The Rights Of Man

WHAT IS YOUR LOCAL AUTHORITY DOING FOR MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?

Men’s Aid has a superb web-site and one of the best features is the work it has done on asking local authorities and others about what they are doing for male victims of domestic violence.

Click on the site here (link) and see what your local authority is doing or more likely, not doing.

WOMEN'S HOUR - DISCUSSION ON MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

By its very name, BBC Radio 4 gender discriminates as it does not have a Men’s Hour.

To get round this, they from time to time will tackle a male issue. Here is the recent feature on male victims of domestic violence (link). Worth a listen.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST MEN : ARTICLE BY DAVID HUGHES (Chairman of The ManKind Initiative)

The Rights of Man has been kindly sent an article for publication by David Hughes, Chairman of The ManKind Initiative, a men's civil rights charity (Link). The article was first published in Right Now magazine c2004/2005.

Download domestic_violence_against_men_by_David_Hughes.doc

The article is excellent for anyone looking for an overview on the conspiracy of silence surrounding the issue of domestic violence against men.

It explains the statistics involved, the lack of refuges available to men and experiences of people like Erin Pizzey who wrote Prone to Violence in 1982 (Link)and then received death threats from feminists.  Her book was 'deleted' but fortunately is available on the Internet ((Link).

Its conclusion is that domestic violence is not a sex issue, but a social one and that domestic violence against men is a problem that can no longer be  ignored.

The Editor

SANCTUARY SCHEMES- MEDIA SILENCE ON MALE NEEDS

Just before Christmas, Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly MP, announced a £74 million scheme to provide extra support for victims of domestic violence in their own home (Link).

The money is to be made available via local authorities who are to provide Sanctuary Schemes for their residents. Currently, 120 local authorities offer sanctuary schemes. This scheme includes providing a safe room (sanctuary) within a home fitted with safety measures, including the; installation of alarms, mortice locks, security lights and CCTV.

In addition, the addresses with a safe room will be flagged on police computers to ensure a swift response if an incident occurs.

Ignoring the argument that this one of the usual gimmicks from the government that gained the headlines for a couple of days and then disappears into the ether, there is one clear thing missing – the mention of male victims of domestic violence by the media covering this story.

Home Office statistics (Link) show that of those who are victims of domestic violence 60% will be women, 40% will be men and the government’s press release whilst mentioning women (‘to support women’s choices’), is largely gender-neutral. Yet, the media coverage spins the story into a gender-specific story, painting the issue of domestic violence as one that only affects women.

BBC News online for example (Link) is headlined “Abused Women offered safe rooms” and the only links to other sites are for Refuge and Women’s Aid, nothing for The ManKind Initiative which helps male victims of domestic violence. The article throughout is women-centric not helped by the usual and by default biased comments from the Minster for Women and Equalities, Meg Munn MP.

The story and the BBC coverage was challenged on their own blog (“Have Your Say”) on the subject, including comments by women. The very first comment on the blog was from a Rachel Miller who asked, “Will the installation of ‘safe rooms’ also be made available to men who are victims of domestic violence?”

The Daily Telegraph (Link), not for the first time, has  treated the issue in a one-sided fashion. Their headline in the story written by Nicole Martin and Laura Clout was “Safe rooms plan for houses of battered women” and The Evening Standard ran the story un-bylined under the heading “Panic rooms for abused women”.

The Daily Telegraph has plenty of ‘previous’ on this issue. On 8th December 2006, they ran a story by Joshua Rozenberg under the headline "Remorse : no way out for wife-beaters" (Link) and on 12th April 2006, they ran a front-page story by James Burleigh under the headline “Wife beaters who say sorry to go free” (Link) when both stories were about domestic violence generally. The latter article actually stated the 60%:40% Home Office statistics.

This lazy journalism and sub-editing reinforces the one-sided coverage and attention on the subject of domestic violence. This percolates through to the lack of attention that male victims of domestic violence receive from the public authorities ranging from the police, local councils and law-makers.

It is an issue worth complaining to the media or individual journalists about else the lack of balance will continue.

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