I wanted to draw your attention to a disturbing development involving the Australian arm of the White Ribbon Campaign (‘WRC’). Before proceeding, I should clarify that this particular organisation is separate and fundamentally different from the White Ribbon Campaign led by Ms. Erin Pizzey. The distinction between the two groups is discussed in this other post.
In summary, Erin’s organisation recognises and advocates for victims of both genders. It believes that the root cause of domestic violence lies in generational family violence, and that the patriarchy is an ideological concept devoid of value or meaning within the context of the debate regarding domestic violence.
As is the practice with many feminist organisations, WRC suppresses useful and potentially constructive debate and actively censors dissenting views. A very clear example of this occurred in February 2015 involving one of WRC’s ‘ambassadors’, a fellow by the name of Tanveer Ahmed.
The role of ambassadors within the Australian arm of the White Ribbon Campaign is described as follows:
“White Ribbon Ambassadors are men who recognise the importance of men taking responsibility and playing a leadership role in preventing men’s violence against women.
White Ribbon Ambassadors are formal representatives of White Ribbon Australia who have the knowledge, skills, attributes and determination to influence Australian men to critically evaluate their attitudes and behaviours toward women.” (Source)
Tanveer did just that. He showed leadership by writing an article about domestic violence that presented a perspective that included an acknowledgment of female perpetrators of violence, as well as a discussion of certain factors underpinning violent behaviour by both men and women.
For feminists this was like a red rag to a bull. They incorrectly interpreted “factors underpinning perpetration” as meaning “excuses for men to commit violence against women”. And as for his claims that significant numbers of women are also committing violence, well, every feminist knows that’s not true.
I should also point out that the sorts of ideas Tanveer shared in his article have been proposed by others and are hardly new or revolutionary. This fact sheet from SAVE, for example, also identifies various factors as being potential precursors of partner violence (refer Fact #5).
Here are some of the key items that have appeared in the media thus far:
‘Men forgotten in violence debate‘ by Tanveer Ahmed (9 February 2015)
Feminism in crisis as male supporter expresses view of his own (9 February 2015)
White Ribbon Ambassador Tanveer Ahmed’s dangerous message on domestic violence by Clementine Ford (10 February 2015)
White Ribbon Ambassador Tanveer Ahmed recommitting rather than resigning (11 February 2015)
Look at how the feminists turned on Tanveer by perusing his Twitter stream around 9/10/11 February 2015. See the brickbats hurled at him by high-profile feminists like Jane Caro and Elizabeth Broderick, as well as countless faceless SJW, their mouths frothing with spittle. It’s ironic how online bullying morphs from patriarchal scourge to sacred duty when someone dares to question the holy grail of feminism.
In a lengthy statement issued by WRC on 10 February 2015 it was noted that “Dr. Ahmed has agreed to participate in the Ambassador recommitment process”. (Source) Shades of totalitarianism … quite chilling really.
Yet despite the issuing of this statement an angry feminist horde continued to bay for Tanveer’s blood across the social media. See, for example, the WRC Facebook page (extract below) and Twitter stream. Perhaps somewhat surprising, most of the comments in the Facebook page were posted by women. Surprising only in that WRC is ostensibly an organisation for men. I guess the male supporters were well and truly cowed, just how their feminist masters wish them to be.
Australian ‘White Knight’ politician Tim Watts, now teetering on the cusp of becoming a fully-fledged ‘Mangina’, stood up in federal parliament to demand that Dr Ahmed stand down from his role with WRC. A video of Tim’s speech is provided in his Facebook page (see 11 February), with further righteous fury evident in Tim’s Tweets.
The feminist’s message is crystal clear: “Men, we want you nice and visible up the front but don’t you dare say anything that isn’t 100% in accord with the feminist narrative or we will turn on you in a flash.”
The WRC is not an organisation that is interested in accurately describing the nature of domestic violence, in objectively teasing it apart into its component pieces, and in considering the widest possible range of solutions. This is an organisation that places a higher priority on maintaining the ‘integrity’ of the feminist narrative, and in pursuing both individual and collective self-interest.
Thus WRC portrays a picture of DV that conforms to their biased viewpoint, and that only acknowledges those causes and those solutions that fit neatly into the framework that they themselves have fashioned.
The thing is, we have already thrown many years and many million of dollars at that approach, only to have the self-same feminists come back to the public-funding trough claiming that the problem is getting worse and that we are now facing an “epidemic” of domestic violence. “Oh, but if only we had more funding we could keep the women and children safe“.
The ideologues at WRC and elsewhere in the femosphere now chanting ‘cast him out’ are nothing less than blinkered gender fascists. How any right-thinking adult could continue to support this group simply beggars belief.
The sacking of Tanveer from his role at The Australian newspaper and his removal from the role of ambassador with WRC demonstrate further escalation in the process of feminist retribution. The only question is whether the ad hominem attacks will continue in order to drive home the message to not only Tanveer, but others, to avoid criticism of all things feminist.
Rightly or wrongly I see some parallels with the case of recently-released Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste. I think I can state with confidence though, that any irony will be lost on SJW who pledged support for one, only to subsequently attack the other.
Tanveer’s next best step would be to accept a role as an ambassador for Erin Pizzey’s group, securing a far more inclusive outlet for his passion, as well as according him the opportunity to offer a one-fingered wave to his misguided former colleagues-in-arms.
Postscript 27 April 2015: Dr Ahmed to speak at USA DV symposium 5-7 June 2015
See also:
Reddit mensrights discussion thread on this blog post (12 February 2015)
Say goodbye to the burly blue-collar face of unions: they’re now feminist (4 June 2015)
Lynched by the feminist mob-ette (14 March 2015)
White Ribbon Australia’s ethical dilemma (19 February 2015)
‘Disempowered’ men still lead on economic power (13 February 2015)
White Ribbon Australia ambassador challenges the sisterhood – is slated for re-education camp (15 February 2015)
Columnist Tanveer Ahmed sacked by the Australian over new plagiarism allegation (16 February 2015)
White Ribbon’s got some explaining to do (17 February 2015) As does the author of this article … so many obvious misrepresentations
Men’s rights activism, White Ribbon Campaign and Liberal Feminism (9 February 2015)
Elsewhere in this blog see:
Beware the ire of an angry feminist
So what exactly is the ‘Domestic Violence Industry’?
Nothing like a bit of truth to get the DV industry ‘professionals’ running scared in fear of losing their fiscal support. And so they should lose support. Their own fiscal records show a stark lack of objective ‘helping’ of victims in any way except to line their own pockets as staff wages.
What passes as their idea of help for victims is nothing more than repeated public advertising campaigns painting the usual stereotypical narrative of men as demons, with women and children as their victims.
I support Dr Ahmeds views and brave decision to expose the flaws of the DV narrative and ‘solutions’ offered in Australia by organizations like WRA.
Just wondering if you have seen this and what you think about it? I have to say I was a bit annoyed and embarrassed with the way the documentary began by portraying Australia as having a “dark secret” behind a glossy facade. Bit disturbing.
Hi Jodie. No I haven’t seen it, so thanks for bringing it to my attention. This video has the makings of a good documentary. It is illuminating, and this woman’s story should be told. BUT. But why did they have to ruin it through exaggeration, through misrepresentation, by distorting the picture to align with the feminist perspective? Why not show the complete picture? To show how women are often abusers, to show how often there is bi-directional violence. To show that the overwhelming majority of men are not abusers. To show how the problem runs through generations starting with abuse & neglect of children. Instead they opted for what is essentially feminist propaganda suggesting that DV in Australia is an out-of-control “epidemic” of men beating women.
I think Dr Tanveer Ahmed is a brave person and an absolute legend. If you want to really fix the problem you have to truly acknowledge the source, and be honest with ourselves. We live In a society that wants to be equal, inclusive and free, but unfortunately it will never be with the attitude of governments wanting to single out groups in society that are always going to be different, and treat them so. The protection of woman and children is extremely important, but does it have to be done at the expense of who we really are. If you want your cause to be successful, you listen to all points of view, then fix the root problem, not the after effects.
There’s a lot more truth to Dr Ahmed’s point of view, and until you listen it will never stop with the direction we are travelling in the western world unfortunately. It’s a shame the knockers are totally ignoring the woman that are warning of the same point of view as the brave doctor.