The Rights Of Man

MEN'S RIGHTS PETITIONS - UPDATE

There are currently three government e-petitions being circulated at the moment. Please sign them, if you have not done so already.

MInister for Men Petition - (link) : 266 signatories so far.

Male Victims of Domestic Violence - (link) : 196 signatories so far.

Family Equality - (link) : 116 signatories so far.

If you know of anymore, please let me know at [email protected]

BIASED BBC REPORT ON STALKING : NO MENTION OF MALE VICTIMS

The BBC has had many critics down the years accusing it of institutional bias. Normally these accusations have come from people who are supporters of conservatism (not necessarily the Conservative Party) who believe the BBC are full of the soft left/liberal wing of the country's elite. There is a blog on it (link) and even a book by Robert Aitken entitled Can We Trust the BBC? (link)

Charles Moore explained this well in The Telegraph in 2003 (link)  "The BBC's mental assumptions are those of the fairly soft Left. They are that American power is a bad thing, whereas the UN is good, that the Palestinians are in the right and Israel isn't, that the war in Iraq was wrong, that the European Union is a good thing and that people who criticise it are "xenophobic."

Bearing this ideology in mind, the soft left are exponents of the politically correct scourge coursing through the veins of the UK especially the state. This means men = bad : women = good rather than treating people as equal individuals. It is why there has been a call for a Minister for Men (when there is a Minister for Women) to help raise issues which are purposely ignored by the state. This includes male domestic violence victims or other intimate crimes.

A feature run by the BBC in January 2007, shows this bias clearly. The feature concentrated on a report produced by the Home Office based on the 2006/07 British Crime Survey (link). The report's chapter (see page 54) showed that during 2005/06, 9% of women and 7% of men were victims of stalking.

The lengthy report (link) headlined "Living In The Fear of Stalkers" published on 26th January 2007 states that "According to the latest British Crime Survey, one in 10 women in Britain now say they have been stalked in the past year."

What makes the report biased and symptomatic of this men=bad : women = good attitude pervading the soft left is the fact that no mention in the report is made of the 7% of men who feel they have been stalked.

To make matters worse, a week earlier an infamous case came to court where a male psychiatrist had been stalked and had led to a conviction of the female stalker. This was covered fully by the media including the BBC (link). However, again, no mention was made in this feature of this case, it only concentrated on female victims.

If this report was not biased then there would either have been a feature on male victims or better still a report on stalking that discussed both male and female victims, thereby treating the issue of stalking as a social problem not that only females are victims.

In keeping with the editorial policy of this site, this is not saying that more stalking victims are men when the statistics show women are slightly more likely to be victims. The issue is that the debate about stalking, just as in domestic violence, is so one-sided that only women can be victims. Reports like this from the BBC entrench the views of the politically correct soft left of which the BBC are a crusading force.

WELSH REFUGE HAS TO DOUBLE BECAUSE OF A NATIONWIDE LACK OF SUPPORT FOR MALE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS

The pitiful lack of refuges for male victims of domestic violence has been shown by the Montgomoryshire Family Crisis Centre (MFCC) now needing at least a five-bedroom house, nearly double the size of its current property, to support male victims. The BBC report is here (link).

The refuge they operate is one of only four refuges in the whole of the UK as opposed to at least 470 for female victims.

The lack of support for male victims across the UK is so acute they have received more than 100 enquiries from across the UK since opening the Powys refuge last year.

When is the government and when are local authorities going to do something to pro-activley help men?

Under the recently enacted Gender Equality Duty they have to help provide these services, and it won't be long now until legal action under the Duty is taken against them.

WILL £15 ON SPEEDING FINES LEAD TO MORE HELP FOR MALE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS?

It was announced that from 2nd April 2007, that an extra £15 will be charged to motorists convicted of speeding offences. It has been difficult to find anything official on any government web-site about this, so for the actual details the report in the Daily Mail (link) has to be relied upon.

Of course, there are arguments about whether this is legitimate and fair but the relevant question for male support groups and male domestic violence victims is how much of this money will reach them.

The scheme will raise £16 million per year with £3 million going to specialist domestic violence advisers and the rest will go to other victim services.

With 24% of domestic violence victims being men and 1 in 6 being a victim in their own lifetime, then at least £3 million (24% x£13 million) should be available for more male refuges and male charities like The ManKind Initiative and Men's Aid.

With the Gender Equality Duty now in place, the government now has to deliver. This will be monitored.

LACK OF HELP FOR MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN IRELAND REVEALED

Iris Langford MP MLA, the Democratic Unionist MP for Strangford asked the Secretary for State for Northern Ireland on 5th June 2006 for the number of refuges there were in Northern Ireland for men and women (link).

The answer was 12 for women and none for men.

The most startling fact (or is it?) was that the Minsiter, David Hanson MP, stated that this was because "there are no refuges in operation specifically for male victims of domestic violence given the small numbers involved but men may seek assistance from the Housing Executive who will offer the full range of homelessness services including supported or unsupported temporary accommodation."

This was despite the fact he also revealed that over a three year period (2003-2006), 11 women and six men died because of domestic violence. He also obviously ignores the fact that the British Crime Survey (link) shows that (on average from 2001-2006) men make up 24% of victims and the Home Office regularly states that 1 in 6 (16%) men will suffer from this violence in their lifetime.

The Seceratery of State obviously does not take notice of the figures his own government produces or thinks Northern Ireland is different.

Mayeb he should read the article here (link)  

NORTH YORKSHIRE POLICE REVEAL ONE IN FIVE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ARE MEN

An article from the Yorkshire Press (link) reveal that 21% of victims of domestic violence in 2006 were men.

As said before, the issue is starting to get a bit more attention, more like this and maybe the government and local authorities will start to listen.

SIGN THE PETITION ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Please sign the e-petition calling for the Prime Minister to make provision for all victims of domestic violence including men and their children.

This has been created on the Government's Number 10 web-site which was made famous recently by the 1.8 million people who signed a petition on road pricing.

The petition created by George Rolph of No More Silence can be found here (link).

The text is set out below:-

THIS IS A PETITION TO GIVE SUPPORT TO ALL VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE REGARDLESS OF GENDER. THE PETITION IS ON THE NUMBER TEN WEB SITE. PLEASE SIGN AND HELP PUT ON PRESSURE TO END THE INJUSTICE OF MEN AND THEIR CHILDREN SUFFERING ABUSE WITHOUT SUPPORT.

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Make provision for ALL victims of domestic abuse regardless of their gender.

Domestic abuse, according to hundreds of studies from around the world and including Britain, affects men and women in equal numbers. Yet the government has suppressed these facts and focused only on female victims. This means that where women have 500 refuges supported by the government, males have no where to go with their children when they are attacked. This is sexist and wrong and we petition the prime minister to end this practice of discrimination by making services and funds available to protect both genders.

TWO MORE ARTICLES ON MALE VICTIMS

Two more BBC articles, one from South Wales (link) and one from Southern Counties (link).

BBC LEICESTER : HIDDEN TORMENT OF BATTERED MEN

Another on-line article, this time from BBC Leicestershire (link).

BBC NORTHERN IRELAND : MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Bit by bit, the issue of male victims of domestic violence is being recognised by the media. Not yet by practical support from the government or local authorities, but it is a start.

Here is an article on BBC Northern Ireland's web-site (link).