[Deleted for abuse. There is no problem disagreeing with an author, but you can't call them names.]

"The worker gently shook her head at me "Nearly all the mothers complain about violence and abuse and we normally discount them. This case was no different."

Elspeth intepret's this as

"This brief conversation again highlighted the difficulties which face mothers and children leaving violent and abusive men."

That's one thing it highlights but it also highlights the problems with too many people crying wolf, with setting up definition's which don't reflect reality, with using research into relationship violence as a tool to further gender war's rather than trying to come to a real understanding of it.

I've not been close to the family breakdown industry for some years so perhaps things have changed but there used to be so much pressure for women to "identify" violent and or controlling behavior from an ex and no interest when men reported a violent ex that it became obvious that it was an agenda not real concern for safety.

We do need better mechanism's to ensure children are protected from genuinely abusive parents (whatever their gender). We also need mechanism's to ensure that those protections can't be used to gain unfair advantage or create unnecessary harm when used. As it was they could be used to create patterns of residency for the children and living arrangements for the parents which impacted on later steps of family separation regardless of the validity of the claims.

We need to ensure that the accused parent has access to the resources to carry on with their lives and to defend themselves against claims in the same way they would if the protections were not in place.

R0bert

Every single one of us has a breaking point, where we are much more likely to do something that we would not do if we were in a more rational frame of mind.

http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/38333/20051023-0000/www.kittennews.com/cgi-bin/kn_opinion/opinion2b63.html?topic=999997

and see Tom's Tale

http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2004/0922rolph.html

It has been well documented that men are much more likely to commit suicide or to die from other causes, following divorce and separation.

Ah James I finally read Toms story that you've been plugging almost as mercelessly as I plug Jack Marx. I think it's a bit overly emotive, and just a tad one-sided. Granted it's a side that probably doesn't normally get much of an airing (appealing to Father-love instead of that unique maternal love we normally hear all about), but on the whole the story seems like effective propaganda. As is this piece.

Really, to me, I think if the author gets her 'safety first' legislation, it will require separated parents to undergo an amazing training regime to ensure they can run fast enough to get to the office first with their claims of violence.

Then they will hold all the cards in divorce proceedings while their partner fights off (In a prove god doesn't exist manner) the accusations, all the while holding custody of the kids.

What if one of the parents tears a hamstring? How will we test for performance enhancing drugs? The game shouldn't be so dependent on who wins the toss.

Unless you have enough resources to investigate fully all accusations (by police) within 2 weeks of them being made, with harsh consequences for false accusations, it's a non-starter.

Radical ratbag feminism is alive & well, & thriving in our universities.

Seems to get a pretty good run in our Labor party as well, just in case you haven't noticed.

The author mentions a father who threw his daughter off a bridge. The author did not mention a woman who jumped off the same bridge while carrying her baby.

The author says that mothers are worried that fathers will abuse their children when the father is granted parenting time. The author does not mention the highest rates of child abuse are abuse due to neglect, which occurs most commonly in single parent families with the mother as the single parent.

The author mentions that fathers could sexually abuse their children. The author does not mention that mummy’s new boyfriend is much more likely to sexually abuse the children than the natural father.

The author does not give the full information, and the question that should be asked, is why do universities employ academics who do not give the full information.

So called university education is a farce.

It is now university misinformation and half-truths.