The BBC return to the subject of male victims of domestic abuse on Monday 10th January 2011. On BBC Radio 4 at 14.15pm there is a play called Believe Me and then later on at 20.00 there is a 30 minute documentary called the Last Refuge.
Plays on this subject tend to deal with the issue respectfully but documentaries can be very hit and miss especially as it depends on who the production have interviewed and how it has been edited. Some trepidation can already be seen by the fact that the first helpline they advertise is for Respect who are only interested in men who beat up women. So let's see what happens when they are broadcast but the documentary has more potential to actually damage the plight of men.
Please put both in your diaries for Monday and they should be available for 10.
On another front, I was alerted this week to a response from the Equalities Commission for Wales about a complaint from the charity for male victims of domestic abuse, The ManKind Initiative. The charity complained about a campaign (Domestic abuse is your business) the Commission ran aimed at Welsh businesses which grossly ignored male victims in Wales. A press release is here.
This is a classic example of the covert discrimination by omission perpetrated by organisations such as the Oxymoronically (a new phrase (c) Skimmimgton!)) 'Equalities' and Human Rights Commission who are not remotely interested in issues around male discrimination. Here we have a campaign that does not mention male victims, how can this be justified?
Well the ManKind Initiative asked them and all they got was an ideological gendered approach to domestic abuse that had nothing to do with equality. They really do not care and are proud to say it!
It shows the barriers that male victims and those who support them have to face at a policy level let alone at a practical level. Let us hope that the BBC does not add further barriers in its documentary.
Posted by Skimmington
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