After hearing about todays announcement by the Ontario Liberal government to spend 66 million dollars on domestic violence in support of women and children, I have to ask, why the discrimination?
It has been long discovered that women are in fact more likely than men to be the perpetrators of domestic violence. Men are victimized by thier spouses and then again by society and government who offer NO suppport or services for battered males.
My own personal experiences have been that the police, who are supposed to protect us, laugh at male victims and tell them such things as "Well I guess you better listen then, eh?"
Imagine if the genders were reversed. Would they find it funny? Below is a sample od the numerous studies that support the need for helping men. We are doing women and children no favours by excusing them for being violent.
If you would like more information or an article on this subject feel free to e-mail me and I will be glad to oblige.
Rob Wynne - Kingston
Studies supported by the National Institute Of Mental Health
Pioneering work of Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz
The most widely reported figures, and probably the most reliable, on domestic violence and abuse are based on social studies by Straus and others supported by the National Institute of Mental Health. They report that roughly 6 million women a year are victims of some level of domestic violence in the United States. Of these 6 million women, 1.8 million are seriously assaulted every year. These estimates are based on surveys made in 1975, 1985, and 1992 (see Table 7).
However, it is widely ignored that the same studies consistently found that an equal number of men were experiencing domestic violence and an even greater number, 2.2 million men per year, are being seriously assaulted by their female partners.
Note, however, that only a small fraction of these men and women think of the events social scientists label family, or domestic violence as a crime.
As of 2002 there have been over one-hundred-and-thirty scientific studies (Straus, 1999) supporting the pioneering work of Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz. Their results are among the most replicated of all studies in the social sciences. See, for example, the bibliography compiled by Fiebert.
All available evidence, e.g., Table 7 based on the data of Straus and Gelles (1986, p. 470) and Straus and Kantor (1994), shows a clear trend toward decreasing levels of interpersonal violence. However, the decrease of male on female violence has been more marked and continuous than the drop in female on male assaults and killings. Also, in some categories female on male aggression may actually be increasing.
