For those of you not from Australia, the Men's Referral Service is where wife beaters go to get help with their anger and substance abuse problems.

On this page, about being a male victim of domestic violence https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/domestic-violence/my-situation/im-a-man it is listed as somewhere for that male victim to receive help. This annoys me for obvious reasons. This is what I sent:

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From: Deckheads Private Email AddressSent: 24/11/2020 9:37 AMTo: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])Subject: Domestic Violence webpages

Hi, On this Web page of your website:

https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/domestic-violence/my-situation/im-a-man

The department lists three methods for men to get support when they are the victim of domestic violence. 

MensLine Australia

1800RESPECT

Men's Referral Service

Why are you linking to Men's Referral Service? It's a service for men who are abusers, not victims. It's not a service that helps male victims. 

It's akin to telling someone, who is in an abusive relationship, that they are to blame. Who thought that this was an appropriate link for a page to help victims. 

I look forward to your response that the link has been removed. 

Deckheads name, address, phone number etc

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I received a response today:

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Thank you for email dated 24 November 2020 about resources for male victims of domestic and family violence listed on the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (formerly Family and Communities Services) website.

Preventing and responding to domestic and family violence is a priority for the NSW Government. This includes providing support services to victims of all ages and backgrounds. The NSW Government provides a range of specialist services tailored to the support needs of different groups of victims, including male victims of domestic and family violence. 

In your email, you specifically request that the Men’s Referral Service not be listed as a service for victims of domestic and family violence. However, this service not only provides support to perpetrators of domestic and family violence, it also provides support to the following groups:

·         Family members who are impacted by a man’s use abusive behaviours

·         Friends, family or colleagues of people who may be using or experiencing family violence and wish to understand how to support their friends, family, or colleagues

·         Professionals wishing to support a client who is using or experiencing family violence

It is unfortunate that the listing of this website has caused confusion. When the site is next updated, we will seek to ensure it is made clear that as well as supporting perpetrators of domestic and family violence, the Men’s Referral Service also provides expert specialist support to those impacted by domestic and family violence, including partners, former partners, family members and children of all ages.

Thank you for contacting the Department of Communities and Justice regarding your concern.

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I have emailed them back with the following:

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Firstly, thank you for your response and trying to addres the issue. However, I feel you have misinterpreted my concern, or else are hand waving it away.

The content on the page in question is very, very clearly to help male victims of domestic abuse. Not abusers. The other pages in that section of the website cover all over possible victims of domestic abuse, none of those pages link to the Men's Referral Service.

For example:

People with a disability who are abused are told to call "Domestic Violence Line", "1800RESPECT", or "National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline" (https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/domestic-violence/my-situation/im-a-person-with-disability)

People who are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders are referred to "Domestic Violence Line", "Aboriginal Contact Line", "Centre for Aboriginal Health", or "Child Protection Hotline" (www.facs.nsw.gov.au/domestic-violence/my-situation/im-aboriginal)

Immigrants from a different culture are told to call "Domestic Violence Line" (https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/domestic-violence/my-situation/im-an-immigrant-from-a-different-culture#6)

There are plenty of other pages too. Each of these pages is attempting to provide a story for all the different possible victims of domestic abuse and to provide them with victim resources. The title of the page in question is specifically "I'm a man and experiencing domestic violence", the introductory paragraph goes on to again reinterate male victims, in the same format as all the other pages.

There is even a dedicated page explicitly for perpetrators of domestic violence (https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/domestic-violence/my-situation/im-the-one-hurting-my-partner). Which is a perfectly adequate place to put the Mens Referral Service.

In no sane persons world, does the Mens Referral Service belong on a page dedicated to providing male victims with help. I reiterate that this is akin to victim blaming, that perhaps the male victim is the reason for the violence against them. Or perhaps male victims will see this referral and come to the conclusion that they won't be taken seriously. The third paragraph on the page even outlines these problems, yet you reinforce the message you're supposedly fighting against.

So again, I ask that you remove this listing from the page dedicated to male victims. You already have a page for perpetrators, you don't need to include it there.

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I'll make a new post when I get something back from them.