Thursday, February 4, 2010

In Wales ~ The reality that Domestic Abuse affects two genders sparks change



De Gwynedd domestic abuse service to include men

Man
Thirty three men contacted the service last year
A Welsh women's aid branch is changing its name to reflect the fact it is helping an increasing number of men.

De Gwynedd Women's Aid is changing its name to De Gwynedd Domestic Abuse Service from April.

The service said there was a need for the change as no-one, irrespective of gender, should have to suffer domestic abuse.Welsh Women's Aid said all Women's Aid groups were autonomous and they respected their right to change.

"We've noticed that more men are coming to us for help, and we decided that we would open the service out to anyone who is suffering domestic violence," said Elwen Roberts from the De (south) Gwynedd group, which takes referrals from men from all over Gwynedd.

Ms Roberts said 33 men between April and December contacted the service - as part of an independent domestic violence advisor scheme - compared with 312 women.
I don't think anyone has done any research into this, especially here in rural Wales
Elwen Roberts, De Gwynedd Domestic Abuse Service
All of them were referrals from the police - which means they were cases where there had been at least three domestic abuse incidents in the household.

"We feel this is a high enough figure to justify the change, there is a need for a service for them," she said.

The service offered for men will be tailored for them, and staff will need to be trained to deal with it.

Screening will also be carried out to make sure the sufferer is genuine.

Although abuse suffered by men can be both physical and emotional, there was a tendency for more emotional abuse, she added.

'Disappointed'

"When we began women's aid in the 70s very few women initially came forward, and it will be interesting to see over the years how big this problem is," Ms Roberts said.

"I don't think anyone has done any research into this, especially here in rural Wales."
Ms Roberts also denied the change would mean the service was turning its back on its roots.

"I don't see it like that at all as, at the end of the day, any domestic abuse is unacceptable," she said.

Paula Hardy, chief executive officer of Welsh Women's Aid (WWA) said it was "disappointing" to lose De Gwynedd Women's Aid as a member group after many years of working together as part of the Women's Aid movement in Wales.

"However, all Women's Aid groups are autonomous organisations, and WWA recognise their right to move away from the feminist ethos of the movement, and make the decision to open their services up to men," she added.

According to Home Office figures, it is estimated domestic abuse will affect one in four women and one in six men in their lifetime.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_west/8495332.stm

Caroline Overington in OZ really doesn't research well and is she guilty of plagiarism?

 A letter to the editor of "The Australian" Paper over a column Caroline Overington recently wrote, below,  on the death of two small children in Alberta whose mom, the alleged killer, is Australian. Overington is a pro-maternalist, pro-feminist journalist, whose knowledge of Canada is best summed up as illiterate.

This death is a tragedy but its another case of a biological Father ordered out of his home and required to pay all its expenses and child support even though they had been performing equal care of the children.

Its another case of a misandrist, chivalrous, eunuch judge targeting a man and ending up being a party to the death of two innocents. They don't get it!

Dear Editor:

Ms. Overington's biases are being worn on her sleeve again. She proffers  "HIS greatest fear was that his estranged wife would take his children from their home in a tiny, snowy town in Canada, and run away to Australia."  She is deriding small towns, snow and Canada all in one short sentence and implying some sympathy for the mom. Her maternal sympathies are not new.

She doesn't really know much about Canada as she indicates  "Canada has a shared parenting law similar to Australia's, although the role played by parents before separation carries greater weight."  In a previous column she described our geographical/political makeup as States rather than Provinces. Canada has no such shared parenting law but we are hopeful Bill C-422 will become so. Compared to Australia Canada is in the dark ages of family law reform. Ninety percent of physical custody is granted to moms and about 8% to dads.

I note she has not given credit for much of the column but it is almost verbatim in spots from Canadian press reports of the tragedy. Is plagiarism normally overlooked at the Australian.  I direct you to http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Boys+found+dead+were+centre+custody+fight/2518201/story.html, http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Parents+boys+found+dead+Alberta+home+were+fighting+over+custody/2517983/story.html


Australia is very advanced in coming to terms with the Family as the bed rock of a civilized society and should be proud of its achievements. We have much to learn from your 2006 initiatives and are watching the reaction to the recent reports on the Family Law reviews carefully.

Children deserve both fit parents in their lives after divorce just as they had them while married.


Mike Murphy








Dad finds children dead in bathtub

HIS greatest fear was that his estranged wife would take his children from their home in a tiny, snowy town in Canada, and run away to Australia. 

So scared was he of losing them, he'd taken their passports and hidden them away.


The effort was in vain: Curtis McConnell, 31, of Millet, near Edmonton in Alberta, on Tuesday entered the house he once shared with his infant children to find something so much worse.

According to local reports, his wife, Allyson Louise McConnell, formerly of Gosford on the NSW central coast, had not taken the children. She had allegedly drowned them in the bathtub and left their bodies in the water, for him to find. Mr McConnell pulled the children - Connor, 2, and Jayden, 10 months - from the tub.
He rushed blindly to a neighbour's house, but she could see that it was just too late.
Mrs McConnell, maiden name Meager, wasn't at the scene. According to reports, she had driven to a local Toys R Us, abandoned her husband's Chrysler sedan in the car park, and then thrown herself from an icy bridge on to a busy freeway. She survived and is being treated in hospital.

The couple had been involved in a bitter custody battle over the boys. Court documents revealed Mrs McConnell wanted to bring them to Australia to live with her mother, Helen, in Gosford. Mr McConnell wanted them to stay in Millet, population 2100, which is about 50km from Edmonton, where his family has lived for generations, and where the children were born.

In December, a judge had banned Mrs McConnell from leaving the country, and ruled that the children should stay in Canada on an interim basis, while the matter was being sorted out.

Canada has a shared parenting law similar to Australia's, although the role played by parents before separation carries greater weight.

An affidavit lodged with the Court of Queens Bench, Alberta, dated December 10 last year, says the couple met in Canada in November 2005, when Allyson was in Canada on a work visa. They married in NSW on Australia Day, 2007. Allyson got Canadian residency in April 2007 and the couple moved to a house on 52nd Street in Millet about a year ago. According to the affidavit, Mr McConnell "noticed our relationship began deteriorating in approximately September 2009 when the respondent told me that she was not happy. We attempted marriage counselling, but that was not successful.

"Notwithstanding, we have been parenting our children equally in the same household."


Until last month Mr McConnell was sleeping in the basement. He was paying $657 in monthly child support and, according to Curtis, he was as much responsible for caring for the children as his wife, waking them each morning and getting them ready for the day before he worked an afternoon shift at a hardware store.
"She has been threatening me that she wants to move back to Australia with our children," Mr McConnell said in his affidavit.

"I am completely opposed to this and I am fearful that she will attempt to do this without my consent or knowledge."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/dad-finds-children-dead-in-bathtub/story-e6frg6nf-1225826515821


Wednesday, February 3, 2010

In the UK ~ Families Need Fathers Welcomes Australian Report on Shared Parenting Legislation

 For Immediate Release 3rd February

Families Need Fathers Welcomes Australian Report on Shared Parenting Legislation


- One of the biggest family policy research projects has been undertaken in Australia which evaluates their 2006 shared parenting legislation.
- Shared Parenting legislation an urgent priority for the UK Government.

The Australian Government has just published a report by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, which evaluates their 2006 shared parenting legislation.

It is one of the biggest family policy research projects ever undertaken. 28,000 parents, grandparents and family law professionals provided information. Thus its findings can be seen as authoritative.

These findings include:

  • Most parents with a child under 18 years old agreed that the continuing involvement of each parent following parental separation is beneficial for the children (81% of parents interviewed in 2009). In 2006, the proportion of parents believing that the continuing involvement of each parent following parental separation is beneficial for the children was slightly lower (77%).
  • Most parents in the 2009 survey believed that spending approximately half the time with each parent can be appropriate, even for children under 3 years old.
  • An Australian Government report published before the 2006 Act indicated that there were perceptions in the community about an 80–20 rule in arrangements for children to spend time with their parents after separation, with mothers mostly having their child for 80% of the time. The evaluation data show that advice consistent with such a rule was provided by lawyers much less often after the reforms than prior to the reforms.
  • Parents who contributed jointly to decisions about their child were more likely than other parents to indicate full compliance in providing child support payments.

The report covers the Act comprehensively. One theme is that while the Act made progress on dealing with domestic violence and other abuse, more needs to be done. The same could be said here, though the UK Government has rightly introduced a raft of legislation to protect parents and children, and allows the courts to make protective orders when allegations are upheld, including Prohibited Steps Orders, Non-Molestation and Occupation Orders. It is crucial that such accusations are proven in court. Sadly, it is all too common that false accusations are made to exclude the other parent from a child’s life, damaging the child’s prospects in life.

Jon Davies, Chief Executive of Families Need Fathers, commented “this evaluation is a major step forward to understanding shared parenting and the impact of shared parenting legislation. Australia is planning ahead with future generations whose parenting will be better because they have known the love of two parents. It is time the UK followed suit.”


NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Australian report can be obtained from http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/fle/evaluationreport.pdf.

  
-  ENDS -

Families Need Fathers (FNF) is a registered charity providing information and support on shared parenting issues arising from family breakdown, and support to divorced and separated parents, irrespective of gender or marital status. Our primary concern is the maintenance of the child’s relationship with both parents. Founded in 1974, FNF helps thousands of parents every year.


For comment, case studies or information please contact:

Dr. Craig Pickering, Parliamentary Officer 07949 637 323

Julius Hinks, Director of Communications 07979 206 384

Jon Davies, FNF CEO 07976 935 986

Becky Jarvis, Policy & Information Officer 020 7613 5060

John Baker, FNF Trustee 07881 644 917

Antonia Zerbisias blames everything on Harper and deranged Men

The Zerb is at it again over at the Trawna Red Star and has some of her usual bevy of Marxist supporters lining up to castigate all males and try to suggest shared parenting is a conspiracy of the religious right, men are too abusive to have shared custody etc. It's the same old BS. The Zerb is a bitter and extreme Marxist Feminist who rages on about her plight while denigrating all males and any one not in keeping with her own very askew view of the universe.


I left the  below comment among others on the site.  To the left you can view her gift for the written word as a columnist and blogger for the Toronto Star.

I have read, digested, fermented and comprehended your rant for today. I guess there are extreme groups on both sides of the gender war but you most certainly comprise leadership of a very bitter feminist, very far left extreme.You rely on blogs by retired Grandmothers for your info. She did move left and she is a kindly grandmother just afraid of phantom religiosity as you are. 

You have supporters who are bitter over the hill male feminists who use the same cherry picked disingenuous forms of discourse.  How can you ever expect respect as a person of credible insight by writing in such a manner.  The joint custody you speak of is a legal fiction. Over 90% of physical custody in Canada goes to moms. Eight percent to dads. 

Some of your supporters are very misinformed on the Australian reviews. The main report was completed as follows: It appears common sense may prevail in Australia given the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) have researched and found some non-partisan, non-ideological factors in favour of shared parenting. They have indicated they have found no correlation between violence and shared parenting, there has been a 22% reduction in court cases, and the practice of shared parenting is widely supported. The review, spread over two years involved 28,000 people, including 15,000 parents and  for most people it worked well.  It shows 80 per cent of parents are co-operating. 

The Zerb, in the picture at right,  doesn't do women any favours with her rants. She is a self styled victim oriented feminist who lets her emotions run rampant over logic, fairness, good research and most of all common sense. Remember the old stereotype of women being too emotional to hold down certain occupations. This person does that no favours. The bromide, however, is just that in the same way men are too violent to share custody of children.  It is way past time to move past these phony cliches and work cooperatively toward children's best interests which includes two parents in their lives after divorce just as it was before hand.

Much of what she has stated is cherry picked so you go away with a wrong impression such as joint custody. 

 She states:
"It should come as no surprise that the more extreme elements of the "Men's Rights" movement are big fans of Prime Minister Stephen Harper."

Not necessarily AZ. Harper's party is supposed to be the party of family values but they have not yet done anything dealing with reform of the Divorce act. It has been left to one member to sponsor a bill that their Justice Minister, Nicholson, says does not have his support.  The only party leader who has stated in writing he supports shared Parenting is Iggy  in one of his books. Iggy, however, has changed his tune on torture which he supported so he could change his mind on shared parenting.

After all, the more fanatical Men's Rights Activists (MRAs) – those who keep angry blogs, send me vicious emails, denigrate "radical feminists," and act as if women get a better deal in life – have much in common with the TheoCons in Harper's caucus and inner circle.

Its clear the Zerb is not having a good day while writing this but you will notice the anti-Harper crowd throw logic to the wind when they rant on. Everything becomes Harper's fault, including global warming, and they often forget what it was they were arguing against to start with.


Which would explain why Pastor Maurice Vellacott of Saskatoon-Wanuskewin, past chair of the Pro-Life Caucus, proponent of spurious research on women's health, creationist and agitator against same-sex rights, could get away with introducing Bill C-422, which would amend the Divorce Act to automatically award, regardless of history, "equal parenting" to warring couples.

Note the ad hominem attacks on the man sponsoring the bill. Rather than deal with the substance of the legislation attack the person to see if anything sticks.  Its the same approach with Harper. Sorry Zerby there is no automatic awarding of children. Shared Parenting in C-422 has a rebuttal presumption for "fit" parents. If allegations are made they will be investigated and the judge will decide. We will also try to get in place sanctions for those who make false allegations.


Note that, just because Harper's prorogation of Parliament killed 37 bills midstream, the private members' bills didn't die. They live on until they are passed – just as Conservative MP Candy Hoeppner's bill to scrap the long gun registry did last fall – or until they are voted off the island. MRAs love Vellacott's bill because, if they're as seriously deranged as some seem to be, they can continue to exercise control over their ex-wives and children.

She is really messed up probably by recent attacks on her in the blogosphere, this one included, over her idiotic Tweet above and is  probably causing her lack of sleep.  Hopefully she is not a mother but I do pity her partner if she still has one. These rants are clearly causing her some emotional grief. She is resorting to some "hot button" words like "seriously deranged" but she must not be looking into the mirror. Its appropriately amusing someone like this actually can get paid by Canada's largest circulation daily for this utter nonsense.

You opine "...which would amend the Divorce Act to automatically award, regardless of history, "equal parenting" to warring couples."


You have done your usual emotional over logic analysis of PMB C-422 by attacking the bill's sponsor without actually understanding the legislation.  The bill proposes no such thing. There is a rebuttal presumption for "fit" parents. If someone is found through thorough investigation to be unfit the judge will rule accordingly. The unfit parent could be of either gender.

 For the rest you can go to the link below:




For a rebuttal on her references to  The Interim go here:



Tuesday, February 2, 2010

In Canada “The Big Pink Machine” makes eunuchs of men and promotes Misandry

We men are socialized to be protectors of our wives, sisters, moms, children and freedom. When thrust into the position of defendant in Divorce (75% initiated by the wife) we suffer a great deal of dissonance and confusion. The system is set up and designed as a far reaching ecosystem to support females and marginalize men, particularly fathers, who become financial drones for the ex and nanny state. Even at that men do not consider themselves victims. It is anathema to masculinity. 

The Big Pink Machine sets in motion a series of events designed to wear a man down so that many end up destroyed emotionally and kill themselves. In Canada upwards of eight men a day die by their own hand, 3X's more than women. It is not rocket science why. Others are driven to desperation and take the lives of their ex's and sometimes children. Even at that the single mom is the most likely to kill or harm their children in the USA, OZ and in Canada. I make the latter assertion despite what the feminist Stats Canada people come up with. They will not separate out biological fathers from other males associated with mom. When Australia did this it became clear mom and her boyfriend were the most likely killers and abusers of children. In the U.S. it is very clear.
 

I could write a book on this Big Pink machine and perhaps will at some point but I would want to direct you to one man who is fighting back in OZ. I hope he succeeds. http://fathersmensrights.blogspot.com/2010/02/in-oz-dad-launches-criminal-charges.html

If he does this will open the floodgates in Western countries based on English Common law. A recent example in Ontario is the private charge against Julian Fantino, the Ontario Police Commissioner. If we clog the courts with private charges the Politicians and Judiciary will not be able to ignore false allegations and perjury in Family Law. It is both the right thing to do and a form of civil disobedience that complies with our system of laws.

Who is the Big Pink Machine you ask? It is largely built from your tax dollars starting with Status of Women Canada at the federal level. This organization is staffed with strident and somewhat paranoid professional feminists. (3rd wave feminism is itself a mass form of ideology, delusion and paranoia and posits women are Victims and are controlled, coerced and abused by the mystic Patriarchy). That is all you men. You are responsible for women not fulfilling their true goals or rising to the top wherever that may be. You are responsible they do not have 50% of the Parliamentary seats. In other words they are victimized like children and need the Nanny state to elevate their status in one form or another. Children can be victims and so logically 3rd wave feminists are children in adult bodies. Equalist feminists, on the other hand, wherever they are, believe in gender equality and are a different tribe entirely. Their voices have been stifled by the cacophony of whining from the Victim Feminists. Rather than merit, quotas are needed and even if most women CHOOSE not to run in the blood sport of politics eunuchs in those parties must affirm by appointment females because they deserve it. You will find most eunuchs on the left of the political spectrum. Jack Layton is probably Canada's best example and Iggy the Liberal leader a close 2nd. One of the largest populations of these creatures work the benches of Canada's Family Law and award custody to Mom's in a 9-1 ratio. If any other overt discrimination occurred to a visible minority or women, or the handicapped it would provoke outrage. Because it is done to men it does not matter. We do not have the organized political influence and cohesiveness necessary to get the right people convinced change is desired and men are quite capable of nurturing children. I did it for 10 years as a stay-at-home dad. It is a myth that needs dispelling.


There are Provincial Government equivalents in each Province collectively pumping billions of dollars solely for the benefit of one gender. Much of that is turned into propaganda dispensed at all levels, in Academia, through research grants to feminists or pro-feminist sycophants at Universities like Peter Jaffe at UWO and Nicholas Bala at Queens, Walter Dekeseredy and Molly Dragiewicz at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and many others who receive collectively millions of dollars in grants to do research that supports their myths. There is an incestuous community of these disciples who produce only studies that conform to their preconceived ideology. Not very good science, however, comes out of the work. When Jaffe is doing studies of females at DV shelters he never asks, or if he does, he never published the information on female rates of violence on their male partners. He publishes only the male violence on the female. That's not science its propaganda.


The heartbeat of Victim Feminism (VF) is the local DV shelter which is the Mosque or Temple equivalent of the ideology (which resembles a religion). Islam and VF have much in common and interestingly enough many VF's take up Islamic causes despite it being the most patriarchal religion in the universe. (The FEMLoon Antonia Zerbisiasis at the Toronto Red Star newspaper is but one of many). I did say the ideology resembles religion and is somewhat delusional. The women in these temples of male oppression are the martyrs to the cause. There are 569 single gender only DV shelters in Canada at this writing and not one tax supported shelter for men despite the emotional, financial, psychological and physical battering many get to the point of killing themselves at 3X's the rate of women described earlier. In this little discussion for today I won't go into the relative parity of DV between genders but all the stats you ever wanted exist in these blogs supported by massive studies and our very own Stats Canada which is hard to believe given their feminist bias manifested in areas defined earlier.

Domestic Violence is a serious issue but as long as it is played as a single gender issue it will ignore 50% of the participants and in so doing also hurts women.  Did I mention Lesbian violence is much higher than heterosexual abusiveness. Interesting isn't it why these scholars avoid this issue like the plague.

The recent upset with Kennedy's Senate seat in MA was, in part, because many independent males went for the Republican candidate as they saw the feminist candidate Coakley was an elitist. More men need to see through the veil of Pinkilicious policies by the Liberals and dippers. The Pink Book III produced by the federal Liberals is simply a book of misandry.


Some day men will see they do have block political power if only they visualize what is happening to their gender (not at the fat cat level but down here with us regular folk) and that day will scare the hell out of every feminist and eunuch politician in Canada. The judiciary will fall into line shortly thereafter. Currently women have more political power because the feminists take our hard-earned tax money and have turned it into a hateful gender war. The MSM and all media generators from TV, movies, to the printed page not too mention the above Academics reinforce stereotypes. Most dads/men portrayed on TV in series or commercials are bumbling idiots yet it is men mostly that invented everything useful in existence or put us on the moon. 

It will change but we must be patient. It is either patience or revolution. The latter is not a current option

© Michael J. Murphy 2010 


The following video is USA based but the principles apply readily even if the stats are slightly different.  In Canada sole custody goes to mom in 90% of cases and  dads about 8%. 






Monday, February 1, 2010

In OZ ~ Dad launches 'criminal' charges against ex-wife

The man has brought private criminal charges against his ex. I hope he is successful as it will open a floodgate and once that happens the legal system will have to take the issue seriously. Its only through this will we find out who the lawyers, DV shelters and social workers are who offer this advice to make false allegations of abuse and then we can get sanctions against them or have them fired or sued civilly.  They do it so cavalierly without any notion of the criminal behaviour they perform and the ruined lives of the target parent and affected children.

If we clog the courts with private charges the Politicians and Judiciary will not be able to ignore false allegations and perjury in Family Law. It is both the right thing to do and a form of civil disobedience that complies with our system of laws. MJM






  • Laurie Nowell
  • From: Sunday Herald Sun
  • January 24, 2010 12:00AM




A MELBOURNE man is bringing a historic private criminal prosecution against his ex-wife accusing her of perjury, assault and making a threat to kill. 

The legal action, believed to be a first for Victoria, will set a controversial precedent and could open the floodgates to similar cases.

"Bill", whose identity cannot be revealed for legal reasons, is alleging his wife deliberately lied when she made allegations that he had sexually abused their children.

His affidavit was accepted by the Melbourne Magistrates' Court last week, a hearing date has been set for next month and a summons was due to be served on Friday.

The case stems from a criminal trial during which Bill spent two years fighting charges based on his wife's allegations.

He was eventually acquitted, but the ordeal cost him his job, his home and about $450,000 in lost income and legal costs. The case is also based on similar accusations of sexual abuse of their children made by the ex-wife during a bitter Family Court battle.

The Family Court judge found Bill's ex-wife to be violent, untruthful, lacking moral values and responsible for the psychological and emotional abuse of her children -but still gave her custody of the two girls, now aged 9 and 11, because they had become estranged from their father.

By contrast, Bill was found to have shown "laudable forbearance in the face of the most challenging circumstances".

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show about 2.5 million Australians are denied access to family because of family law proceedings, and about 680,000 fathers see their children as little as once a year.

ABS figures also show 700,000 children have no meaningful contact with one of their non-custodial parents -- mostly fathers.

Bill said yesterday he was bringing the case because he felt betrayed by the justice system.
"The Family Court have cut me off from my children effectively because of false evidence brought by my wife," Bill said.

"In 2005, she went to the police and made the allegations and then prepared the children on what they should say. The result was my kids were taken away from me.

"I proved my own innocence and that she had lied on both occasions - in the criminal trial and in the Family Court matter.

"My life with my kids was destroyed. If people can lie in court and hurt others by their utterances and statements, what is the point of the law?"

The case will intensify the current national debate over the operation of the Family Court and the principle of shared parenting, which is under attack by women's groups and is being reviewed by the Rudd Government.
Bill's ex-wife is facing charges of perjury, assault and making a threat to kill.

The charges allege that she knowingly and wilfully made 10 pages of false statements to police in September 2005 and perjured herself by repeating the allegations in a sworn affidavit during a Family Court hearing in 2008.

She is also accused of threatening to kill Bill in 2004 and of assaulting him with chopsticks and fingernails in 2000.

Law Institute of Victoria chief executive Michael Brett Young said private criminal prosecutions were rare, but not unheard of.

"This man will have to prove his case, like anyone else, in the criminal courts," Mr Young said.