Dear Paul,

The link I provided earlier certainly gives a good
overview of the issues - particularly those related
to Indigenous women - it covers domestic, family
and sexual violence in Australia - and the information
given is current (14 October 2014.

Australia has a shocking record on domestic violence.
The social and economic costs - cost the Australian economy
$13.6 billion. It is time Australia began to seriously
tackle this problem in a more open way. The amount of money
that has been granted by our new Prime Minister and his
government towards this problem is a start. Especially considering
that Mr Abbott and the Coalition cut funding to legal agencies
which left many women in dire straights - especially
Indigenous women. It's all very well to have photo opportunities
at Indigenous Communities as Mr Abbott loved doing - but
it seemed that providing much needed funding in areas that
helped resolve problems was a case of a "bridge too far."

Mr Turnbull is at least trying to build this bridge - and for
that he is to be congratulated.

Beach, I never said that at all, read my post;

<<"You say it is 'race hate' to challenge the leftist political correctness that would NOT have Aboriginal women and girls accorded the same protection and justice of the laws that are enjoyed by the remainder of the Australian population?>>
from my post "Domestic violence in indigenous communities is at an unacceptable level, in fact one instance of DV in society is one instance too many."

Robert, "The distressing part of all that I've heard so far regarding the initiative is the continuation of the completely gendered version of the discussion....We have been over the stats on lower levels of violence over many years, that seems to be a dead end with nobody listening"

Just restricting that to OLO and remembering that the same posters adhere to the same gendered line notwithstanding opposing facts, what do you sense prevents change?

General comment,
<Domestic Violence Against Men: Women More Likely To Be 'Intimate Terrorists' With Controlling Behavior In Relationships
Jun 30, 2014

Science debunks the "women are the gentler sex" myth, finding they are more likely to be "intimate terrorists," or hit their male partners in relationships.
..
The findings revealed just as many women as men could also be classed as abusive, coupled with controlling behavior with serious levels of threats, intimidation, and physical violence. Women were more likely to verbally and physically aggressive to their partners than men. “This study found that women demonstrated a desire to control their partners and were more likely to use physical aggression than men. “It wasn’t just pushing and shoving,” said Bates, Medical Xpress reported. Some of the survey respondents circled boxes for things like beating up, kicking, and even threatening to use a weapon.

However, when it came to terms of high levels of control and aggression, there was no difference between men and women. There was a higher prevalence of controlling behavior seen in women than men, which was found to significantly predict physical aggression in both sexes. In other words, the more controlling behavior a woman displayed, the more likely she would an “intimate terrorist,” or physically aggressive to her partner.
..
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, men and boys are less likely to report the violence and seek services due to several challenges such as the stigma of being a male victim. Sixteen percent of adult men who report being raped or physically assaulted are victims of a current or former spouse, cohabitating partner, boyfriend/girlfriend, or date.>
http://tinyurl.com/oxwsq7t

Armchair Critic:

“My theory is 'Men lash out when they feel challenged or backed into a corner' - as most people will.”

This is very true and there are many reasons why men feel trapped. It takes a lot of one on one counselling to determine the genesis of this feeling of entrapment and each man would have a different story to tell. How likely would it be for the government to fund a program that focuses on this particular aspect of the problem?

One area where no one wants to go and where women’s groups such as that endorsed by Turnbull do not want to go is the mothering of boys. So many women absolutely possess their sons and when it comes time to break that relationship it is often fraught with violence of the son towards the mother. The mothers do not want to let go because they have often transferred the failed hopes they had for their husbands onto their sons. The only acceptable way out seems to be to get married. Mothers begrudgingly accept this and save their vehemence for the daughter in law.

What often happens is that these men marry carbon copies of their mothers in the hope that they can re-do the relationship and make it less controlling. As soon as their partner begins to exhibit controlling behaviour or possessiveness the old anger re-surfaces and they lash out in a vain attempt to find their freedom.

Of course violence is not the way to deal with the situation but understanding it makes for better approaches to the problem. Many men who are violent have calmed down immensely when they are able to see how such a dynamic works and why they feel the way they do.

This works both ways. Many women marry their violent fathers in the vain hope that they can re-do the relationship and get him to be more caring. When they try to control their partners to make them in the image of a better father it is a recipe for constant aggression on both sides.

"Science debunks the "women are the gentler sex" myth, finding they are more likely to be "intimate terrorists," or hit their male partners in relationships."

"...intimate terrorists"...no less.

How's that for incendiary rhetoric!

Why would anyone bother to come to OLO to discuss this subject in a reasonable and balanced manner?

Poirot:
Why would anyone bother to come to OLO to make a remark like yours? If it is so silly then what does that make you for responding to it?