menshealthaustralia.net

 Ombudsman finds domestic violence campaign 'misleading'

A national men's group is claiming victory over what it calls a feminist agenda on domestic violence. An independent investigation has upheld the group's complaint about a public awareness campaign in South Australia. The Ombudsman's inquiry found parts of the $870,000 campaign contained errors.

The Don't Cross The Line campaign has been running in newspapers, on television and radio and on a website. The Ombudsman in South Australia found some statistics initially published on the site were false and misleading.

Advocacy group Men's Health Australia made a complaint against the Office of the Status of Women over 10 matters on the website. The Ombudsman's final report substantiates seven of them and another two in part. The Government had said one in 17 women was a victim of domestic violence annually, but the figure related to violence generally.

Michael Woods is one of the men's group's supporters and is from the Men's Health Information and Research Centre at the University of Western Sydney. "It is a shame that a government department is unable, despite being notified a year ago, to address its own shortcomings and it required this sort of action," he said. "The ideological commitment of people in that department must be so strong that they would reject scientific data in favour of their own biases."

Read full ABC News article. Listen to longer report on ABC Radio's The World Today (MP3). View transcript.

 Beliefs on violence

Letter to the editor, Adelaide Advertiser, 1st September 2010:

Your article "Domestic abuse shame" (The Advertiser, 20/8) claimed that "the poor attitude of Australian men to violence against women is evidenced by a 2006 Victorian survey which found one in 20 believed women who were raped often 'ask for it'." This survey actually found that 6 per cent (about one in 20) people (not men) agreed with the statement "Women who are raped often ask for it". So, yes, there are still a few people who hold unacceptable beliefs about sexual violence against women.

However, there are far more who hold unacceptable beliefs about violence against men. The National Crime Prevention survey found that young people are more likely to say a woman is right to, or has good reason to, respond to a situation by hitting, than a man in the same situation. Overall, for situations where men might hit their female partners, 49 per cent of young people said that he would be right to, or have a good reason to hit her, in at least one of the situations presented. In situations where women might hit their male partners, 68 per cent of young people said that she would be right to, or have a good reason to, hit him in at least one of the situations presented. And while males hitting females was seen, by virtually all young people surveyed, to be unacceptable, it appeared to be quite acceptable for a girl to hit a boy (25 per cent of young people agreed with the statement "When girl hits a guy, it's really not a big deal").

 Iran backs down on stoning execution of woman (what about the men?)

Above is a link to the latest (justified) outrage about plans for a woman to be stoned-to-death for adultery in Iran. However, what you don't read about, and probably haven't heard about, is that Iran declared an official moratorium on executions by stoning-to-death for adultery in 2002. Since then, five men and one woman have been stoned-to-death for adultery.

 Minister admits misleading public on domestic violence

The Minister for the Status of Women, Hon Gail Gago MLC, yesterday admitted in a Ministerial Statement that statistics on the Don’t Cross the Line respectful relationships website were incorrect and had been removed. The incorrect and misleading material was brought to the attention of the Minister by leading men’s health organisation Men’s Health Australia and is still under investigation by the SA Ombudsman.

Spokesman Greg Andresen said, “We are pleased that the Minister now acknowledges that her campaign misled the public and the media for nine months about the reality of relationship abuse in Australia. However, her claim that the errors have been rectified couldn’t be further from the truth. The original errors have been replaced by a page of statistics about violence against women. As the Minister notes, the underlying aim of the campaign is to educate young men and women about respectful relationships and about the difference between acceptable and abusive behaviour. To equate abusive relationship behaviour with violence against women is simply mind-boggling.”

“Firstly, at least one in three victims of family violence and abuse are male. Why has the minister deliberately misled the public in an attempt to deny that one third of victims – men and their children – exist? Secondly, most violence against women takes place outside of relationships – in the workplace, on the street, at the pub, etc. Why is the minister inflating statistics on relationship abuse by including these types of violence on the website?”

 Girl violence rising: teens charged as student needs 45 stitches after bottle attack

Two teenage girls have been charged over an attack on a Sydney school girl who needed 45 stitches after she was slashed with a broken bottle. News of the attack coincides with the release of data showing violence by girls in schools has soared by 70 per cent in NSW in the past five years.

Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) figures show that physical attacks involving girls have risen at the rate of nearly 15 per cent a year since 2005, while the level of male violence is unchanged. Last year, 154 violent incidents in schools involving girls aged 10 to 17 were reported to police, compared with 89 five years ago.

 Female violence soars in NSW schools

Jade Whitford is on her knees, exhausted and injured after wrestling with a Year 9 student for just under 30 seconds. As a teacher tries to put himself between the brawling girls, Jade's attacker launches one final, gutless blow: a kick to her victim's head. There's a sickening crack and Jade's head snaps back. She falls to the ground clutching her nose. Dozens of students who moments earlier were cheering on the confrontation now yell out in disgust. One can be heard to say: "You don't kick someone like that." They crowd around Jade to get a closer look. The 14-year-old lies face-up on the ground, blood streaming from her nose.

The fight at Wadalba Community College, on the Central Coast, on May 12 was not an isolated incident. Female violence in NSW schools has soared by 70 per cent in the past five years. Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures show physical attacks involving girls have risen at the rate of nearly 15 per cent a year since 2005, yet the level of male violence remains "stable". Last year, 154 violent incidents in schools involving girls aged 10 to 17 were reported to police, compared with just 89 five years ago. During the same period, the number of male attacks rose from 254 to 291. The data confirms a disturbing increase in hard-core violence among female school students, revealed in The Daily Telegraph several years ago.