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Shout ‘no’ to domestic violence

Posted on November 19, 2009, 3:03pm

Mount Gambier’s White Ribbon ambassadors are calling on all men to join Australia’s Loudest Shout at the Cave Gardens at 12.30pm on Wednesday (November 25, 2009).

They are hoping more than 150 men, boys and women, will lend their voices to shout “NO” at the event in support of White Ribbon Day, a male-led campaign to help end violence against women.

Ambassador and McDonald Park Primary School deputy principal Scott Dickson will be a strong voice among those participating.

“Last year we raised the noise to the level of a rock concert, this year we hope to lift it even further,” he said.

“This call is going out to all men to join together at the Cave Gardens to make some noise, to end the silence about violence against women.”

Ambassador Tony Byfieldt, who works as a family counsellor with Ac.care, is urging supporters to attend.

“Currently, one in three Australian women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime,” he said.

“Every single one of us knows a woman who has suffered its effects, whether we are aware of it or not. These women are our mothers, daughters, our wives, our girlfriends, colleagues and friends.

“By supporting this campaign you are helping to ensure that Australia becomes a safer place for all women, and their children.”

South Australia’s commissioner for victim’s rights, Michael O’Connell, will be a special guest at the shout and will speak to the gathering about his role and experiences with victims of violence.

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Comments

20 Responses to “Shout ‘no’ to domestic violence”

  1. H on November 20th, 2009 2:02 pm 1

    once again, continuuing and perpetuating the myth that only Men are guilty of domestic violence..

  2. Jade on November 20th, 2009 3:44 pm 2

    H — the shout is actually a campaign to help “end violence against women” the Border Watch have chosen to add the DV angle in their title.

    While I completely agree that men are not the only perpetrators of DV, based on statistical evidence — it is more likely to be a man than a woman.
    Its the same as pool fencing — more children drown in back yard pools than in dams, rivers, ponds etc which is why there is a legislative requirement to have a pool fenced and not the other bodies or water.

    As a member of the committee promoting this event (which started as a local initiative and has now gained national support) I hope to see you there next week H :-)

    Jade

  3. H on November 20th, 2009 5:05 pm 3

    statistics tell nothing. It’s like male rape — pride hinders people from reporting cases.. most workers in community services I’ve spoken to suggest the figure is 50/50..

    If it’s about raising awareness and preventing violence against women, say so.. but if it’s about raising awareness and preventing domestic violence, there should be no gender divide, and that’s a note to the editor, then..

    I won’t be there, I’ll be home giving my wife a hug..

  4. Jade Done on November 20th, 2009 5:57 pm 4

    On ya H

    Jade

  5. Wayne Stapleton on November 23rd, 2009 7:07 pm 5

    I find my self agreeing with H on this. The fact is that not only is it not right to be violent towards women, but its it is as equally wrong for men to be victims of violence. The campaign seem to strengthen old stereotype that you should never hit a woman, and that’s true, but we should be saying that it’s not right to hit any one. Regardless of the statistics. If one man is a victim to five women, is this not just wrong across the board.

  6. H on November 24th, 2009 9:23 am 6

    Thanks Wayne — I know you, like my father you worked with, have seen the coalface on this issue.. Violence at any level, be it physical, verbal, emotional or otherwise, against any man, women, or child is wrong.

  7. Jay Mancuso on November 25th, 2009 10:19 am 7

    Here Here Wayne!!!

  8. False use of statistics ? on November 25th, 2009 11:53 am 8

    Apparently the ‘White Ribbon Campaign’ is based on false information provided by Michael Flood which deliberately exagerated the level of male violence. Here is a retraction by the Australian broadcaster ABC:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Michael_Flood#Blatant_misrepresentation

    ABC Editor’s note; This story was amended on December 3, 2008 to acknowledge an error made by the authors of the White Ribbon Foundation report. The original story reported, in part, that “one in every three boys believe it is not a big deal to hit a girl”. In fact, the author of the report, Dr Michael Flood, has advised the ABC that this finding was in fact wrong. Dr Flood’s team transposed information in compilation of that part of the report. The original report by the National Crime Prevention 2001 study upon which much of the White Ribbon report was is based made no reference to “boys hitting girls” and referred only to “girls hitting boys”.

    Clearly ‘research’ for WRD has exagerated male violence.

  9. Robert Stewart on November 25th, 2009 1:24 pm 9

    So long as we do not teach community values in the education system for the primary years before a teen mindset nothing will change. We back away from the obvious and put our heads in the sand and blame the parents. But have you noticed, there is a greater proportion of dysfunctional children who, from my own close experiences will become dysfunctional parents of another lot of equally dysfunctional children. Teachers are at the front line yet continue to deny a part they play in bringing up children to be acceptable to the community in which they live. Miss Johnson, Grade 4 teacher Aldgate School, 1937 – 38 would be appalled that we are teaching the 3 R’s while ignoring the 4th one — Respect.

  10. Anelia on November 26th, 2009 2:17 pm 10

    With all the comments focused on physical violence, I think it’s time to start realising that violence can also be mental, verbal and emotional.

    More women and children are affected by these types of violence than by a kick or a slap

  11. Ebony Jackson on November 26th, 2009 3:03 pm 11

    Financial deprivation and social isolation is also used to abuse.

  12. H on November 26th, 2009 3:09 pm 12

    Anella and Ebony — absolutely, and that’s what I was trying to get at a little with some of my posts..

    Whilst men generally have the advantage when it comes to physical violence — size, strength, etc.. The other forms of abuse can go either way.

    Abuse, whatever form it takes is wrong, and we shouldn’t focus on one part of it, to the exclusion of the others..

  13. Michael Flood on November 26th, 2009 9:34 pm 13

    A poster above highlights a mistaken statistic in the White Ribbon Foundation’s report An Assault on Our Future. True, there was an error in the original report, and this was corrected as soon as it was known. More importantly, this did not take away from the main message of the report: that young people are exposed to violence in their families and relationships at disturbingly high levels, that this violence has profound and long-lasting effects, that violence is sustained in part by some young people’s violence-supportive attitudes, that young males have more violence-supportive attitudes than young females, and that prevention efforts can stop this violence from occurring and continuing. The full report is available here: http://www.whiteribbonday.org.au/media/documents/AssaultonourFutureFinal.pdfTo focus on attitudes for example;
    • One in three boys (33%) believe that ‘most physical violence occurs in dating because a partner provoked it’, compared to 25% of girls (NCP 2001: 65).
    • 15 per cent of males (but only 4% of females) agree that ‘It is okay to put pressure on a girl to have sex but not to physically force her’ (NCP 2001: 65).
    • Over one in eight boys (12%) believe that ‘it is okay for a boy to make a girl have sex, if she’s flirted with him, or led him’, compared to only 3% of girls (NCP 2001: 65).
    • 7% of males (but only 2%) of females agree that ‘it’s alright for a guy to hit his girlfriend if she makes him look stupid in front of his mates’ (NCP 2001: 65).
    Best wishes,
    michael flood.

  14. H on November 26th, 2009 11:23 pm 14

    Okay Michael.. I had a quick look at the report.. And one thing struck me, at least in the state statistics..

    Lies. True lies. and Statistics.

    Weren’t the questions just a little biased towards generating a response that didn’t address the issue of female to male violence?

    As I posted earlier, much woman to male violence anecdotely goes unreported. I know of many situations where men have been abused by dominant female partners.. Crikey, even Aussie culture does that in it’s feminist driven belittling and emasculation of men.

    Violence against anyone is wrong, I fail to see or be convinced that we should have a day to address a tiny portion of it.

  15. False use of statistics ? on November 27th, 2009 6:57 pm 15

    Michael,

    After last year’s “error” via which you denigrated males Australia-wide, do you expect the public to view your statistics this year as anything but misandric?

    Anyone with an interest in this topic please check: http://hathor.instanthosting.com.au/~mhirc//files/Dishonesty_in_the_Domestic_Violence_Industry.pdf

  16. Wayne Stapleton on November 27th, 2009 7:56 pm 16

    I am not sure what you intend to prove with those statists, I find it a bit alarming that there was an “only” before some of the statists for the girls. Is not the belief that violence is not right even for those girls in the 2% range? And besides the survey for the data is an emotive one and the data can be slued.

  17. False use of statistics ? on November 28th, 2009 7:34 pm 17

    Hmm, this might throw a little truth into the equation: http://www.oneinthree.com.au/

    Lets stop this male-hate campaign now. As a national community we can ask “Say NO to violence against statistics”.

  18. H on November 29th, 2009 12:09 am 18

    hey False, wouldn’t it be Say NO to the violent misuse of statistics?

    Lies, true lies and statistics.

    And statistics can be tortured to confess to anything!

  19. Michael Flood on November 29th, 2009 8:55 pm 19

    I’m familiar with the ‘Dishonesty in the Domestic Violence Industry’ article. It’s an impressive collection of misinformation. I critique it here: http://www.xyonline.net/content/secrets-and-lies-responding-attacks-domestic-violence-campaigns-2006
    Regards,
    michael flood.

  20. John Coochey on December 20th, 2009 5:20 pm 20

    Michael, I have read your response and much of it relates to “Koss Rape” where women are classed as victims even when they themselves do not consider themselves victims. This is because the definition misrepresents I think New England legislation which includes within rape as sex after administering a stupificant … except alcohol. Except she missed out the exception. So just about every sexually mature woman is a rape victim. Get real! Koss has already been exposed in Current Controversies on Family Violence by Gelles et al where she has been shown to change figures over time, but still sourcing them from the exact same source, not later data. Guess which way the figures went?

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