Shelley:
re: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
The self righteous outrage at this affliction only women seem to suffer is only greater than the credibility gap of those involved in its production. These figures are never audited and no politician dares to suggest they ought to be looked at with closer scrutiny to verify them.
The academics involved in these stories have a vested interest in more tax dollars going to shelters and to keep funding the billions involved in this industry nation wide including the hundreds if not thousands of studies done nationwide to find the "cure" by these same academics. How come the cure isn't available? Simply because the treatment isn't designed to cure it - as then all these proponents would be unemployed. No cure will be found for any disease if 50% of the problem is ignored - that being the other party whether same sex or hetero. Did you know lesbian IPV was greater than hetero? How can that be when they are both female? Violence by anyone against another is a serious business but these shelters and their advocates defy credibility with their notion of the massive victimization of women. How many abused men do they serve. Zero, None, Nada. As someone who was emotionally, physically and financially abused by a woman, who, when the time was right for her, waltzed out the door to the local shelter as part of her game plan to incite further abuse within the family court system. I am a cynic when it comes to the efficacy of such reports.
Men do call these shelters for help so presumably some of these calls are from the gender who has no where to go. Men can not get help from tax supported emergency shelters anywhere in Canada and if they want to escape they have no where to go that will accept children. Of the over 500 shelters in Canada not one accepts men alone or with their children. Most studies show DV is pretty much equal between genders but men are told to "suck it up" because your a man. I'm a man who withstood it for 14 years and to quote from one of my favourite movies "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore." More men should be filing Human Rights Complaints against the discrimination because there is not one politician in the land with the gonads to fight this extremely egregious propaganda. It casts a pall over those people who are actually suffering from violence rather than differences of opinions between intimate partners.
Would you believe the so called science of the Duluth Wheel, used by all these shelters, insisting all men are perpetrators and all women are victims created with a sample size of 11 mostly self confessed abused women. It defies credibility and logic but is one of the foundations of new wave feminism which permeates the "believers" in the operation and advocacy of these shelters. We all know what happens when ideology trumps logic.
Mike Murphy
OTTAWA — In Ottawa each day more than 50 calls are made by abused women seeking shelter.
Last year, Ottawa’s seven women’s shelters received more than 18,600 phone calls for service.
These statistics are among the findings found in Hidden from Sight: A Look at the Prevalence of Violence Against Women in Ottawa. The report, released on Monday by the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women, paints a picture of abuse and sexual violence within relationships and homes.
Of the women seeking shelter, the vast majority will be turned away from the city’s over-crowded shelters.
In 2007, 613 women and 486 children fleeing domestic abuse situations were sheltered in Ottawa. However, 5,150 women were turned away because the shelters were full, according to the Community Foundation of Ottawa, which last year released Vital Signs 2008.
It was the alarming results of the Community Foundation report that prompted the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women to gather their statistics together to understand better violence against women in Ottawa.
Women’s shelters, sexual assault/rape crisis centres, counselling services, police and the hospital have always collected statistics on violence against women separately. Hidden from Sight brings this data together. The report consolidates data from 16 local agencies.
“We’ve been talking for years about the low level of awareness of what is really going on. So we’ve presented the data together for the first time,” says Holly Johnson, Professor of Criminology at the University of Ottawa and advisor to the project.
“The figures are staggering, especially when we consider that many women do not come forward for help. Therefore, they are not even counted in these statistics. As well, disturbing new trends are emerging, such as the numbers of men charged with forcible confinement of women partners.”
In 2007-2008, a total of 606 sexual assault cases were reported to Ottawa police. In addition to that startling number, Statistics Canada reports that only one in every 10 sexual assaults is actually reported. Prof. Johnson said we can predict the number of sexual assaults is closer to 6,000 in one year.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
Denis Pakkala
August 20, 2009 - 9:18 AM
Women's shelters spread misandry and do not address the very significant problem of female abusers and male victims. These shelters should be taken over by the goverment and offer services to ALL Canadian citizens, without gender discrimination.
National Family Violence Legislative Resource Center Policy Statement on Family Violence
“Reports from the WHO (Archer, 2006) also make it clear than in many countries around the world, particularly where women have little political or socioeconomic power, women represent the much larger share of IPV victims. However, the most reliable population of surveys indicate that in Western industrialized democracies such as the United States and Canada, where they enjoy higher status, women engage in physical aggression at rates comparable to men (Archer, 2000; Fiebert, 2004; Straus & Gelles, 1990) and are as likely or more likely to be the initiators (DeMaris, 1992; Morse, 1995; Dutton et al., 1999; Straus, 1993; Williams & Frieze, 2005).”
“Shernock’s (2005) analysis of over 2000 IPV incidents in Vermont revealed that men were categorized as perpetrators 3.2 times more often than women on the initial police report, but subsequently arrested 9 times as often. At issue is the extent to which this pattern of gender bias reflects flawed “dominant aggressor” guidelines and assumptions about IPV based on discredited sociopolitical theories of patriarchy”
“Victimized males do not have access to services because of the assumption that they are only minimally impacted by IPV, if at all. This assumption, however, runs contrary to an overwhelming body of research evidence. A significant minority of IPV-related physical injuries, between 25% and 43%, are incurred by men (Archer, 2000; Laroch, in preparation; Mirrlees-Black, 1999; Straus, 2004; Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000), and men are the victims in nearly a quarter of intimate homicides (Rennison, 2003)”
National Family Violence Legislative Resource Center Policy Statement on Family Violence
“Reports from the WHO (Archer, 2006) also make it clear than in many countries around the world, particularly where women have little political or socioeconomic power, women represent the much larger share of IPV victims. However, the most reliable population of surveys indicate that in Western industrialized democracies such as the United States and Canada, where they enjoy higher status, women engage in physical aggression at rates comparable to men (Archer, 2000; Fiebert, 2004; Straus & Gelles, 1990) and are as likely or more likely to be the initiators (DeMaris, 1992; Morse, 1995; Dutton et al., 1999; Straus, 1993; Williams & Frieze, 2005).”
“Shernock’s (2005) analysis of over 2000 IPV incidents in Vermont revealed that men were categorized as perpetrators 3.2 times more often than women on the initial police report, but subsequently arrested 9 times as often. At issue is the extent to which this pattern of gender bias reflects flawed “dominant aggressor” guidelines and assumptions about IPV based on discredited sociopolitical theories of patriarchy”
“Victimized males do not have access to services because of the assumption that they are only minimally impacted by IPV, if at all. This assumption, however, runs contrary to an overwhelming body of research evidence. A significant minority of IPV-related physical injuries, between 25% and 43%, are incurred by men (Archer, 2000; Laroch, in preparation; Mirrlees-Black, 1999; Straus, 2004; Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000), and men are the victims in nearly a quarter of intimate homicides (Rennison, 2003)”
Mike Murphy
August 20, 2009 - 9:15 AM
The self righteous outrage at this affliction only women seem to suffer is only greater than the credibility gap of those involved in its production. These figures are never audited and no politician dares to suggest they ought to be looked at with closer scrutiny to verify them. The academics involved in these stories have a vested interest in more tax dollars going to shelters and to keep funding the billions involved in this industry including the hundreds if not thousands of studies done nationwide to find the "cure." Violence by anyone against another is a serious business but these shelters and their advocates defy credibility with their notion of the massive victimization of women. How many abused men do they serve. Zero, none, Nada. As someone who was emotionally, physically and financially abused by a woman, who, when the time was right for her waltzed out the door to the local shelter as part of her game plan to incite further abuse within the family court system I am a cynic when it comes to the efficacy of such reports.
Men do call these shelters for help so presumably some of these calls are from the gender who has no where to go. Men can not get help from tax supported emergency shelters anywhere in Canada and if they want to escape they have no where to go that will accept children. Of the over 500 shelters in Canada not one accepts men alone or with their children. Most studies show DV is pretty much equal between genders but men are told to "suck it up" because your a man. I'm a man who withstood it for 14 years and to quote from one of my favourite movies "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore." More men should be filing Human Rights Complaints against the discrimination because there is not one politician in the land with the gonads to fight this extremely egregious propaganda. It casts a pall over those people who are actually suffering from violence rather than differences of opinions between intimate partners.
Men do call these shelters for help so presumably some of these calls are from the gender who has no where to go. Men can not get help from tax supported emergency shelters anywhere in Canada and if they want to escape they have no where to go that will accept children. Of the over 500 shelters in Canada not one accepts men alone or with their children. Most studies show DV is pretty much equal between genders but men are told to "suck it up" because your a man. I'm a man who withstood it for 14 years and to quote from one of my favourite movies "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore." More men should be filing Human Rights Complaints against the discrimination because there is not one politician in the land with the gonads to fight this extremely egregious propaganda. It casts a pall over those people who are actually suffering from violence rather than differences of opinions between intimate partners.
Mississauga Dad
August 20, 2009 - 1:20 AM
And in the whole country there are how many shelters for abused men - NOT A SINGLE ONE!!!
How many government dollars are available for programmes for abused men - NOT A SINGLE ONE!! Yet government statistics consistently and clearly show that the number of abused men is very nearly the same as that of abused women and is rising much faster than the number of abused women.
I am an abused father. My wife abused me verbally, psychologically, and physically over a number of years. She threatened to kill me in front of a CAS worker.
I have never abused my wife in any way. I worked every day to support her and my children. She hired a housekeeper so she wouldn't have to do housework. The kids were enrolled in a private school from the time they were 2 1/2 so they wouldn't be at home during the day. My wife then enrolled them in before and after school daycare so that the kids would only be at home when I was. I made the children's lunch the night before schooldays. I cooked supper for them at night. I spent the entire weekend, every weekend looking after our children and doing inside and outside chores. In 18 years of marriage my wife never once did my laundry. We were never wealthy - she felt she was 'entitled' to this lifestyle. She always refused to get a job of any kind.
There was ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE I could go for help or support. I could not leave the house because of my children. When this information was brought up by my lawyer and well documented in Family Court during divorce and custody proceedings the judge literally sat back in his chair and guffawed, saying "Ha. Ha. Ha. You look like a pretty big guy to me. You still look pretty healthy to me. I don't think she meant it."
Then to add to my abuse he ordered ME out of the house, gave custody of the children to my wife and ordered me to pay huge amounts of support based on "attributed" income.
Yes, there is a need for shelter and support for abused women - I don't deny that or begrudge that - BUT there is a much bigger need for some funding for support programmes and shelters for abused fathers and husbands.
Maybe if a few dollars could be made available to support abused men there wouldn't be over 2000 suicides a year by divorced and separated fathers and husbands who are abused not only by their partners but also by the laughable "Family Justice" system.
How many government dollars are available for programmes for abused men - NOT A SINGLE ONE!! Yet government statistics consistently and clearly show that the number of abused men is very nearly the same as that of abused women and is rising much faster than the number of abused women.
I am an abused father. My wife abused me verbally, psychologically, and physically over a number of years. She threatened to kill me in front of a CAS worker.
I have never abused my wife in any way. I worked every day to support her and my children. She hired a housekeeper so she wouldn't have to do housework. The kids were enrolled in a private school from the time they were 2 1/2 so they wouldn't be at home during the day. My wife then enrolled them in before and after school daycare so that the kids would only be at home when I was. I made the children's lunch the night before schooldays. I cooked supper for them at night. I spent the entire weekend, every weekend looking after our children and doing inside and outside chores. In 18 years of marriage my wife never once did my laundry. We were never wealthy - she felt she was 'entitled' to this lifestyle. She always refused to get a job of any kind.
There was ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE I could go for help or support. I could not leave the house because of my children. When this information was brought up by my lawyer and well documented in Family Court during divorce and custody proceedings the judge literally sat back in his chair and guffawed, saying "Ha. Ha. Ha. You look like a pretty big guy to me. You still look pretty healthy to me. I don't think she meant it."
Then to add to my abuse he ordered ME out of the house, gave custody of the children to my wife and ordered me to pay huge amounts of support based on "attributed" income.
Yes, there is a need for shelter and support for abused women - I don't deny that or begrudge that - BUT there is a much bigger need for some funding for support programmes and shelters for abused fathers and husbands.
Maybe if a few dollars could be made available to support abused men there wouldn't be over 2000 suicides a year by divorced and separated fathers and husbands who are abused not only by their partners but also by the laughable "Family Justice" system.
Paul
August 19, 2009 - 8:25 PM
All summer I followed a blog about domestic abuse which stated over and over again the issue was gun control. I would suggest people in the domestic violence industry should support the removal of the gun registry to look for additional funding.
People keep forgetting there is only so much money and people that live in the same circles that seek funding for shelters are also the same people that pushed for the gun registry.
Given the current political climate both conservatives and liberals could find common ground making Canadian citizens winners.
People keep forgetting there is only so much money and people that live in the same circles that seek funding for shelters are also the same people that pushed for the gun registry.
Given the current political climate both conservatives and liberals could find common ground making Canadian citizens winners.
Paul
August 19, 2009 - 2:50 PM
All summer I followed a blog about domestic abuse which stated over and over again the issue was gun control. I would suggest people in the domestic violence industry should support the removal of the gun registry to look for additional funding.
People keep forgetting there is only so much money and people that live in the same circles that seek funding for shelters are also the same people that pushed for the gun registry.
Given the current political climate both conservatives and liberals could find common ground making Canadian citizens winners.
People keep forgetting there is only so much money and people that live in the same circles that seek funding for shelters are also the same people that pushed for the gun registry.
Given the current political climate both conservatives and liberals could find common ground making Canadian citizens winners.
T.M.
August 18, 2009 - 6:38 PM
To Ms. Muonde: You have my respect and appreciation for helping women through the most devastating times of their lives. You have a front-line view in a sickening war.
My commentary is NOT a quibble about inflated numbers. It is a criticism against those groups who wilfully present information in deceptive manner, so as to abuse the community's trust, with the sole purpose of profiting from poorly allocated tax dollars.
Those tax dollars have to be used for services to people who require them. Instead, they are wasted on these illiterate and innumerate reports and the salaries of those who produce them. Shame on Shelley Page and the Citizen for foisting the distortion on the public 2 years in a row.
And, Ms. Muonde, if it were up to me, I'd be funding you, not them.
My commentary is NOT a quibble about inflated numbers. It is a criticism against those groups who wilfully present information in deceptive manner, so as to abuse the community's trust, with the sole purpose of profiting from poorly allocated tax dollars.
Those tax dollars have to be used for services to people who require them. Instead, they are wasted on these illiterate and innumerate reports and the salaries of those who produce them. Shame on Shelley Page and the Citizen for foisting the distortion on the public 2 years in a row.
And, Ms. Muonde, if it were up to me, I'd be funding you, not them.
Concillia Muonde , SASC OTTAWA
August 18, 2009 - 5:50 PM
The level of ignorance our society has on the realities of violence against women is appalling. The significance of the numbers of women who are turning to shelters says more about the society we live in. Here are the questions we should all be asking: Why do we allow violence against women in our community? What responsibility are we taking to make sure no one needs a shelter? What are we doing everyday to prevent violence against women? If we seriously ask ourselves these questions, we will not be arguing about the numbers being inflated, or women faking abuse and so forth and so on.
Violence against women is everyone’s problem, we all need to act.
Violence against women is everyone’s problem, we all need to act.
T.M.
August 18, 2009 - 3:24 PM
This one-year follow-up is very interesting. It clearly shows that neither the loudest activists on the issue of violence against women, nor the shelters themselves, have done anything at all over the past year to help their clients.
Just a year ago, these same numbers were shown in their proper light, as criticism rained down on the "Vital Signs" report.
A look at this year's report reveals the same abuse of mathematics for the sake of sensationalism and renewed funding for the report writers.
"It is estimated that in a single year the 7 shelters collectively receive over 18,600 phone calls for service, averaging just over 50 calls per day in Ottawa." What Shelley Page and the report fail to point out is that there is no central phone number for a woman to call when she is seeking shelter! If all the shelters are full, one person will make 7 calls (at least) in one day, and be "turned away" 7 times.
A simplest fix to actually HELPING women would be to establish a single phone number. This same solution was proposed by sensible critics of "Vital Signs", yet nothing was done. All of the recommendations included in this year's report are concerned with the funding for more data collection and more reports.
It's time for the governments to use our tax money to help women in need, rather than self-perpetuating women's organizations who help nobody.
Just a year ago, these same numbers were shown in their proper light, as criticism rained down on the "Vital Signs" report.
A look at this year's report reveals the same abuse of mathematics for the sake of sensationalism and renewed funding for the report writers.
"It is estimated that in a single year the 7 shelters collectively receive over 18,600 phone calls for service, averaging just over 50 calls per day in Ottawa." What Shelley Page and the report fail to point out is that there is no central phone number for a woman to call when she is seeking shelter! If all the shelters are full, one person will make 7 calls (at least) in one day, and be "turned away" 7 times.
A simplest fix to actually HELPING women would be to establish a single phone number. This same solution was proposed by sensible critics of "Vital Signs", yet nothing was done. All of the recommendations included in this year's report are concerned with the funding for more data collection and more reports.
It's time for the governments to use our tax money to help women in need, rather than self-perpetuating women's organizations who help nobody.
mt
August 18, 2009 - 1:15 PM
It is sad how uneducated so many posters are on this issue. The truth of the matter is, prostitutes and drug addicts also need a place to lay there heads. They have children too and they may also find their way into abusive relationships. As to whether or not the aggressors are immigrant men, I am sure some are, but the reality it, Canadian men are awfully good at abusing women. The numbers for violence against men by women: VERY low. Seriously, all this information is out there. Am I the only one who can read?
Michel
August 18, 2009 - 12:27 PM
I cannot help but wonder about the so-call priority of our elected officials... on one side, we have women shleters turning away vulnerable individuals, because they don't have the financial resources... on the other hand, we have politicians wasting millions of dollars on the gun registry...
truthfulness
August 18, 2009 - 6:04 AM
I can't believe people imagine living in a shelter with all its risk (bad ones ) to be fake , peole who decide to go to shelter are either homless or have no choice (and no money at all and no family to run away to ) which means they deserve to be in, I don't want to say bed bugs and addictd people go there with their drugs, sniffing and drinking just on the door of the shelter but the truth is they do, no mother will ever accept to go unless she is abused realy bad
Bruce
August 18, 2009 - 2:38 AM
I wonder how many shelters could have been built with the $2 BILLION wasted on the failed, useless Firearms Act?
JayPea
August 17, 2009 - 9:32 PM
Out of interest. How many assaults against men by women?
afterfostercare
August 17, 2009 - 7:07 PM
How many of these children end up in foster care? Why does a victim parent in an abuse situation have to lose their child because the "failed to protect their child" or because the child was exposed to abuse. Why does the law not apprehend the abusing partner, regardless of their sex and take them into a group home.
• Ottawa has a population of 1 282 500 habitants ( 870 250 for Ottawa only). Let’s say we accept the fact that we have about 6000 abused women (613 in shelters and 5150 refused for no vacancy in these shelters as written in your article). It comes to a Domestic Violence ratio of 0,0047% a lot less than 1%.
• Concerning phone calls, 18 600 calls for a total possibility of 1 174 072 = 0,0145 % (0,0213).
• Since Juges in our justice courts find 68% of Domestic Violence cases not founded, how many of these calls ended in condamnation? Even more, if Courts consider 68% of these claims not founded, how many men and fathers falsely accused and destroyed ? Where are shelters for these fathers ? Where is the money for it ?
• Holly Johnson is a Professor of Criminology at the University of Ottawa. Professor Holly Johnson’s primary research interests include sexual violence and intimate partner violence with criminal justice responses, and methods of measurement. She was principal investigator of Statistics Canada’s first national survey on violence against women and is a coordinator of the International Violence Against Women Survey. She is also working about «Feminist theory and gender theory».
Obviously her belief is that domestic violence is only a men business. So how can she be impartial about it ? All statistics (from Statistics Canada as well as from Institut de Satistique Québec and about 130 other scientific documents across the world) report a 50-50 rate of violence among men and women. Did she explore the possibility of Domestic Violence perpetrated by women ? Where? How many of them ? 10 000 falsely accused fathers in Quebec and destroyed every year is it Domestic Violence ?
Did she only went to Los Angeles, California this year, on June 26th, to share with specialists on Domestic Violence Murray Strauss, PhD, Deborah Capaldi, PhD, Don Dutton, PhD, Daniel O'Leary, PhD or Sandra Stith, PhD and others her views about the subject. She would have realized that her datas don't correspond with the last research.
In California, she would have had the opportunity to talk to Errin Pizzey Founder of the Domestic Violence Shelter Movement which views are completly at the opposite to hers.
Feminist lobbies gave all sort of false datas for the past 30 years. Infortunately, journalists didn’t take enough time to verify these statistics, how they were collected, by who ?. They should have.
No doubt about it, Domestic Violence exists, both ways, and we will not correct the situation if we are one side blinded by feminist lobbies.