Thank you Michael Flood, what an absolute gold mine of information you have provided. Explains alot behind the motives of many a poster here. Now could the real men please stand up?

ringtail, I'm saddened that you have chosen to resort to personal abuse rather than debate. Your involvement in discussion is normally at a much higher level so I will assume that your own experience has made it difficult for you to be subjective about it.

It is not being a man that means taking responsibility for your actions but rather being an adult. I don't have a particular need to differentiate between being a man and being an adult.

I care about truth, I care about a system which makes a bigger hurdle of my role in my son's life not because of anything I have done but rather because of what I believe to be incorrect views about men and family violence. My manhood does not need to be expressed in sitting silently by while that happens.

Be an adult and have a look at the stats Timkins and I have provided on child abuse and then tell me they clearly support the view that men are the perpetrators of child abuse in an overwhelming percentage of cases.

A number of people on this site yourself included have made very derogaratory (although commonly accepted) statements about gender and family violence. I believe those views to be contrary to the facts and have endeavoured to show some evidence that the picture is either wrong or in more doubt than many would believe.

I am not and have never tried to suggest that women are the perpetrators in the majority of DV. I am saying that I don't believe the issue is truly genderised (again aspects of it may be but not the overall picture). That is not an attack on women, it is a statement that DV is about the perpetrator not their gender.

I have said before in this forum that I am opposed to all family violence regardless of the gender of the perpetrator. Can and will you say the same?

I have been absorbed by the debate on all the issues and statistics flying around - it appears that no matter how many stats or research is quoted, opinions will not change.

Perhaps if you got out into the real world you would see for yourself. I have spent 7 years in the Family Court watching and listening and hearing the evidence. I could not say how many cases I have sat through - all cases of domestic violence and child abuse and all perpetrated by the father. They all have the same elements same personality types - you could almost just change the names and in many cases the outcomes were the same.
Some where in all these words and emotions common sense was lost!And it is the children who continue to suffer.
Perhaps if you spent some time at the emergency room of the hospital or at the refuges and saw the impact on women and children from the effects of domestic violence and sexual abuse and saw the raw emotions of children this may open your eyes.( I suspect that even this would not change your minds.)

I feel your resentment to women your bitterness your anger- it is eating away at you and with a bit of luck it may just gobble you up!

Robert, I have not resorted to personal abuse of you - don't be so touchy. I have had direct experience of being bashed and intimidated by men and am offended by your attempts to deny the fact of male violence.

You state "I have said before in this forum that I am opposed to all family violence regardless of the gender of the perpetrator. Can and will you say the same?" Are you trying to make a very poor joke here?
Of course I oppose all forms of violence from war thru to domestic.

Have you not read the succinct and informative posts provided by Michael Flood - clearly not.

Of course ALL victims of violence should be respected and treated - however you have been pushing an agenda for which there is little proof. As I have suggested just go to an emergency room one Satuday night and see for yourself the victims of male violence.

You say you are saddened -- I say you are furthering the violence inflicted upon me by attempting to deny the fact that men need to grow up and take responsibility for their behaviour in all its forms.

Shame!

While it is gratifying to see links provided by such as Michael Flood, I am dismayed by the politics of denial put forward by those such as timkins, seeker and robert.

Guys, we ARE agressive many of us attempt control of women and other men and children by use of intimidation and violence. As I have stated previously I see the bloody results of this every day in my job.

Why do you try to discredit women while failing to modify your own behaviour and assist other men to come to terms with theirs. Robert I found your comments to ringtail very patronising - she has every right to feel aggrieved and you are denying her this right. Do you call this manly behaviour?

I am puzzled by the ultimate goal of the anti-female posters - by denying women sovereignty you are also denying your own opportunity to stand side by side with your sisters as equals. I guess you don't even know what you are missing by alienating women. Well, leaves more for me then.

;)

Would people much prefer if I said the following:-

All women are wonderful
All men are complete trash

I can only reiterate, that if someone makes a negative statement about the male gender (or says that the male gender is in need of reform), then there is almost no questioning of this, even if that statement is completely anecdotal or not referenced or substantiated in any way, and the original article is an example where everything in it is almost completely anecdotal and unsubstantiated.

However if someone makes a negative statement about the female gender, they can be called everything from being “misogynist” to being “ignorant” to being a “Virgo”.

If they reference statistics, they can be called “anal”. If they were to quote from Dr Flood’s list of highly generalised and stereotypical anti-male slogans, (eg “A male gynecologist is like an auto mechanic who never owned a car”) they would probably be regarded as being “responsible”.

If they reference dozens of articles that were written by females, they will be regarded as being “anti-female”.

If they say that continuous negative portrayal of the male gender in the media, in advertising and in large sections of academia (with minimal positive being said about males) is a form of serious discrimination, they will probably be called “men’s rights activists”.

So I will only consider serious unbiased reports and studies that do not attempt to generalise or stereotype, and probably the AIFS needs to produce another sheet shortly titled “Who’s abusing who”, to go along with their other resource sheet http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/sheets/rs7.htm