Timkins, I largely agree with your comments in the recent post. There are certainly some governments stats out there which support the view that family violence may not be inherently genderised (maybe it is in some cultural groupings). In particular child abuse and child death stats (which I guess are more difficult to doctor) paint a very clear picture that child abuse and neglect is not genderised overall (some categories are eg fathers rarely kill their own kids as a consequence of mental illness). I suspect that rates of DV have more to do with social and cultural issues rather than chromozones.

I still think you don't get what the honest feminists are about. Stop for a bit and listen to what Ringtail and others are saying. They are intelligent caring people who accept the responsibilities of adulthood. Lumping all feminists in the same basket does not help your cause. The same kind of issues exist for the mens movement, there are extremists who want women back in their place and who dream of a world where men have special plivilige. Men who are unwilling to take any kind of financial responsibility for their children. I certainly don't support those male biggots just as I don't see many of the feminists on this site supporting the man haters. Give understanding a try, it can be fun.

RObert

I don’t think you’re an extremist – we may disagree but you aren’t rude, condescending or deliberately antagonistic. You don’t advocate a male supremist POV – eg promoting the use of artificial wombs and fathers-only parenting. Your posts are thoughtful and presented in a mature rather than hysterical fashion.

I understand your questioning of the predominance of male DV – I was shell-shocked the first time my ex struck me – I thought it was my fault. It was a long time before I understood that his violence was his problem.

I surmise from your posts that you are essentially a gentle soul – this makes you an easy target for someone who is manipulative and controlling. I hope you can move on from what your ex did to you. It is anecdotes like these that prove their value. Many a scientific study commenced with anecdotal evidence.

I can’t find any stats that show women as being as physically violent as men – nor does my life experience support this. However, the worst boss I ever had was a woman – a true psychopath; manipulative and remorseless. I believe that there are many women who use psychological methods of abuse and control as do men. As to numbers I have no idea – data on psychological abuse is very difficult to obtain – on both sexes.

I have provided a couple of links you may find informative. One is dry data but very comprehensive and the other is an article from the Guardian about male victims.

“Domestic violence is an issue which many Australians would prefer not to think or talk about” http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/vt/vt2-text.html#5

“ we believe society discriminates against men in the field of domestic violence. They need just as much help as women to come to terms with domestic violence and rebuild their lives.”

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1101674,00.html

I would also like to reiterate that men are more likely to be victims of violence from other men than they are from women.

Finally, forums like this are an important part of the solution – we can talk at a safe distance!

Excellent posts kalweb, robert and ringtail. This topic really gets the emotions running high. I don't know too many people who haven't experienced some form of abuse/intimidation or even violence - it appears to be the nature of our species.

RObert your plea to Timkins will fall on deaf ears - there is not a single thread he has posted on this forum which indicates that he has any love or respect for women. He will deny this. But he never ever reponds to female posters when they (rarely) agree with him. And he only responds politely to male posters such as yourself. He is not about working with women, only against them. If you feel like bashing your brains about just read through all his posts - you'll see what I mean.

Trinity,
Thanks for the unsubstantiated inferences and innuendo. It is also a form of abuse.

However the topic is on bias in domestic violence studies, and there is much evidence to say that there is.

The Australian Domestic Violence Clearing House contains most of the recent studies into domestic violence in Australia. Almost all studies will only consider domestic violence carried out by men on women or children, and not domestic violence carried out by women on men or children. That is bias straight out, as it is like carrying out studies on traffic accidents, but only considering traffic accidents involving trucks or buses, and not cars also.

When such domestic violence studies are continuously produced, it eventually leads to discrimination, but unfortunately I have not noticed one feminist organisation that has come out and publicly opposed such biased studies.

I reach my own conclusions regards that.

Some forum contributors have suggested that there is little research on male victims. There is actually quite a bit, and some great papers that have addressed why the DV industry will continue to fail.

I can only present a few at a time - for those who are interested…

Jodie Leonard, was a final year law student when she won second place in an international award for research into victimology in 2003.

Her paper "THE HIDDEN VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE" can be downloaded at: www.victimology.co.za/new%20papers/leonard.pdf

Her paper addresses male victims and female perpetrators.
Jodie is now doing an honours degree on the topic.

Jodie Leonard said statistics on male victims of domestic violence ranged widely. For example, a 1994 University of Western Australia Crime Research Centre study found men made up nearly nine per cent of victims. Meanwhile a book 'The New Science of Intimate Relationships', by NZ academic Garth Fletcher, said males made up 50 per cent of victims, based on 70 studies worldwide

… One man suffered daily to weekly abuse, psychological and physical, including being punched and kicked, for eight years from his wife.

"Most of the men said the abuse continued once they separated or divorced because of the need to have contact with their ex-partners in order to see their children," she said.

Several reforms are recommended to improve the situation, including changing negative community attitudes through public education, and establishing support services similar to those available for women. They also expressed a need simply to be believed and treated favourably by the criminal justice system and support services.

I personally think that it is pointless and divisive to fix a blanket rate of male versus female DV. Throughout the research on DV the figures vary considerably, depending on the location, target issue, and the gender bias inherent in the research methodology. What is significant, is that our culture has swallowed the 'men are pathologically violent' message without critical analysis of the dissenting research, and has conformed to a politically driven hysteria that will never help to end DV.

More papers to come …

Papers by sociologists about failed DV policies.

"Domestic Violence Policies: Where Did We Go Wrong?"
Sotirios Sarantakos, Associate Prof. of Sociology, Charles Sturt University.

Download: www.nuancejournal.com.au/documents/three/saran2.pdf

Also by Ann Lewis and Dr Sotirios Sarantakos,

"Domestic Violence and the Male Victim"
download from the UWS at: http://menshealth.uws.edu.au/publications.html

The MHIRC site has other papers on the issue of DV.

Sarantakos says,

"It is imperative that we accept the fact that not only men but also women can be violent and abusive. Admitting the presence of abusive females does not negate the presence of abusive males; and caring for the victims of wife abuse does not imply that the victims of husband abuse should be neglected.

Hence, it is important that we integrate our efforts to combat DV by joining efforts and by focusing on the family as a whole, rather than by resorting to divisive and vindictive means. It is imperative that we continue to express a serious concern for and commitment to abused persons, regardless of their gender, age or background. Policies must be based on equity and justice, on understanding and compassion, on empirical evidence and scientific truth, and on a full understanding of the nature of the problem. It is important that we set aside vested interests, 'political correctness', personal ideologies and gender bias, and realise that the only remedy to domestic violence will be achieved when policy makers rest their judgment on empirical evidence, and are committed to the truth and to healthy family relationships. Public concern must shift its focus from the protection of the female victims and feminist interests to the protection of all victims and of all families.

We should be cognisant of the fact that, as the former Governor General of Australia, Bill Hayden, noted in his opening speech to the Second National Conference on Violence of 1993, "to see violence in the home ... as a war against women is to distort reality. Men too are victims. Women too are perpetrators... Neither sex has a monopoly of vice or virtue" (Hawes, 1993). This is a true reflection of reality in this country."