Misandry of the Welsh Assembly
In the Western Mail (a Cardiff, UK newspaper) on18th February I read an article on domestic abuse by Nerys Evans who is a member of the Welsh Assembly. The title was “Open up the domestic debate” which was more than a little misleading as the writer dealt only with one side of the problem. It was in typical “femmyspeak” with all the usual feminist myths shining through. She mentioned “women” no less that 17 times not seeming to realise that domestic violence is something which is suffered and perpetrated by both men and women. To deal with only half of this important problem is certainly not “opening up” anything. I am writing this reply to deal with the other side of the issue thus giving both sides of the picture. One would assume that any responsible newspaper would do just that, but the Western Mail still seems to be in the grip of twentieth century feminism as their daily output shows.
The writer’s opening remark was to state that it was the 70th birthday of Erin Pizzey who opened the first women’s refuge in the UK, in London. To ostensibly celebrate Erin Pizzey’s 70th birthday with an article such as Nerys Evans’s would, I have no doubt, be a bitter disappointment to Erin. I have known her for a number of years. Several years ago, it was my privilege to present an award to Erin for her work on men’s issues. She is now one of the Patrons of a leading UK men’s charity.
Censorship of books in the UK
Nerys Evans mentioned the fact that it was Erin Pizzey who opened the first refuge for women in Chiswick in 1971. That is a matter of recorded fact, but a corollary of that fact is that in her book “Prone to Violence” Erin Pizzey stated that, of the first 100 women who entered that refuge, 64 of them were as violent or more violent than the men they were allegedly running away from. This so enraged the feminists at that time that they even issued death threats against Erin and she was forced to flee the country for some years. It’s also interesting to note that feminist pressure was instrumental in getting the book censored in the UK. When I tried to borrow it from my local library, there was not a single copy in any library in the country. Fortunately I was able to borrow a copy from the National Library. As it is now freely available on the Internet, anyone can read it. It is available as a free ebook on the ManKind Wales website at http://www.mankindwales.org.uk. Simply click on the orange box on the home page to go to the literature page then click on the title “Prone to Violence”.
Massive neglect of men’s charities by Welsh Assembly
Nerys Evans also mentioned that the Welsh Assembly has just finished a review of domestic abuse services in Wales. I do hope the Assembly took note of both male and female victims. Unhappily, the Assembly’s track record of giving any help to men is appalling. I have recently acquired from the Welsh Assembly itself, official figures showing how much money has been granted by the Assembly to organisations and charities which support only women or mainly women (such as Women’s Aid) and charities which support only men or mainly men. The figures speak for themselves: £13,049,872 given to women and a mere £208,442 given to men. How can the Welsh Assembly possibly justify giving almost 63 times as much money to women as to men? The men of Wales might like to take account of this fact at the next Assembly elections!
The help available for women all over Wales was referred to by Nerys Evans. She is correct; it’s available all over the UK with millions of pounds being spent on the provision of over 500 refuges for women and also helplines etc. And how many refuges are provided for men? Just five, and only one of those is in Wales.
Why men do not report domestic abuse by women
Another truth came out in the statement: “Statistically of course, we know there are likely to be more experiences than the survey exercise showed.” Absolutely correct, but, sadly, most of those “experiences” would have happened to men. The BBC survey in the “Here and Now” TV programme showed conclusively that men are eight times less likely than women to report domestic violence against them. Men know that they’ll get very little help from the police, and might end up being blamed even when the perpetrators are their wives or partners; even when injured, it is usually the man who is arrested.
The hoary old figures of “1 woman in 4 will experience domestic violence in her lifetime” is quoted, yet again, in Nerys Evans’s piece. The fact that some of this is woman on woman violence she conveniently ignores. But the real howler committed by the writer is the question: “Does this mean that 1 in 4 men in Wales commits domestic abuse?” Her ignorance of the mathematics of probability shine through brightly here and the simple answer to her question is: “No, it does not!” What she also fails to mention is that, in the same survey that gives the “1 in 4” figure, it also states that 1 in 6 men will also suffer domestic violence in his lifetime. Nerys Evans seems good at “selective” factfinding. But, to use her particular brand of mathematical logic, does the fact I have given mean that 1 in 6 women are perpetrators of domestic violence? and to further use her logic, does it mean that some women in the Welsh Assembly could be perpetrators?
I can absolutely agree with Nerys Evans’s final point:
“The time has come to extend the debate about domestic abuse. We all have a vital role to play in making sure these behavioural patterns and attitudes change, so we break the silence about, and the acceptance of, domestic abuse in all our communities in Wales.”
I hope the facts I have given above help to extend the debate just as she suggested and that male victims of domestic abuse by women will be taken into account.
There is currently some talk about the possibility of a Welsh referendum to decide whether the Welsh Assembly should have full law-making powers. Taking into account the figures I have given above, and having regard to the Assembly’s misandric attitude and discrimination against men for years past, I imagine that all Welshmen will assume that the idea is some sort of sick joke.
