence in the right way: new research (2 March 2021) The feminist bias and related hypocrisy in this paper is simply unbelievable #facepalm
Domestic abuse: The latest lie (19 July 2019) UK. This article addresses, amongst other things, the feminist myth that most men who suffer domestic violence are the victims of other men.
Debunking the gendered violence construct (28 April 2020) A good video by @EyeisBloke (UK)
OK so I have some thoughts about this https://t.co/JoQRW6jT2r – buckle up.
— Ally Fogg (@AllyFogg) March 24, 2019
Joe Hildebrand: ‘Deadliest of lies’ we keep swallowing (27 October 2019) Australia
The demonization of Australian men, by Augusto Zimmermann (14 February 2019)
Growing number of men reporting domestic violence to police, ONS figures reveal (22 November 2018)
“The proportion of male victims who told police about their domestic abuse increased from 10.4% in 2014-15 to 14.7% this year as charities said more men were shaking off the stigma of talking about their suffering.“
How Victoria’s family violence system fails some victims – by assuming they’re perpetrators (14 November 2017) I thought this paper was going to talk about men being misidentified as DV aggressors, but oh no, apparently it happens to women all the time <facepalm> and men exploit this to obtain intervention orders to protect themselves (& their children) from women who aren’t really hitting/abusing them.
Studies Show Lesbians Much More Likely to Beat, Sexually Abuse Their Wives Than Heterosexual Men (15 August 2017) This article contains several dead hyperlinks – the relevant references are as follows:
The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation (January 2013)
Victimization Over the Life Span: A Comparison of Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Heterosexual Siblings (2005)
When your rapist is a woman (30 March 2016)
Lena Dunham Didn’t Molest Her Sister, but Female-on-Female Sexual Abuse Is Real and Awful (4 November 2014)
Lesbian intimate partner violence: Prevalence and dynamics (2002)
Victimization and Perpetration Rates of Violence in Gay and Lesbian Relationships: Gender Issues Explored (1997)
Dear Feminists: Stop Denying The Connection Between Alcohol And Domestic Violence‘ by Corrine Barraclough (2 May 2017) Australia
Questions about violence against women are for all, not just migrants, by Wendy Tuohy (24 April 2017) Not even a hint that men are also victims of DV = substandard journalism for which there is no longer any excuse.
Why gender can’t be ignored when dealing with domestic violence (28 March 2017)
Domestic Violence: A Male Problem? (23 March 2017) UK
10 lies abusers tell themselves (and others). Calling out the common deceptions. (11 February 2017) Interesting article re: how abusers rationalise their actions
Flowers = Domestic Violence. Feminist hypocrisy at its peak (8 February 2017) Australia
The Duluth model is working as designed; you won’t smart mouth her again (3 February 2017)
On the psychology of domestic violence, by Ally Fogg (13 January 2017) UK
Shocking domestic abuse statistics don’t show the real picture: it’s even worse (14 December 2016) UK. This is one of several articles written by feminists in response to the recent release of stats showing the large (and increasing) number of male victims. Essentially they say ‘it doesn’t matter how many men are victims, women have it worse and we should focus entirely on them’.
Tory MP Faces Abuse From Feminist Colleagues After Opposing Sexist Bill (17 December 2016) UK
Stopping Fathers Committing Family Violence (13 December 2016) The Victorian Government (Australia) ignores female perpetrators of domestic violence – it’s something only dads do! Disgusting bias
More than one in three victims of domestic abuse are now men (10 December 2016) UK
San Antonio Judge Rules Men Not Capable of Being Victims of Domestic Violence (2016) USA
Sydney police officer breaches AVO (2 December 2016) A female officer, if that’s relevant
Should we scrutinise ALL reports of family violence? by Jasmin Newman (22 November 2016)
Domestic violence convention would make men ‘second class citizens’ (19 November 2016) Ireland
The fight against domestic violence needs to look beyond blaming men, by Stephanie Ross (6 November 2016) Australia
Governments accused of failing to fully recognise role of alcohol in family violence (27 October 2016) Australia
Domestic violence: Perpetrators would receive warning texts and videos (21 October 2016) Australia
Black women’s lives matter too, by Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO (15 October 2016) Australia
Evidence for impact of Domestic Violence Perpetrator Programmes: College of Policing evidence commentary (undated) UK
“This ‘review of reviews’ concluded that no clear impact of DVPPs has been identified, and that effects on further victimisation have been small.”
To stop domestic violence, we need to change perpetrators’ behaviour (5 October 2016) This article in pro-feminist The Conversation completely ignores the reality of female abusers and the lack of counselling services for them.
It’s time to admit the truth about domestic violence, by David Leyonhjelm (27 September 2016) Australia
Force game-changer: Deputy Commissioner Wendy Steendam on a mission to end violence against women (23 September 2016) Australia
BBC & Notts Police Chief publicise non-existent “hate crimes” against women whilst ignoring fatal domestic violence against men (22 September 2016) UK
Why does the CPS report on violence against women include men in the stats? by Ally Fogg (7 September 2016)
Denying female domestic violence, by Augusto Zimmermann (28 August 2016)
Douglas Todd: B.C.’s domestic-violence programs based on ‘false’ theory (21 August 2016)
Always beating up on men, by Bettina Arndt (20 August 2016) Recommended reading
Gulags for New Zealand men (18 August 2016)
This is one of countless examples of how feminist DV advocacy groups seek to minimise both women’s role in perpetrating abusive behaviours, and its degree of impact on male victims.
Study findings on domestic violent present ‘challenging picture’ (16 June 2016) New Zealand
“The findings of an in-depth domestic violence study, which showed violent conduct almost evenly split between the genders, are potentially cause for concern, a senior police officer says.”
The gender of domestic violence (8 June 2016) NZ video concerning the difficulty experienced by researchers whose findings showed that women were equally likely to abuse.
Violent Parents – Calling for the End to Child Contact at Any Cost, by Jess Phillips MP (20 April 2016) UK. Article by well-known staunch feminist who implies all abusive parents are men, which as some readers point out is grossly misleading.
ABC’s Q&A program proves that ignorance is still rife about domestic violence, by Anne Summers (15 April 2016) Feminists get so angry when people dare to suggest that misogyny/gender inequality is not THE penultimate cause of domestic violence. I read this piece and think ‘pot-kettle-black’
My province’s government instructs police officers to treat domestic violence with a “gendered lens” and assume that men are perpetrators. How can this be changed? (19 April 2016) Reddit discussion thread with linked reference material. Note that male victims of DV are much more likely to report being “very dissatisfied” by their treatment at the hands of police. Is it any wonder?
Minister for Prevention of Family Violence needs to think about her own family history, by Bettina Arndt (1 April 2016) Australia
A female voice for ‘demonised’ men (16 March 2016) Australia
Changing attitudes towards domestic abuse against men (16 March 2016) UK
Why female violence against men is society’s last great taboo, by Martin Daubney (15 March 2016) UK
The Melbourne suburbs where a parent is most likely to murder their child (12 March 2016) Australia
The scandal of women’s violence towards men, by Melanie Phillips (11 March 2016) To read the full article seems to require a subscription to The Times.
Women Who Emotionally Abuse Men (29 February 2016)
Spain gender laws: A country against men (18 February 2016)
Australians are being told that gender inequality is the root cause of domestic violence. But is it?, by Gay Alcorn (19 February 2016)
Dad domestic violence victim fears courts being used as a weapon (22 January 2016) Australia
The solutions: ‘We can make it better’ | Behind Closed Doors (31 December 2015) NZ
For Nelson Women’s Refuge manager Katie O’Donnell, the solution to New Zealand’s domestic violence problem is more straightforward. “People say it’s a really complex issue. Well, it is a complex issue but also it isn’t – guys just have to stop doing it”
Dear Daddy: Viral video highlights how sexist jokes contribute to culture of violence against women (16 December 2015) Australia. Same old stuff, demonising men and putting full responsibility on them to ‘fix’ domestic violence whilst ignoring female perpetration of violence.
Blindfolded with a White Ribbon, by Geoffrey Luck (27 November 2015) Australia
Silent Victims, by Bettina Arndt (14 November 2015) Australia
A simple solution to domestic violence, a video by Janet Bloomfield (15 October 2015)
The surprisingly common reason John hits his partner (14 October 2015) Of course a male batterer is profiled, but watch the fur fly when someone suggests a contributing factor that doesn’t fit the feminist Duluth Model.
The cause of both domestic violence and terrorism is angry men (6 October 2015)
Turnbull’s response to domestic violence ignores the evidence (6 October 2015)
Miranda Devine: Demonising men won’t stop domestic violence (27 September 2015) Australia – with an example of the predictable feminist reaction here. Miranda responded to her feminist critics firstly with this article, and then this one.
Domestic violence package: A great start, but it will only get us so far (25 September 2015) Australia
Domestic violence called “Violence against Women” (21 September 2015) A Reddit Australia discussion thread that followed an ill-informed comment by newly-installed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
Men’s anti-Domestic Violence advocate says scourge “is a male problem” (13 September 2015) Plenty of readers comments that are highly critical of the White Ribbon Campaign Ambassador quoted in the article
The Hidden Politics of Family Violence (8 August 2015) Australia
Why men feel aggrieved in family court interventions (11 August 2015) Australia
To change attitudes to family violence, we need a shift in gender views (22 July 2015) Disgracefully biased article from The Conversation wherein the feminist author laments Australians growing realisation that DV is not a gendered issue, dismissing this as a “misunderstanding”.
Domestic Abuse: ‘It is not a women’s issue and it is not a men’s issue. It’s a human problem’ (14 July 2015) Ireland
Lawrence Ben Eliezer on Institutionalized Feminism within the Criminal Justice System (14 July 2015) Canadian video
Retiring magistrate Ron Kilner says domestic violence laws have been exploited (11 July 2015) Australia. Interesting how politicians, judges, etc, only begin speaking freely and honestly about gender-related issues upon their retirement. (see my post on this theme here)
Family violence: the focus should be on support, not mandatory reporting (3 July 2015) This links to an article in the ABC web site, but the same article was also published in The Conversation. Feminist authors remains true to type by ignoring male victims and abusive women. Australia
Rosie Batty – The Opposite Case (28 June 2015) Australia
Patriarchy vs Facts: Domestic Violence (PART I) (23 June 2015) Video
Men experiencing or perpetrating domestic violence have higher incidence of mental health problems (20 May 2015)
Domestic violence a ‘silent epidemic’ in gay relationships (30 May 2015) Australia
Mark Latham on why Labor can’t get it right on domestic violence (16 May 2015) and the obligatory feminist bite-back (this one being one of the milder responses)
$16m for dom violence but $1.2b for terrorism (14 May 2015) Australia
UK article about the high level of violence amongst lesbian couples (7 May 2015)
Miranda Devine: The brutal truth about domestic violence (5 April 2015)
Dating violence protections empowering for young men, women (2 April 2015) USA
Violence against women should mean the end of any high profile career (30 March 2015) See great reader’s comment contributed by Mark Dent
Reddit TIL discussion thread about recent CDC research claiming more men are victims of partner abuse (23 March 2015) USA and related mensrights discussion thread
Tara Moss: ‘We can’t let trolls hijack the domestic violence conversation’ (5 March 2015) Australia. This is the feminist concept of a “conversation” – we talk & you shut-up. If you try to join our conversation then you are a troll. And, as is becoming increasingly common of late, no reader’s comments were permitted on this article.
‘Men forgotten in violence debate‘ by Tanveer Ahmed (9 February 2015), with follow-up article, Feminism in crisis as male supporter expresses view of his own (9 February 2015)
‘Domestic Violence: How taboos veil the truth‘ by Don Edgar (27 January 2015) Australia
Can domestic abusers be rehabilitated? (1 February 2015) Gynocentric/pro-feminist bias but worth reading in conjunction with the comments contributed by readers
When it comes to Domestic Violence, she says she wants equality – however when faced with a discussion of male victims – she labels it a failure and bitches about statistics #oneistoomany (25 January 2015)
Cutting off unfaithful penises, apparently justified and hilarious (15 January 2015)
Telstra introduces domestic violence leave (13 January 2015) Australia. Article implies only women are victims of domestic violence and leaves us guessing as to whether the company policy is sexist/discriminatory – or just the journalism
Domestic Violence – Donald Dutton Debunks The Gender Paradigm (25 November 2014) Youtube video
Domestic Violence Against Men: Why We Need To Pay More Attention To Vulnerable Males (6 November 2014)
5 Facts about domestic violence to consider this November (and every other month too) by Janet Bloomfield (28 October 2014)
This feminist writer has the gall to attack men’s rights groups on the basis that they are uncaring about the plight of male victims of domestic violence (21 October 2014) Be sure to peruse the readers comments
Our submission to the Home Office consultation on the strengthening of the law on domestic abuse (15 October 2014) Mike Buchanan rails against the rampant anti-male bias evident within both the UK government agencies responsible for dealing with domestic abuse, and within the advocacy groups upon which the agencies confer and rely.
Stefan Molyneux video entitled ‘Domestic violence symposium’ (16 June 2014)
Why don’t we speak up when we see signs of domestic violence? (1 October 2014) This article in a pro-feminist web site provides a stereotypical feminist perspective on the subject. What was notable was that almost all the readers comments attacked the author’s obvious anti-male bias. This article forms the focus of this blog post.
Do we give female domestic violence abusers a pass? (1 October 2014)
In this article a feminist writer, Amanda Hess, attempts to rationalise why domestic violence by a female sports star should be addressed differently than in the case of a male sports star (22 September 2014) Most of the 600+ readers comments that followed disagreed and told her so in no uncertain terms.
Woman as aggressor: The unspoken truth of domestic violence (19 September 2014)
Trivialising and excusing violence against women (17 September 2014) Author pushes a feminist perspective but there are almost 300 reader’s comments
Women more likely to commit domestic violence, studies show (16 September 2014)
Welsh gender politics putting male and female victims at risk says men’s charity (10 September 2014)
New study of domestic violence: “Women significantly more likely to be physically aggressive” (7 July 2014)
In the US a decline in domestic violence (26 August 2014)
Children most often killed by their mothers (25 September 2012) NZ. This article covers a range of issues other than just filicide.
Is that a frying pan, or are you just unhappy to see me? (2 March 2008)
Men Are More Likely Than Women To Be Victims In Dating Violence, UNH Expert Says (19 May 2006)
http://www.thecitizen.org.au/features/what-about-men-lies-statistics-and-peddling-myths-about-violence-against-women A pro-feminist article that tries to appear even-handed, but it’s worth reading by virtue of the level of detail provided with additional info provided in readers comments.
‘Lollies at a childrens party and other myths: Violence, protection orders and fathers rights groups’ by Miranda Kaye and Julia Tomie (1998). Another detailed but flawed paper in support of the feminist position on DV. Its main line of attack is that available statistics don’t support claims made by men’s rights advocates. It conveniently ignores the fact that most Australian DV research is undertaken by feminists and biased towards finding ‘evidence’ to support a pre-determined conclusion. Thus the accuracy and impartiality of the research is the real issue, rather than the credibility of the whistle-blowers.
The paper also misinterprets and/or takes out of context, many of the comments it attributes to fathers groups in an attempt to portray them as irrational or unreasonable. Finally the authors attack specific statements put forward by fathers groups despite the same arguments having been used (at other times) by feminists in support of their own (feminist) perspective. The authors of this paper, for example, want to jump from one camp to the other (and back again) in relation to the issue of whether behaviour other than physical violence should be included in the definition of domestic violence.
The Modern Day Ducking Stool: Domestic Abuse Programs and Man Shaming (16 August 2014)
More male abuse survivors in rural Ireland are seeking help (27 July 2014)
The Domestic Violence Method (January 2015) Australia
50 domestic violence myths (27 December 2013) USA
Are men really victims of intimate partner violence? (2011) Australia
Women are more violent says study (12 November 2000)
Researcher says women’s initiation of domestic violence predicts risks to women (6 July 2009)
More than 40% domestic violence victims are male, report reveals (5 September 2010) with related discussion thread here (worth reading)
The Gender Paradigm in domestic violence research and theory (2005) Includes coverage of the claim that women engage in violence mainly due to self-defence.
Intimate partner abuse of men (Edith Cowan University, 2010)
Domestic violence: Women abusers on the rise (23 June 2009) Australia
Violent women by Lynette Haas (appeared in the Sunday Mail, 28 March 1999)
Husband abuse: Fact or Fiction by Dr Sotirios Sarantakos (Australia)
Deconstructing Self-Defence in Wife-to-Husband Violence by Dr Sotirios Sarantakos (Australia)
Domestic Violence and the Male Victim by Anne Lewis & Dr Sotirios Sarantakos (Australia)
Wikipedia entry on domestic violence against men
Domestic abuse community punishments ban planned by Labour (27 July 2014) And unsurprisingly, no mention of male victims.
Sorry for being a man (NZ politician) Youtube video
We need to show it’s just not manly to hit out (9 July 2014) Nonsense article dripping with white knight bias … “The idea that the woman may be equally to blame, even if she is also violent and even the initiator of the violence, is simply not acceptable”
Society’s acceptance of domestic violence? (12 March 2013)
Youtube video interview on DV with Erin Pizzey, Senator Anne Cools & Dr. Martin Fiebert
http://time.com/2921491/hope-solo-women-violence/ (25 June 2014) with related discussion at http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/2942ji/double_standards_that_cause_womens_violence/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Christina Hoff Sommers on violence against women (Youtube video)
Women ‘more likely to hit their partners’ (25 June 2014), ‘Rise of female relationship terrorists: Study finds women are more controlling’ (26 June 2014), ‘Relationship terrorists study‘ (25 June 2014), Women are more controlling and aggressive than men (26 June 2014), ‘Women more likely to be aggressive in relationships‘, and ‘Confessions of an intimate terrorist‘ Reddit discussion thread and linked article (27 June 2014)
Mothers ‘faking domestic violence’ to keep their children, inquiry told (24 June 2014) Yes, Therese (Edwards), domestic violence IS under-reported, especially those incidents involving female perpetrators – but I doubt that your National Council has expressed any concerns about that issue. By way of background, this article concerns submissions to an Australian government Inquiry into Child Support.
More than 40% of domestic violence victims are male, report reveals (22 June 2014)
When a woman hits a man it’s justified (21 June 2014)
The fallacious stereotype of ‘male violence’ and why it’s being sold to you (11 June 2014) Good Australian article by Adam Blanch. This attracted a spiteful, biased and misleading rebuttal from a feminist by the name of Caitlin Roper. Caitlin herself had earlier published her own item about domestic violence, a response to which was subsequently penned by Australian MRA Greg Canning.
Senator Anne Cools at Toronto conference on domestic violence (2014, video)
Daisy Kler lying to the public by Diana Davison and John Hembling (26 May 2014)
Shifting the gender bias (19 April 2014) An example of one of the all-too-few media articles that recognise and are sympathetic to male victims of DV
VAWA: The American Feminists’ Abuse Industry by Hunter Brooks
The silence of domestic violence
A reddit discussion thread about the anti-male bias evident in the web site of an American domestic violence centre’s web site. Unfortunately such bias (i.e. stating or implying that all men accessing the site are abusers and that all women are victims) is also common in domestic violence centres in Australia.
Male victims of DV who call the police are more likely to be arrested than the female perpetrator (A discussion thread on reddit/mensrights) and then see this article
Solange and Jay-Z: It’s simply not the same if a man is hit by a woman (18 May 2014)
She punched him but he is bigger, so he is deemed the “primary aggressor” (6 May 2014)
http://judgybitch.com/tag/have-you-ever-beat-up-a-boyfriend/
http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/brand-what-do-you-do-when-a-girl-hits-you/
Invisible victims: When men are abused
Signs of an abuser apply to women as well as men
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gekyg7yy4Dc&feature=plcp (a ‘Girl Writes What’ video)
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=38186#.U0zOOlWSySo (This article has an anti-male bias but there are some good references cited within the readers comments)
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/sep/05/men-victims-domestic-violence
http://www.oneinthree.com.au/malevictims/
http://whatmenthinkofwomen.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/dr-greg-canning-on-domestic-violence.html
http://twnow.com/tech-founder-in-shocking-domestic-abuse-case/ (29 April 2014)
This blog contains many other posts that discuss the issue of domestic violence – Please click here to see a list of relevant posts.
Posts addressing other related issues can be accessed by clicking on the relevant topic ‘tags’ at the base of this page.