The Rights Of Man

STORIES ROUND-UP

There have been a number of stories and issues recently that the site has not caught up on. So instead of trying to, it is opportune just to list them.

General

Harman Less Popular Than Mandelson

Men - Depressed, Repressed and Objectifed

Domestic Violence

Beer Mat Campaign Only Aimed At Female Victims

Woman Bit Off Man's Tongue

False Rape Claims

BBC Personality

Bristol

Rochdale

Education

All work and no play - bad for boys

Boys results

Male Suicide

Wokingham Campaign

Fatherhood

Woman Can Name Anyone As Father

TOGETHER WE CAN END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS: HOME OFFICE SHOWS DETERMINATION TO IGNORE MEN

As the embarrassing spectacle subsides after the Chief Executive of Refuge challenged the Home Secretary live on camera after she accused her of PR and spin about the Together we can end violence against women and girls campaign, it has to be remembered how determined the Home Office are in ignoring the plight of male victims of domestic violence.

Despite all of the BBC coverage (link) and the British Crime Survey figures showing two in five victims are male (link), the Government just simply refuses to accept it.

If they really did believe in equality then the campaign would also be about ending violence against boys and men. All of the wording is just aimed at men and boys as perpetrators.

Whilst much of the coverage just swallowed the 'only the women are victims line' some of the messages are getting through. Some may have been missed (grateful for any further examples of challenge) but some challenges include:-

Andrew Castle on GMTV repeatedly asked the Home Secretary (about 7.15am) 'what about men' and she just flustered and refused to give an answer.

Channel 4 ran a landmark report which is available for viewing (link) which compared the figures in reported crime (85% women/15% men to the anonymous British Crime Survey 64% women/36% men). The Government incredulously said they had no plans for a similar campaign for men which Channel 4 audibly scoffed at.

There may be others but a year ago there would have been none.

If there is any bias, complain, especially if it is on the BBC because they have produced so much coverage they cannot deny it.

People can also reply to the Government consultation.

The battle for full recognition continues but at some stage the breakthrough has to be made.

Coverage round-up (BBC, Press Association, Telegraph, The Times, Telegraph, Mail)  

HARMAN AND OTHER ANTI-MALE FEMINISTS EXPOSED FOR RECESSION UNTRUTHS

In February a post (link) outlined how Labour's Deputy Leader Harriet Harman, the anti-male movement and others were using the recession as an indirect way to attack men and an opportunity to call for more special treatment for women. It was almost as as if the recession did not affect men as well (and of course, their wives/girlfriends/daughters!). They said that women would suffer more than men and Harman said she would not let women become victims of the recession (link).

A number of key issues occurred last week.

The increasingly hysterical anti-male organisation The Fawcett Society launched a document 'Are women bearing the burden of the recession' (link) which called for gender quotas and described 'The collapse of financial institutions has vividly demonstrated how power in our major corporate rests almost exclusively in the hands of white men.' It deliberately says the recession is 'man-made' (link) which clearly shows the organisation is not being rational or objective but is actually at the forefront of attacks on men. It no longer tries to hide it.

A special summit from all over the country in key positions to 11 Downing Street for a session on 'Women and the Recession' (link).

There were debates, to celebrate International Women's Day and the effects of the recession on women, in both the UK Parliament (link) and Scottish Parliament (link).

Vitally, the official public statistics provider Office of National Statistics (link) produced a report which exposed the untruths of Harman, The Fawcett Society, The TUC and all those other anti-male groups.

 The ONS' published figures (link) that showed that:-

Redundancy rate (Oct to Dec 08) - 13.6/1,000 (men) and 6.6/1,000 (women)

Employment rate (Oct to Dec 08) - 1.0% fall (men) and 0.3% (women).

The ONS explain this could be due to more women being employed in the public sector which has not suffered in the recession.

The statistics completely and utterly demolish the untruths and the myths that the biggest victims of the recession are women. This gender war myth has been exposed because it was built on sand, there was no evidence.

The recession can no longer be 'captured' by Harman et al as a ruse to talk up women (at the cost of men) and demand special treatment for women. Both men and women are suffering in this recession.

This recession argument shows that the tactics of the anti-male feminists is that if you keep telling the same lie it will eventually become the truth.

We must work hard to expose it time and time again

Coverage of the ONS figures that exposed Harman are here:- (Daily Mail, People Management, Yahoo, Telegraph, This is London and FT). 

DEMANDS FOR A MAP OF GAPS FOR MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE

Earlier on this year, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission launched a Map of Gaps campaign based on the lack of services for female victims of domestic abuse and domestic violence (link).

The charity, The ManKind Initiative, has asked the Commission to launch a similar campaign for male victims. The letter to Trevor Phillips is here.

Now let us see if the Equalities Commission truly believes in equality.

BBC RADIO SCOTLAND ALSO HAS A FEATURE ON MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE

Just like buses, BBC Radio Scotland also has a feature on male victims here

THE BBC'S ONE SHOW HIGHLIGHTS MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE

The BBC yesterday (5th March 2009) produced another superb documentary on male victims of domestic violence and domestic abuse.

The BBC handled the subject sensitively and also importantly interviewed both Dr Malcolm George and Erin Pizzey who were able to talk about some of the 'political' and 'social' barriers that male victims face.

Particularly wonderful was the comment from the actor Julian Fellowes about "The strong feminist agenda of the last ten years which has insisted that violence is essentially from men to women."Worth the licence fee alone and you can bet that some people watching that who would have choked on their linguine!

The programme is available at:- Realplayer.

If other readers know a better way of playing it please help (John Kimble perhaps)

A blog is also here

NEW STATISTICS ON MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

New analysis has been produced on the latest British Crime Survey figures (link) on domestic abuse and domestic violence.

These figures surely now mean that the Government and others can no longer ignore male victims.

The analysis is can be found at the ManKind Initiative web-site:- 

The ManKind Initiative

ESSENTIAL BBC RADIO 1XTRA DOCUMENTARY ON MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE

The BBC are continuing with their coverage on male victims of domestic abuse and domestic violence.

There was a long documentary on BBC Radio 1Xtra yesterday. It is available here.

NEW REFUGE NETWORK FOR MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Dawn Hardie and Rachel Allen have opened up a new network of refuges in Northamptonshire for male victims of domestic violence. The network through their Next Steps Housing Association has created 100 places in 35 refuge houses across Northamptonshire for husbands and partners of abusive women.Coverage was received here (link, link, link).

With the emerging evidence (link) through the British Crime Survey that 3.2 million men have been a victim of domestic abuse in their lifetime, is clear that some people such as Dan and Rachel are taking it seriously.

Now we wait on the Government, local authorities and others to take up the cudgels or are male victims going to be left with a clutch of refuges in Northamptonshire, Wales, The West Midlands and the South West and nothing else?

MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE FEATURED ON BBC BUT GOVERNMENT STILL PLAYS THE GENDER STEREOTYPE CARD

On Tuesday 10th Feb the BBC covered the issue of male victims of domestic abuse and domestic violence extensively. The coverage featuring a victim and the ManKind Initiative (link) included BBC Radio 1 and 5 interviews  as well as other coverage - link, link, a phone-in, a blog, an editor's note and coverage across the regional network. 

This was based primarily on new Home Office figures (link) which show that 3.2 million men have been a victim in their lifetime (20% of men) and that 2.7 million men have been a victim of partner abuse. The BBC used the hook which showed figures highlighting that younger men (20-24) were more likely to be a victim than women of the same age.

One of the points made by the victim and others was the fact that as a man you are automatically arrested by the police and the ManKind Initiative stated that services for men were 35 years behind that for women. The Government, local authorities and the police are institutionally sexist.

In a bizarre sense of timing, the Government made an announcement that proves it (link).

On Tuesday, the Home Office teamed up with the British Banking Association, to give help to victims of domestic abuse and to help launch a small card for victims. The press release mentions and accepts that 3.2 million men are victims (a first) yet then falls back to the same old gender stereotypes:-

• It mentions a purse-sized credit card - not a purse or wallet sized credit card
• The quote from the Home Secretary only mentions women
• The quotes are only from groups that help women, none for men
• The actual credit card sized leaflet describes all victims as she, never he and she

What it shows is that the Government just does not get it. It may begrudgingly acknowledge the figures but it just cannot help itself and be gender -neutral.

The coverage on the BBC today was at least some recognition and this has gradually and glacially started to improve things but the Government are continually and wilfully burying their head in the sand.

Much work to do...