'The Plan' is split into several parts, which puts forth recommendations for new legislation, changes to judicial processes, requests for funding and ideas for domestic programs targeted at reducing domestic and sexual violence against women. The advisory council has some powers to implement programs through the Office of Women among other agencies, but much of what the government funded program calls for requires approval by Parliament.
The entire premise of the National Plan was underpinned by the belief in this statement:
"While a small proportion of men are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, the majority of people who experience this kind of violence are women in a home, at the hands of men they know."[2-pg1]But a quick examination of the statistics and data shows a much different picture to the rather sweeping indictment of Australian men the National Council paints.
The National Council's plan is put forth as a direct response to several academic papers and various activists around Australia, which purport data and statistics that claim to show an epidemic of men's violence against women. However, the National Council readily admits its data on actual incidences of domestic violence and sexual assault is poor, sporadic and in some cases inaccurate. Nevertheless, the council makes most of their recommendations based on the conclusions of several academic papers and studies, and rarely address any comprehensive analysis of their own. Indeed, 'The Plan' never addresses the topic of violence that women commit towards men or towards children, nor does it accurately state the facts as they are in Australia.
"Data relating to violence against women and their children in Australia is poor. Data on services sought by, and provided to, victims is not readily available, and the way in which information is reported is generally inconsistent and does not allow for a comprehensive understanding of violence against women. Variations in data estimates across Australia are affected by differences in what is captured, counted and reported across States and Territories.
There are also personal and institutional barriers in decision making within and across systems that reduce the extent to which sexual assault and domestic and family violence is disclosed and reported. This affects the capacity of data to accurately reflect the real numbers of women and children who experience this violence. The difficulty [is] in measuring the true extent of sexual assault and domestic [violence]."[1-pg47]What 'The Plan' lacks in substantial comparative statistical data, it makes up for with hyperbolic references to various academic publications which they imply contain extremely compelling data. However, when direct statistical data is mentioned, it is at best an out-of-context use of very some basic data; and at worst an obfuscation of the full picture of domestic violence. Here is an example of one statistic 'The Plan' mentions over and over again in several of its various publications:
"Violence in relationships remains high in our communities, and most would agree that unless the unequal power relations between women and men are more meaningfully addressed, the incidence will not change. Around one in three Australian women experience physical violence, and almost one in five experiences sexual violence over their lifetime."[1-pg59]What they don't mention is this "1 in 3" (or 29%) stat isn't just domestic violence, or even violence men perpetrate against women - it's all forms of violence women experience. Furthermore, it's only violence that occurs after the age of 15, and does not consider child abuse experienced by young girls and boys. The exact same data set from which the National Council used, shows that over 41% of Australian men experience violence in their lifetime (12% more than women) as men are much more likely to be the victims of violence than women.
Here is the complete data from the same Australian Bureau of Statistics(ABS) source, which shows a larger picture of data on violence for both women and men.
Violence experienced since the age of 15:
- 29% (2,243,600) of women experienced physical assault
- 41% (3,031,800) of men experienced physical assault
- 17% (1,293,100) of women experienced sexual assault
- 4.8% (362,400) of men experienced sexual assault
- 4.7% (363,000) of women experienced physical violence
- 10% (779,800) of men experienced physical violence
- 1.6% (126,100) of women experienced sexual violence
- 0.6% (46,700) of men experienced sexual violence
- 79,500 men experienced physical assault by a female perpetrator
- 195,300 women experienced physical assault by a male perpetrator
- 77% of men (60,900) who experienced physical assault by a female occurred in a home
- 64% of women (125,100) who experienced physical assault by a male occurred in a home
"While a small proportion of men are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, the majority of people who experience this kind of violence are women in a home, at the hands of men they know. Men are more likely to be the victims of violence from strangers and in public, so different strategies are required to address these different types of violence."[3-pg1]If the ABS data is correct, which does not include abuse to children under the age of 15, certainly men constituting one-third of all domestic abuse victims is not a "small proportion" in any sense of the meaning. In the prior 12 months to the survey for sexual assault, men experienced 27% of the incidents of sexual violence; again, not a "small proportion." The question must be asked why a well funded government study on domestic violence doesn't even begin to address the victimization of men when they do account for significant portion of domestic violence victims? According to the council:
"Enhanced community awareness and education programs are needed to change violence-supportive attitudes. These initiatives must be always based on the notion of gender equality and the need to shift men’s consciousness from one of privilege to one of mutuality. They need to make men question their own economic, social, and political power over women."[1-pg47]Does the National Council believe that the violence men endure is not as important as the violence women endure?
"Attitudes and beliefs about gender are learned, and society often teaches deeply held sexist views. Evidence shows that communities increase the risk of violence against women when they allow norms that support men’s controlling attitudes and behaviour over women, or attitudes that support the notion of male privilege.[1-pg39]"Let's look at the basic statistics for men in Australia in terms of health, education and welfare when compared to women, to see the statistical evidence of 'male privilege'.
- Men Live on average 5 years less than women - (in 2007-2009 men had a 40.9% chance of surviving to age 85 years compared with women’s 57.3% chance) [A]
- Men accounted for 93% of workplace fatalities in Australia (2009-2010) [B]
- Men die of suicide at 3 times the rate of women (2008 Men 16 and women 5 per 100,000 population)[C]
- At least 1 in 3 victims of family or domestic violence is a man [D]
- Men are more frequently victims of violent assault (3.9 % man compared to 2.4 % women)[E]
- Men are more frequently threatened with violent assault ( 5.0 % men compared to 3.5% women)[F]
- Men's enrollment in post secondary education for 2010 is 43.8%, women's enrollment is at 56.2% [G]
- Men are more than twice as likely to be victims of homicide (1.8 victims per 100,000 population) than women (0.8 victims per 100,000 population)[H]
- The imprisonment rate for men in June 2009 was 13 times the rate for women (329 prisoners per 100,000 male adults versus 25 prisoners per 100,000 female adults)[I]
After close examination of the National Council's drastic recommendations of judicial and legislative changes, which call for 'gendered civil and criminal laws' meant to enact a type of gender profiling against men, holding them to a lower standard of proof for incidents of domestic violence, one can only wonder how such a one sided study made it past the desks of some of Australia's most prominent politicians without any protest. Furthermore, while the National Plan doesn't commit to equal protection under the law, they attempt to justify the 'gendered treatment for civil and criminal laws' stipulating that "reforming legal frameworks with the aim of improving the safety of all victims of family violence—the effect will be to the benefit of all victims, whether male or female."[4-pg51]
I think many Australians may be curious to ask if Prime Minister Julia Gillard knows the real facts about domestic violence, and if she is aware of the National Council's call to create gendered laws that will in effect be enforced against only the male portion of its population? Sadly, it appears, that the National Council's study regards the men and boys who are victims of domestic violence in Australia as irrelevant and unimportant.
No victim of domestic violence, whether they be a man or a woman, should be forgotten by society, simply because they are a man or a woman. Not one!
References:
[1] Time for Action: The National Council's Plan for Australia to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, 2009-2021
[2] The National Council's Plan - 2010 Update
[3] The National Council's Plan - First Three Year Action Plan
[4] Australian Law Reform Commission(ALRC) - Family Violence - A Legal Response
[5) Headey, B., Scott, D., & de Vaus, D. (1999). Domestic violence in Australia: Are Women and Men Equally Violent? Australian Social Monitor 2:57-62
[6] Dutton D. G. (2007). Female Intimate Partner Violence and Developmental Trajectories of Abusive Families. International Journal of Men's Health, 6, 54-71
[7] Archer J (2000). Sex Differences in Physically Aggressive Acts between Heterosexual Partners: A Meta-Analytic Review. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 651-680
