CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE - MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE DO NOT EXIST

I know the site bangs on sometimes about discrimination by omission being one of the most covert, insidious and invsible forms of discrimination against men, but it is used as a weapon so much.

One of the starkest examples was in the field of domestic abuse when Keir Starmer QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions at the Crown Prosecution Service, launched a new domestic violence initiative and set out in his speech entitled - Domestic Violence: the facts, the issues and the future.

All male victims and those men and women who support and know them will weep at its content.

There is not one mention of men in the press release nor in the speech. Nothing at all. There are no facts about them.

It shows clearly that the Crown Prosecution Service - the state prosecutor that supposedly ensures there is justice in Britain and the upholder of equality before the law - has no interest at all in equality when it comes to domestic violence.

As shown by the government figures (via the ManKind Initiative), one in three victims are male yet they get no mention. 

What makes it worse is that in his speech Keir Starmer provides a whole bank of statistics on female victims yet there is no mention of the reciprocal male statistics even though they are from the same research. For example:

• Two women a week are killed by a partner or ex-partner (the figure is one per fortnight for men) - British Crime Survey 
• 1 million women were victims of domestic abuse last year (700,000 men were also) - British Crime Survey
• 19% per cent of women have said they have been stalked since 16 (9% of men also report the same) - British Crime Survey. Read this about Facebook.
 

Part of the reason for the announcement was to ensure that all domestic abuse murders were reviewed as set out by the BBC (it is worth noting that the BBC use the figure for men which means all the lobbying has worked because a year ago they would not have done - congratulations to the BBC).

What the attitude of the Crown Prosecution Service shows (it also has 'previous') is that it thinks domestic abuse only happens to women and never to heterosexual or gay men. If the Director of Public Prosecutions cannot even bring himself to mention male victims of domestic abuse in his speech, press release or list of facts then what hope is there for male victims to ensure justice is served.

What hope is there also that the review into domestic abuse murder cases will be treat with the same diligence a murder of man as opposed to a woman. 

There is no equality of justice if you are a male victim of domstic abuse, the Crown Proscution Service do not recognise they exist.

These are the facts, the issues and the future from male victims, courtesy of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Posted by Skimmington 

 

Editors Note - a few updates on male victims:

BBC News - Esteem in Cornwall

American Psychological Association (British professor) - Male victims can suffer post traumatic stress

Daily Mirror - Saving the lives of men

ManKind Initiative - New videos and Dads on the Air (Chairman interview)

Comments

[Groan]

Once again thanks for the clarity on this. The CPS is indeed institutionally sexist in it's approach to this issue.

[John Kimble]

That would be the same Keir Starmer who was named after a former Labour leader, who's Guardian-reading parents supported Labour and who also supports Labour himself. He's basically a politician.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/01/humanrights.law

I think he's contract runs out soon so hopefully we'll be rod of him.