The Rights Of Man

DOUBLE DEFEAT FOR MEN ON RAPE ALLEGATIONS

One the areas that where the police and the Crown Prosecution Service have both been unequivocal has been prosecuting women who falsely accuse men of raping them.

For those falsely accused men it destroys them and families and also damages the cases of women who have been raped. These recent cases (Nicola Osborne and Jemima Knights) show how this remains the case and remember the government's own report (where it infamously u-turned on anonymity for rape defendants) said 8-10% of allegations were false and 61 women were convicted in 2010 for false allegations and 7 prosecutions failed.

Earlier this month the Crown Prosecution Service launched a consultation on false allegations of rape and domestic violence to ensure that women are not prosecuted when they retracted the allegation based on fear (the cause celebre is where a woman had her sentence for a false allegation rightly quashed).

While the press release and consultation make it clear that there is no intention to water down prosecutions for false accusations, you cannot help but feel this is a fig-leaf for more discrimination against men and boys (just like believers in the positive discrimination clauses of the Equality Act always state that it can mean more male primary school teachers).

It has been clear and clearly identified by the brilliant False Rape Society website who have identified the growing trend from the Guardian and organisations like Women Against Rape complaining about false rape prosecutions because they believe there is no such thing as a false allegation and that no women should ever be prosecuted for false rape allegations. Normally based on the doe-eyed naive view that all women-are-good-all-men-are-bad-no-smoke-without-fire world view attitude.

When do you ever hear organisations supporting raped women attack those women for making false accusations which damages the women these organisations rightly support?

The anti-male feminist tactics are clear on the rape issue. In their first victory when the government u-turned on the anonymity issue, they cited the evil rapist Warboys where because he had been named and pictured when accused, more women came forward. This time, they are using this case in the same way where a woman was being wrongly being prosecuted for a false allegation when there were clear reasons which the CPS should have taken into account. Because of their mistake, they let the whole anti-male feminists brigade to use it as an issue to continually beat them up on it.

The victims of this again will be those men and boys falsely accused of rape.

Firstly, there are strong enough rules and also the application of 'common-sense'  and the 'reasonable' test mean that if an allegation is retracted but there are extenuating circumstances like being bullied, then the CPS should be sensible enough not to prosecute. You do not need new rules, just people with brains.

Secondly, by putting pressure on the police and Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute and making it harder to do so, means they will be more reluctant to do so. It is more hassle, the political pressure from on high will mean some cases will now be dropped when they should not be. It is the same when the police automatically arrest the man in domestic abuse cases when both are making accusations (or of course they arrest the man anyway).

Thirdly, there will be less chance of justice for those men and boys who were accused. At least if there name was in the papers, those who had made a false allegations would have their reputations damaged as well and be prosecuted and on occasion jailed. There will be fewer examples of this now.

This will be a further victory for the anti-male feminists on this issue within six months.

First they succeed in stopping men accused of rape from remaining anonymous unless found guilty. Now they have succeeded in making it harder for women who make false allegations to be prosecuted.

The Government says it is consulting but it did so on the anonymity issue and did not take any notice of those wanting anonymity so it won't do now for those groups asking them not to water down existing law and procedures.

Posted by Skimmington

Postscript - The False Rape Society is absolutely brilliant on this subject and please read these posts:

FRS#1, FRS#2, FRS#3

 

THE END OF MERITOCRACY AND EQUALITY FOR MEN IN BRITAIN'S WORKPLACES

The publication this week of Lord Davies of Abersoch's government backed report on getting more women into British boardrooms means the end of meritocracy and equality in Britain's Boardroom. An issue this site has been covering for some time. No longer will talent, qulaifictaions or dedication matter, your gender is all that counts.

If you are a man - your only chance of getting onto a board is if the female quota has been fulfilled. If it has not you can be the best business person in the world, but you still won't get on. That is the end of meritocracy and equality for men in the Britain's companies.

The report states that UK listed companies in the FTSE 100 should be aiming for a minimum of 25% female board member representation by 2015. Davies recommends that FTSE 350 companies should be setting their own, challenging targets and expects that many will achieve a much higher figure than this minimum. 

The explicit threat is that if the recommendations are not met British companies will be forced to do it and have quotas like those in Norway (40% of boards have to be women).

The issues it raises are clear - as stated there will be no such as meritocracy, gender is all that matters. Secondly, it is clear this government is as anti-male as the last one and is doing all it can to undermine and attack men.

This boardroom issue is basically another tactic to berate and undermine men to ensure they remain viewed by the metropolitan elite as second class citizens who are to be blamed for everything.

The report is very explicit in saying that the reason there are not as many women on a board as men is down to discrimination by men. But there is no evidence of this, and reports like those by Catherine Hakim  and the Institute of Leadership and Management (covered in the Daily Mail) have clearly shown that not all capable women want to be on the board. Some because they haven't got the drive, some want to stay at home and bring up a family, some  make other lifestyle choices and some just do not want all the hassle that comes with it.

Davies and others complain of Groupthink but all the clamour to support this is Groupthink of the worst kind. If you don't agree you are cast to the margins. Plus there is no evidence to suggest that more gender balanced boards are more successful.

Many very successful women also work in the public sector which is not affected by this. Theresa May  (Minister for Women) spins by saying that 51% of the population are women therefore implying that this should be reflected on boards in the private sector. But twice as many women (40%) work in the public sector than men so one of the reason there are less women on private sector boards is actually because they employ fewer. There is less of a pool to choose from. 

This fact is worth looking into more because it has not been taken into account because it does not play to the distorted picture Davies, May and others are spinning.

With the Government bringing in the measures of the last Government to ensure there is discrimination in getting a job (section 159 of the Equality Act 2010 which the government had campaigned against when in opposition) and now ensuring talented men will hit a quota ceiling there is no equality for men at either end of the job scale.

With educational standards far behind those of girls, men being stopped from getting into work or getting to the top and with young men now earning less than girls all because the government and the state actively discriminate men and boys, it is now clear:

British men are second class citizens by Order of the Government

Posted by Skimmington 

Media Coverage - BBC#1, BBC#2, Daily Mail#1, FT#1, Guardian #1, Guardian #2, FT#2 (Catherine Hakim quote), Independent#1, FT#3, Daily Mail#2 

ARTICLE UPDATE

Here are a few articles that have not been covered so far but may be of interest.

The Guardian - Welfare Reform Bill will trap women in their violent hell (Lisa Ansell)

The Observer - Review threatens companies with disclosure over number of women they interview (Andrew Clark) plus UK lags behind Nordic nations.

Daily Telegraph - Young women face £1,000 increase in car insurance (David Williams)

The Guardian - Paying the price for equality (Rupert Jones)

Daily Mail - One in three female offenders are thugs (Sarah Harris)

Warminster TImes - £80 fine for false rape claim 

Aberdeen Press and Journal - False rape claim woman faces jail

NPR (USA) - Love doesn't have to hurt (Michel Martin) About an appalling Pepsi Superbowl advert 

BBC Berkshire - Woman cautioned over false rape claim

Daily Mail - Female Chaplain sentenced over false rape claim 

The Independent - Boardroom quotas (Margareta Pagano)

Daily Telegraph - Lady golfers unhappy about law to end sex discrimination (Adam Lusher) 

Posted by Skimmington 

GOVERNMENT NEWSLETTER FOR WOMEN, NOT EVEN A CHIP WRAPPER FOR MEN

Lats month the site revealed that the Government's oxymoronically called Government Equalities Office would be sending newsletters to women's groups about what it was doing on women's issues. This was part of its ongoing dialogue with such groups espcially as the Women's National Commission had been scrapped. It has a special page dedicated to women's engagement.

The site questioned why it was not speaking to the plethora of men's support groups in the same way. Surely a Goverment with a Minister for Women but not one for men would not act in such a way!

The government has just issued its first newsletter for women and women's groups (it also has a violence aginst women and girls newsletter).

This is another clear case of the covert form of discrimination that men face in the UK: discrimination by ommission. What is clear is again the government don't want to know about men - on an almost daily basis they do something that proves it beyond doubt.

Posted by Skimmington

 

WHY DOESN'T THE GOVERNMENT RUN A SIMILAR DOMESTIC ABUSE SURVEY FOR MEN?

At the end of last year and the start of this, the site highlighted how the Government was purposely ignoring male victims of domestic abuse. This by running campaigns only for female victims, making £28 million in funds available to end Violence against Women and Girls (rape and domestic violence services) but none for male victims and also only announcing initiatives but 'forgetting' they apply to men too.

ANother example was seen this week when teh Home Office mentioned that it had run a joint survey with women's lifestyle site iVillage. The quotes were careful

Why doesn't the Government team up with a men's charity or other organisation to run such a survey?

Posted by Skimmington

EQUALITY FOR BRITISH MEN AND BOYS - A PLAN OF ACTION

A fundamental part of this site to share thoughts and publish articles from MRA's (not just John and I) so I ma glad that Peter has come forward with this great article entitled:

The Two Levers Required to Enable the British Men's Movement to Move Forward (Download)

Peter makes some serious point about the need for an umbrella organisiation.

Posted by Skimmington

PENSIONS - THE NEW STICK TO BEAT MEN WITH

Yesterday, the Daily Mail ran the story that women were worse off than men in retirement. It was also followed up by the Express. This, following the brouhaha story this week cements pensions as a new weapon to attack men and plead for special status for women, rather than equal status.

However, the excellent Men's Network has undertook some clear analysis and it shows that men are the biggest losers. We all know that men retire later and live fewer years and now the Network shows that the pensions gap for men is 25%. Please read this powerful article.

Posted by Skimmington

DOMESTIC ABUSE PROGRESS FOR MALE VICTIMS AT A LOCAL LEVEL

Last week the site recounted the fact that the Guardian seemed shocked and aghast that there were services available to male victims of domestic abuse. Many in the media also still forget that men exist as the questions about cuts in domestic abuse services seem to forget what crumb-like resoruces for men are likely to be cut (probably the first in the queue) or even forget to make the point that there is barely anything to cut.

This Channel 4 News article is a case in point and as we know with the Ending Violence against Women and Girls strategy the government not even remotely interested in supporting male victims of domestic abuse and their continual campaigns that conveniently forget about men. This is despite the fact that as shown in a new updated 15 key facts briefing about male victims from the ManKind Initiative one in three victims continue to be male - these are from the Government's own updated British Crime Survey. I see ManKind also wrote to Dominic Raab MP.

At a local level though (ignoring West Yorkshire Police), there is a far more police, council and other grass roots recognition.

Cheshire police launched a campaign this week (This is Cheshire), East Berkshire Women's Aid says it helps two men per week, Bradford police are urging more to come forward and in Hartlepool the council is looking into it. In Merseyside there is recognition from the police as well.

This not only helps to put pressure on councils to ensure there are local services but also that the police take a more objective and fairer look at the subject. It all helps in changing police attitudes.

Much of this will driven by the fact that more men are coming forward, there are more violent women and the role of the Public Sector Equality Duty - the new powerful aid in ensuring there is male equality in the UK (more in a later post).

Also thanks must go to MRA's and organisations (The ManKind Initiative, Dyn, Abused Men in Scotland, Men's Network and others) that continually campaign for male victims to ensure they are not forgotten. It is only because of this combination and focused effort that things are gradually turning - albeit at an oil tanker-like speed.

While at a national level, the government ignore male victims at least there are green shoots at a local level.

Posted by Skimmington   

THE SCANDALOUS STATE PENSION AGE HYPOCRISY

At the end of last year the site highlighted the hypocrisy of the feminist movement in complaining about bringing the equalisation of the pension age for men and women forward to 2018. Equality does not mean equality if changes effect women more than men is their mantra.

It had all gone quiet but now the tanks are on the move as the legislation comes soon.

Ros Altmann, the director general of the 50+ Saga group goes on the offensive (literally) in the Telegraph. She said the 'changes are discriminatory' and affect 500,000 women. The Guardian reports that a campaign is brewing and reports further today that the campaign has been launched by Unions Together with their Hands off our Pensions campaign. Linda Murray has started a petition.

It is hard sometimes in writing for the blog not to become angry about the sexism and the sexist attitudes toward men and pleas for special treatment for women in areas like this.

Altmann forgets that for 70 years millions of men have been discriminated against because the state retirement age has been later than women's and they live shorter lives. Where is her complaint there, where was she and Saga campaigning for the equality of pension ages on behalf of their male members.  As for the male members of Unions Together - what do they think?

Analysis from the Men's Network showed that men live 13 years in retirement whilst women enjoy 20 years. No mention from Saga and Unions Together on that point?

Equality means equality and men have been the most discriminated group when it comes to state pension age. For anyone to claim otherwise shows they have no sense or belief in what equality really means. They purposely only have one eye open.

The government has to stick to its guns if it believes in equality.

Posted by Skimmington 

LATEST MEN'S MATTERS NOW AVAILABLE

And a message from James Williams:

At last the latest edition of Mens Matters has now been braodcast and will be available at  www.expressfm.com (see schedule and listen again)

Amongst the topics in this episode will be:

1) A discussion on family justice with a man who lost his daughter to an abusive mother.

2) An interview with a guy called Idris Francis who exposes how the organization that represents the top police officers in Britain (Association of Chief Police Officers) is anything but non-political.

3) There will be an element of music and comedy for those who enjoy some light relief.

4) Towards the end of the show is a clip of an actual police raid on a house to take a baby from its parents. In it, besides the police, there are three other individuals

– the mother (who is naturally very distraught), the father (the calmest one there) and an angry woman who is very opposed to what the police are doing. Guess who gets arrested?

This is the only station in the UK that takes on the controversial subject of feminism and its effects and highlights the vulgar neglect of men and children when it comes to natural human rights.

Every show of Men’s Matters has the threat of censorship hanging over it. The program endures delays and sudden cancellations without my knowing about it. Often the ‘Listen Again’ version on the internet, which is the most popular way that people around the world listen and is put out on the internet a few days later, will have several minutes removed, but not by me. For example the December 2010 edition was actually 53 minutes long, but only about 40 minutes were played.

I am very pleased to announce that a complementary internet radio show (without censorship) has opened in the USA. It’s produced by Avoiceformen and I hope everyone will make sure that it thrives.