The Rights Of Man

REVIEW OF RADIO 4 PLAY AND DOCUMENTARY ON MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE

As stated at the weekend, BBC Radio 4 ran two programmes today about male victims of domestic abuse.

The play called Believe Me was extremely moving and showed the slow burn of domestic abuse that many male and female victims face. And it was very clever in the set up so it was not obvious what was to happen but showed the gut wrenching nature not only of the abuse Tyrone suffered but also the scandal of false allegations and the pain that many men suffer because of them.

All too real for so many men.

I have to say congratulations to the playwright and Radio 4 for making the play although there was not much made in the BBC's pre-coverage about the false allegation issue which was absolutely central to this.

If domestic abuse against men is one Britain's last taboos then false allegations by female perpetrators of domestic abuse against men, is the last of the last taboos.

In terms of the documentary, the Last Refuge, threading the case studies through the documentary, especially the one used throughout, added real weight. As did the comments made by the Dyn Project who added real depth and knowledge to the subject. Even though the commentator from Dyn raised the issue of screening, he at least explained why and also raised the fact that there may be a need to screen females as well. I liked the point about reiterating that many men get arrested even though they are the victim - not often you hear that on national radio!

One of the commentators was bizarre though - the guy from the Nottingham Domestic Abuse Forum, who seemed more intent in trying to undermine the case for support and awareness of male victims. His research and assertions involved 14 (yes, 14) people, that his screening tool is well established (has anyone heard of it?) and the way he bizarrely tried to dumb down men by saying the figure is the 2000 Scottish Crime Survey were wrong (based on research of 22 people!!) and that male refuges were never full.

The person from Dyn then contradicted him as obviously did the explanation at the start of the programme from the Montgomery Centre which offers housing support for men.The question is why was he included if the show was about supporing male victims? However, it was perhaps useful in showing the type of misandry that male victims face from many in the domestic abuse establishment.

The show did not really reach any conclusions but having said all of that, it is better it was aired because again it is another example of the issue being raised and placed on the radar.

We are still waiting though for the political elite and its officer class to take the plight of male victims seriously...

Posted by Skimmington

FEMINISTS ARGUING

Seeing feminists falling out with each other is always a bizarre treat but Noami Wolf, Kirsty Wark (BBC 2 Newsnight) and Louise Bagshawe MP do so on Newsnight. It was all based on Noami's Guardian piece.

It was never clear what exactly was being said but Noami did say feminism is about equality not sure radical anti-male feminists think so. Would be also much easier if defendents were anonymous unless guilty but it is clear that with Conservative MP's like Louise Bagshawe there is no chance of men getting a fair hearing in this government. She is on the backbench but not for long no doubt.

Posted by Skimmington

BBC RADIO 4 TO HIGHLIGHT MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE WHILE WELSH EQUALITIES COMMISSION IGNORES THEM

The BBC return to the subject of male victims of domestic abuse on Monday 10th January 2011. On BBC Radio 4 at 14.15pm there is a play called Believe Me   and then later on at 20.00 there is a 30 minute documentary called the Last Refuge.

Plays on this subject tend to deal with the issue respectfully but documentaries can be very hit and miss especially as it depends on who the production have interviewed and how it has been edited. Some trepidation can already be seen by the fact that the first helpline they advertise is for Respect who are only interested in men who beat up women. So let's see what happens when they are broadcast but the documentary has more potential to actually damage the plight of men.

Please put both in your diaries for Monday and they should be available for 10.

On another front, I was alerted this week to a response from the Equalities Commission for Wales about a complaint from the charity for male victims of domestic abuse, The ManKind Initiative. The charity complained about a campaign (Domestic abuse is your business) the Commission ran aimed at Welsh businesses which grossly ignored male victims in Wales. A press release is here.

This is a classic example of the covert discrimination by omission perpetrated by organisations such as the Oxymoronically (a new phrase (c) Skimmimgton!)) 'Equalities' and Human Rights Commission who are not remotely interested in issues around male discrimination. Here we have a campaign that does not mention male victims, how can this be justified?

Well the ManKind Initiative asked them and all they got was an ideological gendered approach to domestic abuse that had nothing to do with equality. They really do not care and are proud to say it!

It shows the barriers that male victims and those who support them have to face at a policy level let alone at a practical level. Let us hope that the BBC does not add further barriers in its documentary.

Posted by Skimmington

ARTICLES ROUND-UP

As is traditional, there have been a number of articles/stories that the site has not covered or linked through to over the past month or so. A list is set out below:

UK Poverty - Suicide statistics show 80% of young adult suicides are by young men

Daily Mail - Amber Portwood charged with domestic violence

Prince's Trust - Youth happiness

Oxford University - Men's weight

Porstmouth News- DV policy is a war on men

Daily Mail- Amanda Bradley jailed for false allegation

BBC News- Emma Bunden jailed for false allegation

BBC News- Merthyr 16 year old jailed for false allegation

Daily Mail - Judge Coleridge says women should have children taken away if they do not allow contact with father.

BBC News - 61 women sent to trial over false allegations

Posted by Skimmington

 

NEW BOOK - CATHERINE HAKIM ON FEMINIST MYTHS AND MAGIC MEDICINE

Dr Catherine Hakimis one of this site's heroines because she is never fails to stand her ground and challenging the myths of the feminists. She is certainly up there with people like Erin Pizzey.

This week she launched via the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, her latest publication - Feminist Myths and Magic Medicine. This challenges the whole concept of the gender pay gap (an issue this site constantly refers to as a stick to beat men with and give special treatment to women/girls over men/boys), those who say employement differences are to patriachal discrimination and that there are no differences in the outlooks of men and women in the workplace

What is even better is that it is free to download from their site.

 
 

What has also been so great is the fact that it has put the issue in the public eye and generated reams of coverage and discussion including Daily Mail, Daily Mail 2, Daily Telegraph, Daily Telegraph 2, Daily Mail 3, Daily Telegraph 3, Daily Telegraph 4, Daily Mail 4 (nothing in the Guardian!)

Posted by Skimmington

ARTICLES AND CONTRIBUTORS NEEDED

As this weblog is aimed at creating a central place for information, discussion and debate on male gender discrimination and sexual discrimination in the UK; articles, contributions, information or news would be gratefully received.

Your Articles/Contributions/Information/News

If you wish to write an article, review or contribution; or have any links, news or information; then please contact/send to The Editor at [email protected]

Articles/Contributions

• The approximate word limit on any article/contribution would be c750 words or less
• Any links to other sites/blogs should be included in any article/contribution if available
• Pseudonyms are allowable if you prefer an article to be anonymous
• No libellous comments please
• The views expressed in contributed articles are those of the authors, not those of the editor
• Anti-women material will not be permissable

Information/News

• If you have any information, news, articles or new organisiations in the web/blogosphere, then please supply the address so this site can provide a link.

Posted by Skimmington

 

ACTION FOR MALE EQUALITY IN BRITAIN IN 2011

On New Year's Eve, the site contemplated on what had happened in 2010 and how it was another disappointing and bad year for equality for men.

The issue is what to do about it.

It has to be borne in mind that politicians, the central state machinery (government departments including the NHS, Cafcass, Justice Department, the Home Office and the oxymoron departments - the Government 'Equalities' Office and the 'Equalities' and Human Rights Commission) and local arms of the state (police and local councils) have absolutely no interest in ensuring there is equality for men and boys.

Joining Up

One response has to be either to set up or join existing organisations that promote men and boy's issues and believe that equality means equality for men too (and taking care not to be anti-women).

There are plenty (they are listed in the side bar on the left hand side of the page) and help in what ever way you can - whether paying a subscription, being active in the charity and help with fundraising.

Taking the establishment on

Sometimes it can be easy to moan about things without doing something about it and there have plenty of examples this year of men and organisations taking on the establishment.

The gender equality duty and the soon to be established single equality duty means that all public authorities have to ensure their services support men and boys (as well as women and girls). If they do not, there are legal remedies.

Raising the profile

One area that needs to be significantly enhanced is helping to raise the profile of these organisations, not just in the media, but by word of mouth. Using your own networks, or social media (including Facebook etc). Too many which we think are mainstream issues still remain underground with the public at large. Spreading the message is vital.

Often these organisiations struggle with public relations and variants of it. Such as writing/issuing press releases, producing/publishing research, spreading the message around to the front-line and to the public.

If you have those skills in these areas, join up.

Umbrella group

One of the overall missing pieces of the jigsaw is the lack of a central hub organisation or site for men and boys - a rival to the Fawcett Society. This site acts as a disucssion site of issues as they arise and also pushes its own. But an organisation is needed (and certainly not the awful anti-male Coalition on Men and Boys which was set up by anti-male feminists and membership is only allowed if you sign up to its pro-feminist agenda). At least a website would be a good start.

Summary

Any other ideas and thoughts are welcome of course, but we are getting nowhere fast. All those men and women who want to support men and boys in the UK, need to take the action themselves because the establishment is not interested.

A few points have been raised here and happy for a discussion on anything additional.

Posted by Skimmington 

2010 - ANOTHER BAD YEAR AND ANOTHER BAD GOVERNMENT FOR BRITISH MEN

When the coalition government came together (also with lots of new MP's) there was some hope that the prospects for equality for men would improve after 13 years of a proudly anti-male Labour government with Deputy Leader, Harriet Harman, proudly proclaiming her anti-male credentials.

When the coalition government came to power, there were a number of positive things it outlined. Family law reform (still pending), anonymity for rape defendants unless found guilty and a commitment not to implement the controversial 'positive' discrimination sections of the Equality Act specifically designed to undermine the employment chances of men. Plus there was a general feeling that there would no longer be the harsh anti-male tone of the previous Government.

There were still troubling issues such as the fact that there was again a Minister for Women but no Minister for Men (how can a government state it believes in equality and have a Minister for one gender and not for the other, if it has to them at all). It also talked about equality in the boardroom (now going ahead), continuing with pension age discrimination and also nothing on men's health or education.

So what has happened, well its worse than we feared:

(1) The government performed a heinous u-turn on anonymity for rape defendants.

(2) The controversial section (section 159) of the Equality Act was implemented (on the link see latest news on 2nd December 2010) and hidden in the small print on its announcement on its Equality Strategy (see 8 below). This pernicious part of the Act was substantially covered on this site (1 and 2 ) and the u-tunr was covered in the Telegraph, Daily Mail, Metro, Daily Telegraph 2, Daily Telegraph 3

(3) Still no Minister for Men

(4) The government adopted the End Violence against Women & Girls strategy which has meant that male victims of rape and domestic abuse do not feature in government, police or local authority plans in tackling rape or domestic abuse. The outcome can be seen by the way the government handled its trials on 'stop' orders which were framed at female victims (thereby setting the tone for the way the police will handle the issue) or its Christmas campaign. For an example of how it percolates through the system, see a response the ManKind Initiative recently received from the Equalities Commission.

(5) Its continuing and deliberate misinterpretation of the gender pay gap, even though we now know younger women earn more than younger men. Plus resurrecting the issue that there are not enough women in the boardroom (1 and 2) and stating it has an aspiration to ensure 50% of appointees to public bodies are female.

Lord Mervyn Davies who is leading the taskforce looking at the female make up of boardroom has already declared "let's put women first for 2011". I kid you not. With this and the Equality Act, men are being shut out, make no mistake. Academies for female executives, board internships and now the 30% club.

Equality should mean the best people, now basing people on their gender but that is now what is happening and in many circumstances men (and of course that means their wife/partner or daughter as well) will lose out because good men will be held back to allow a woman with less skill to take their place. How can this be equality, gender is irrelevant.

Can Lord Mervyn Davies hand on heart say that a black boy from a run-down council estate attending a sink school has more chance of being on a board of a FTSE-100 company that a white girl living in Knightsbridge and going to a private school. Davies thinks so. 

(6) No action on boy's education, men's health (Prostate Cancer society article shows why) or suicide (80% of young people committing suicide are men).

(7) No one in Parliament (including the 232 new MP's - 35% of the total) and certainly no one in the Government is standing up for men and men's issues. It means the anti-male feminists in all parties are again riding roughshod over the true meaning of equality and doing all the can to marginalise men. 

(8) And finally - the coup de grace - the government's shiny new Equality Strategy - Building a Fairer Britain. At no stage (except fleetingly on Caribean boys)  does it ever mention men and boys or the isuses facing them. None of them in this post are ever mentioned. Nothing on education, higher rates of unemployment, health, suicide - just example after example on issues affecting women.

The Equality Strategy published this month, makes it completley clear - this governement is no better and no more interested than the last in tackling issues that affect men & boys (and consequently their mothers, sisters, daughters and wives/partners/girlfriends).

It actually wants to make things worse not just by the overt discrimination (see 1, 2,3,4 and 5 above) but the covert discrimination of discrimination by omission. And with Parliamentary terms lasting five years now, we have over four years of this to go.

There have been a few advances, equality of pesnion age, a family review still pending (who know what the result will be) and Mirko Fischer's BA win. Plus some organisations seem to be pushing more and more (Men's Network, ManKind Initiative, Prostate Cancer Society, Families Need Fathers, Parity, False Allegations Support Organisation, Men's Health Forum amongst others) and they will need to be encouraged by us all to continue.

However, looking back, the hopes at the beginning of the year have proved unfounded and it is clear that things have got worse in 2010 for men and boys.

Posted by Skimmington 

MEN'S NETWORK LAUNCH STRATEGY FOR MEN & BOYS IN BRIGHTON & HOVE

The excellent Men's Network has launched its Citywide Strategy for Men & Boys in the city of Brighton & Hove.

There a large number of positives to come out of the work the Men's Network are undertaking.

Firstly, it is based solely on the concept that equality means equality for men & boys too. It is not a patsy of the anti-male feminist establishment.

Secondly, it challenges in a mature and responsible way the politically correct orthodoxy that men & boys do not matter and are the cause of all the problems that women and society face.

Thirdly, instead of throwing rocks, it is doing something positive in producing its own strategy and using that as a basis to challenge the statutory agencies in Brighton & Hove about the lack of practical support and help there is in the city.

More on this in a New Year round up, but men who believe in equality and believe that men & boys are discriminated against, ignored and ill-served by society, statutory agencies and others, cannot rely on politicians, civil servants and throwing rocks. We have to set up or join (and fundraise for) sensible organisations and do it ourselves.

Posted by Skimmington 

 

THERE ARE NO FECKLESS MOTHERS WHO DENY CHILDREN ACCESS TO THEIR FATHERS...

is there Rt. Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP?

And of course Cafcass, family law courts, judges, solicitors and those feminists who think men/fathers are superfluous.

That's what Duncan Smith seems to be saying here.