THESE ARE THE PEOPLE & ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED IN THE ARTICLE, OF WHICH i'VE JUST POSTED A SMALL SAMPLE!

Project Research Team
Survey analysis
Dr Kiah McGregor-Rollings,
Australian Institute of Criminology
Dr Laura Beacroft,
Australian Institute of Criminology
Survey administration and data
collection
Ms Nikki Honey,
Social Research Centre
Mr Darren Pennay,
Social Research Centre
Ms Rachel Breman,
Social Research Centre
Mr Rick Yamine,
Cultural Partners Australia
Mr Justin Noel,
Cultural Partners Australia
Development, management and support
Dr Melanie Heenan,
VicHealth – Project Leader and Writer
Ms Christina Gaughan,
VicHealth – Administrator
Dr Michael Flood,
VicHealth and La Trobe University
Partnership – Writer
Dr Kristin Diemer,
Contractor – Researcher
Ms Barbara Mouy,
Contractor – Writer
Associate Professor Anita Harris,
University of Queensland – Writer
(analysis of survey results for
young people)
Technical Advisory Group
Professor Boni Roberston,
Griffith University
Dr Kyllie Cripps,
University of Melbourne
Professor Jenny Morgan,
Law School, University of Melbourne
Professor Julie Stubbs,
University of Sydney
Ms Kim Webster,
VicHealth – Project Advisor
Ms Lyn Walker,
VicHealth – Project Advisor

I'm sure you could google any of the people who played a role in compiling, researching this 80 page document!

Understanding of who perpetrates and who is affected by violence.

In summary
Progress
Domestic violence is perpetrated mainly by men and the overwhelming majority of victims are women. Most respondents (76percent) understood this to be the case. The vast majority of respondents (90 percent) also believed that women were more likely than men to suffer physical harm.

Challenges
A considerable proportion of respondents (22 percent) believed that domestic violence was perpetrated equally by both men and women. This represents an increase of 13 percent on the proportion who believed this in the 1995 National Survey (9 percent).

Sizeable proportions also believed that the levels of fear associated with domestic violence are equal for both men and women, although most believed that physical harms were more likely among women.

THIS SUGGESTS THAT THERE IS A POOR UNDERSTANDING,THAT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS COMMITTED MAINLY BY MEN AGAINST WOMEN, AND IS FREQUENTLY CHARACTERISED BY A PERSISTENT PATTERN OF CONTROLLING AND ABUSIVE BEHAVIOURS.(my emphasis)

Data from the ABS Personal Safety
Survey (2006b) give some indication of the gender contrast. They show that for those who experienced physical assault in the previous 12 months:

• Among women, the most frequent category of perpetrator was male current or previous partners (31percent), then male family members or friends (28 percent), and then male strangers(15percent).

• Among men, in contrast, the most frequent category of perpetrator was male strangers (65 percent), then male
other known persons (19 percent),and then male family members or friends (10 percent).

FEMALE CURRENT OR PREVIOUS PARTNERS ACCOUNTED FOR ONLY 4% OF PERPETRATORS.(ABS 2006b) (my emphasis)
If you still refuse to accept reality, then you don't want to, and are not interested in the TRUTH!

This document is 80 pages long, and has investigated the mistaken idea usually put forward by males, re the assertions you blokes have consistently put forward here. I suggest you read that chapter too!

I have now reached my limit for the next 24 hours!

Clearly, Roger Smith is correct. I find it abhorrent that any country would single out a minority - IF that is what they are - to specifically target against them in their laws. I thought Australia was well beyond that kind of thing by now.

There can be no good reason for legislation to be gender discriminatory unless (such as to do with pregnancy or prostrate cancer) the issue is directly concerned with gender. Nor can there be a good reason to apply legislation is a discriminatory fashion.

Women do most of the shoplifting but would anyone expect this fact to be enshrined in law such that all women are immediately suspect and male shoplifters are virtually ignored? Of course not - it is not a gender issue. Nor is domestic violence a gender issue.

Surveys show that the worst ratio of domestic violence is in lesbian relationships - are women in these relationships not to be protected just because there is no man to blame?

As it is, the incidence of female violence is about as high as male violence. Anyone pretending otherwise is stating that the genders are so different that they make a mockery of the past several decade's attempts at gender equality. If the genders really are so very different, then why is this not recognised throughout the legal system and all equality laws scrapped?

I took the liberty of researching where the study had come from and found that it was VERY interesting. You see the survey just happened to be used as the basis for statistics by the "Don't Cross the Line" campaign- the very same campaign which the SA Ombudsdsmen Richard Bingham accused as being full of false and misleading information. Clearly when someone in such a position of authority as a state ombudsmen has issues with a campaign based heavily upon a study; the study's credibility is nothing short of highly questionable.

For anyone reading this, here is a list of misinformations listed by many groups including evidence to back it up: http://www.oneinthree.com.au/misinformation/

Liz talks about being interested in the truth, but this could not be more ironic coming from someone who claims to never condone abuse against men and boys, but who accused me outright and point blank of lying about my abuse. That tells everyone reading this, just what kind of "truth" a vile and depraved pathological liar like Liz45 is!

But hey Liz, feel free to come back with more lies, like how you don't condone violence against men or boys- when in fact you accuse them of lying about it when they disclose it, just as you accused me of lying about my abuse (which is there for anyone reading this thread to see.

Vasquez, D., & Falcone, R. (1997). Cross gender violence. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 29 (3), 427-429. (Reports equal cross gender violence treated at an Ohio trauma center during an 11 mouth period. Of 1,400 trauma admissions, 37 patients <18 men, 19 women> sustained injuries inflicted by members of the opposite sex. **The severity score of injury was higher for men than women**, 11.4 vs 6.9. The majority of men were admitted for stab wounds, 72%; the majority of women for assault, 53%.)

Ernst, A. A., Nick, T. G., Weiss, S. J., Houry, D., & Mills, T. (1997). Domestic violence in an inner-city ED. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 30, 190-197. (Assessed 516 patients <233 men, 283 women> in a New Orleans inner-city emergency Department with the Index of Spousal Abuse, a scale to measure domestic violence. Found that **28% of the men and 33% of the women** were victims of past physical violence while **20% of the men and 19%** of the women reported being current victims of physical violence. Authors report that there was a significant difference in the number of women vs. men who reported past abuse to the police ,19% of women, 6% of men.)

Basile, S. (2004). Comparison of abuse by same and opposite-gender litigants as cited in requests for abuse prevention orders. Journal of Family Violence, 19, 59-68. (Author examined court documents in Massachusetts for the year 1997 and found that, "male and female defendants, who were the subject of a complaint in domestic relations cases, while sometimes exhibiting different aggressive tendencies, measured **almost equally abusive in terms of the overall level of psychological and physical aggression**.)

Billingham, R. E., Bland, R., & Leary, A. (1999). Dating Violence at three time periods: 1976, 1992, 1996. Psychological Reports, 85, 574-578. (Data was collected from college students in 1986 <401 women, 202 men>, 1992 <210 women, 204 men> and 1996 <342 women, 229 men>. In terms of subjects' self reported violence and report of partner violence, **women were consistently more aggressive than men**.)

This male paranoia and chagrin is very difficult to understand. The male contributors seem to be arguing that females are the main agressors in circumstances of domestic violence, yet conversely and paradoxically argue that males will suffer mostly from reforms in the proposed legislation.
The proposal actually reads; "3.2.The definition deals with behaviour by one family member towards another family member. Whether a person is ‘a member of the family’ is defined in subsection 4(1AB) of the Family Law Act. This definition includes people who are or were married or in a de facto relationship and relatives such as a parent, grandparent, step-parent, child, step-child; sibling, half-sibling, step sibling, uncle, aunt, cousin, niece, nephew and so on."
If what the male contributors are arguing is correct, then females have the most to fear from this legislation.
My own view is that this legislation is primarily to protect children from abuse and exploitation by either parent, either prior to or post separation, as children suffer the most horrendous emotional and psychological injuries during instances of domestic violence, whoever the agressor may be. It seems however that whenever such attempts are made to afford children protection from abuse and exploitation, the debate is diverted and distracted into gender arguments.
A more useful debate would be how far this proposed legislation will protect children and in what ways?. Does it perhaps not go far enough to achieve this aim?. Are additional safeguards required to those which are proposed.?.
It is argued by some parents that children have a `right' to a `meaningful relationship' with both parents after separation - but should this continue to apply where a parent has caused them abuse (as in domestic violence) or has taken little or no interest in them prior to separation?. How much weighting should be given to a child's insistence and persistence that they do not want a relationship with a particular parent?. What constraints should be placed on parents who have serious psychotic mental illnesses e.g. Sociopathy, or acute but treatable mental illnesses e.g. PTSD and the potential harm to children?.