One third of domestic violence victims ( ALL MEN ) denied services
Voice for Men News, September 15, 2014
Following last week’s launch of Our
Watch – a new national initiative aimed to prevent
violence against women and their children – the One
in Three Campaign has released a new analysis of the latest
Australian data on male victims of family violence.
Senior Researcher Greg Andresen said, “We are very glad to
see violence against women being taken so seriously by the
Australian Government. However we are extremely concerned
that one third of victims of sexual assault and family
violence are excluded by One
Watch and its sister organisation ANROWS simply
on the basis of their gender.”
The analysis of the ABS Personal Safety Survey and the AIC Homicide
in Australia, 2008–10, published today by One
in Three, challenges the claim that the vast majority
of family violence is committed by men against women and
children. Using the same data sources as Fact
Sheets recently released by ANROWS, the new data
analysis paints a very different picture of gender and
family violence in Australia.
“The statistics presented by ANROWS have been designed to
over-inflate female victimisation by using lifetime
experience of violence instead of current rates, while
downplaying male victimisation by taking only the female
perspective,” said Mr Andresen.
“75 males were killed in domestic homicide incidents between
2008-10. That’s one death every 10 days,” said Mr Andresen.
“1.2
million Australian men have experienced emotional abuse
by a partner, almost half a million have experienced
violence by a partner and almost a third of a million have
experienced violence by a girlfriend/boyfriend or date.
Where are the services for these men and boys?”
The vast majority of domestic violence services in Australia
are closed to males. There are no shelters for men and their
children, no safe rooms or legal support at courthouses, no
community education and prevention programmes, no support
groups, no perpetrator programs for women or health service
screening tools for men.
One in Three is
calling upon the Australian Government to comply with its
international human rights obligations and provide programs
and services for male, as well as female victims of family
violence.
“There is simply no excuse for this kind of sexist
discrimination in Australia in 2014,” said Mr Andresen.
Male victims of family violence: key statistics
- More than 1 in 3 victims of domestic homicide were male
(38.7%)
- 2 in 5 victims of physical and/or sexual child abuse
were male (39.0%)
- in 3 victims of current partner violence were male
(33.3%)
- Almost 1 in 3 victims of violence from a
boyfriend/girlfriend or date were male (27.9%)
- More than 1 in 3 victims of partner emotional abuse were
male (37.1%)
- in 3 victims of stalking were male (34.2%)
- Almost 1 in 3 victims of sexual assault were male
(29.6%)
Male victims of family violence were:
- 2 to 3 times more likely than women to have never told
anybody about experiencing partner violence
- Twice as likely as women to have never sought advice or
support about experiencing partner violence
-
Up to 40% more likely than women to have not contacted
police about experiencing partner violence
-
Half as likely as women to have had a restraining order
issued against the perpetrator of partner violence.
MEDIA CONTACT
Greg Andresen, Senior Researcher, One in Three Campaign,
0403 813 925 or info@oneinthree.com.au