Monday, May 17, 2010

Domestic Violence Awareness Day in London Ontario

Domestic Violence Awareness Day

Saturday, June 5, 2010
 
 Wolf Performance Hall
 
251 Dundas Street
 
5:30 P.M. to 9:30 P.M.

Attend a conference devoted to exploring the rarely talked about reality of domestic violence against men. Government and the media want you to believe it only happens to women. It’s time to come hear the truth and finally separate fact from fiction. With years of political experience and legal knowledge between them, these dynamic speakers have all had inside access as to how men are really viewed by our government and legal system, and after June 5th, so will you. A Q&A session will follow each presenter’s discussion. Doug Lucio will also be speaking in honor of his son David Lucio. Following the conference, a candle-lit vigil will be held in order to help raise public awareness of violence against men, which will also include a walk to the London Police Station in honour of David Lucio.

Presented by
 
London Equal Parenting Committee
 
Tickets will be available at the door
 
or can be purchased online at
 
www.canadianepc.com
 
You can also contact Brad
Phone: 519-614-8713
 
Email: lepcinfo@gmail.com
 
Web: www.canadianepc.com/lepc
 
Cost: $20/person

Speakers: 





Roger Galloway: Born in Sarnia, Mr. Gallaway holds a BA from the University of Western Ontario and an LLB from the University of Windsor. He practiced law before entering political life, initially as Mayor of Point Edward (1991) and subsequently as the Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2006. Gallaway was a Committee Chair in the House of Commons, a Parliamentary Secretary and was made a Queen’s Privy Councillor by the  Governor-General in 2003. In 1998 he was the Commons’ Chair of the Special Joint Committee of the House and the Senate on custody and access which produced the report entitled For the Sake of the Children. He now teaches and does foreign development work for Sarnia’s Lambton College.


Grant A. Brown has a BA (Hons.) and M.A. in philosophy from the University of Waterloo. A DPhil in political philosophy from Oxford University, and an LL.B. from the University of Alberta. He taught business and professional ethics, business-government relations, and political philosophy (among other courses) at the University of Lethbridge from 1990 to 1999. From 2003 to 2008, he practiced law, focusing on family law, in Edmonton, Alberta. He is currently a free-lance author and home renovator. Dr. Brown has published widely, both in academic and popular presses, particularly on topics related to political philosophy and gender issues. His forthcoming book is called "Deadbeat Judges: How Courts Separate Children from their Fathers."



Marty McKay obtained a Ph.D. and post-doctoral qualifications in psychology and has over 30 years of experience in working within the court systems both in Canada and the U.S. Her professional experience with interpersonal violence dates back to 1975 when she began consulting to Children's Aid Societies throughout southwestern Ontario and to women's shelters. In her work, she accumulated case history data which demonstrated that violent behaviour was a problem which was not gender specific. Her message has been that, in order to deal with interpersonal violence, it is important that objective data, rather than politically convenient myths, be used for formulation of public policy in order to effectively combat violence and to promote justice.



3 comments:

Brad Charlton said...

Thank you so much for posting this, Mike. The event is garnering quite a bit of attention, thanks to the assistance of many people such as yourself, who dedicate so much time to the cause.

Michael J. Murphy said...

Best of luck with the conference and vigil Brad. The Lucio family is deserving of this honour given the shabby treatment Chief Faulkner of the London Police Service gave his former officer David Lucio.

Respecting Dave and highlighting this egregious incident of female perpetrated Domestic Violence that Chief Faulkner covered up may prove to be the first such event of its kind in Canada. Female perpetrated DV is more likely than male perpetrated and mutual aggressiveness is about equal but that is not the public perception.

Congratulations and thank you for all the hard work. You are helping to write the history book on female violence against men.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I am at a loss and would really appreciate some advice with the following:

I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. My brother has been married for 9 years. He and his spouse have had several issues, but he just recently admitted to us that when they argue, she sometimes attacks him by kicking him or scratching him. There were always signs, but he would make up a story instead of saying it was her. A few months ago, while they were arguing, she scratched his face. This time he felt it was enough and decided to tell us. My mother encouraged him to go to the police station to file a report in hopes that this would make her realize her actions were unacceptable. Reluctantly, my brother went, but when they told him they would arrest her, he decided not to press charges. About a month ago, they got into another argument where she again scratched his face. He went to the police station to file a report once again. This time, when his Wife found out, she decided to go to the police station and said that he had attacked her and had scratched his face in self-defence. The police were in the middle of talking to my brother, but as soon as she showed up, they didn't even take my brother's statement. They left him in the room and said they would be back. When they came back, they told my brother he was under arrest. In her statement, she claimed that my brother had bit her finger, but they didn't even check to see if his bite mark matched what she had on her finger. My brother didn't attack her at all. I had talked to her after the first time he went to the police station and she admitted to me that she had attacked him. She said: "I'm usually not a violent person, I don't know what happened to me that time..."

My brother was charged with Assault. If convicted, he will face jail time. He was planning on pleading not guilty because he did not do anything she accused him of. His lawyer is advising him to plea guilty so that he can get a reduced sentence. The lawyer is telling him it will be hard to disprove her story because he is not allowed to use the report he had filed or the pictures of when she scratched him as evidence, nor can he use my mother or I as witnesses. I think it is very unfair that he has to plea guilty to something he didn't do. Meanwhile she isn't even charged with anything. He will have to live with that charge on his record and it will affect him when trying to gain employment. They have two children and it will also affect him while trying to get joint custody of their children is she chooses to use it against him. My brother has a drinking problem which he is working on, but he's never been violent against her. When they were arguing, he was sober. In the report, his wife said he had been drinking at 12 a.m., but the argument happened at 7 a.m. and the police didn't even take a breathalizer to confirm her allegation.

Can somebody please give me some advice on how he can proceed? Thank you in advance!