UK parties response to my message about domestic violence against men

Lasttoflinch · 2022-04-06T13:20:48+00:00

While 99% of gender-based violence is committed by men

Where did she pull this from?

helloiseeyou2020 · 2022-04-06T13:49:20+00:00

I actually think a fantastic way to perform men's rights activism is something just like this

Write to politicians and MPs and Congresspeople etc, ask direct questions about undeniable, factually and statistically supported issues (NOTHING with even a WHISPER of ideology or philosophy to it, empiricism only) and then collect their responses.

We could make a collage of all the remarks made on the record by politicians on the big issues.

Nayko214 · 2022-04-06T12:52:02+00:00

That’s kind of a non answer and I really doubt the question will actually get raised to be perfectly honest.

NimishApte · 2022-04-06T14:42:06+00:00

While 99% of domestic violence is committed by men

A basic Google search disproves this. Doesn't the UK have a law saying that any petition which gets over 1 lakh signatures must be debated in Parliament? Would that be possible?

Mammoth_Salt_4509 · 2022-04-06T15:15:55+00:00

While 99% of gender-based violence is committed by men, it is important that this does not mask the domestic abuse that is committed by women.

OP's question advocated for helping male victims, without any mention of the perpetrator's gender. The response managed to immediately turn it into a fight between the sexes.

Aside from that, decent reply.

Phantombiceps · 2022-04-06T17:14:17+00:00

99 percent? Why not just go all the way ?

“ while 1112 % of DV is committed by men, we still need to hold Samantha, assuming she does exist, accountable as well. “

matrixislife · 2022-04-06T15:23:18+00:00

Not surprised at all. The Tories don't give a toss, Labour are too concerned about keeping the feminist vote, and the LibDems are trying to be all things to all people, hence the illusion of support they give here, when it's really just a gotcha aimed at the Tories.
A few years back we got a petition to the point of requiring an answer [100k signatures] on the subject of gender neutral rape laws. They basically replied "nope". It's going to take more than letters and petitions to get some movement on equal rights, it's going to need a campaign and altered voting habits to show them they have to take it seriously.

SamaelET · 2022-04-06T15:38:14+00:00

Really important for anyone in UK. Please contact your MP. Don't let yourself be fooled by the last statement on male victims. It was a "position statement" and not a "strategy statement". It means they made no plan nor commitment for male victims.

https://twitter.com/AllyFogg/status/1509558894632308742?s=20&t=ubkURJ2BEn4ej6NjLK6eRg

rochesterslim · 2022-04-06T15:28:30+00:00

should have said LibDems are centrist in theory…I emailed back saying her 99% had no source. I won’t bother emailing anymore-I tried.

austin101123 · 2022-04-06T21:04:12+00:00

While 99% of gender-based violence is committed by men, it is important that this does not mask the domestic abuse that is committed by women.

certified bruh moment

ripyourlungsdave · 2022-04-06T15:43:25+00:00

One group of people is not responsible for 99% of anything. That is a borderline impossible statistic to reach.

vtj · 2022-04-06T20:37:46+00:00

First of all, thanks a lot for taking the initiative and actually contacting the MPs about this issue. If more people did this, it would be much harder for the politicians to ignore it. Getting one response from three attempts is not a bad outcome at all. Keep up the good work, random internet stranger!

In case you plan to follow up on your exchange with Sarah from the Lib Dem, you might point her to the official UK government policy document absurdly titled Supporting male victims of crimes considered violence against women and girls, in which the UK government attempts the impossible task of explaining that even though they decided to officially classify all domestic abuse as "crime against women and girls", they actually really mean to care about men and boys too. The document even says (on page 12) "Male victims may be less likely to disclose that they are being abused or may not recognise they are victims of domestic abuse as they may believe the term ‘domestic abuse’ is only applicable to women." For a government to bemoan that men mistakenly believe domestic abuse is only applicable to women, while that same government insists to label domestic abuse as "crime against women and girls" is the sort of weapons-grade chutzpah fitting for Boris Johnson's 'statesmanship'. If Sarah is really planning to table a question to the government, she might find this useful.

The policy paper also includes a pretty decent summary of official crime statistics, which might correct Sarah's regrettable ignorance of actual gender ratios of crime perpetrators.

DistrictAccurate · 2022-04-06T23:05:20+00:00

This is due to ridiculous views about gender and privilege causing innocent men to suffer and societal apathy towards male victims.

The phrasing may be to combative for many. You may want to instead explain how the current state of affairs affects men.

Now to the answer:

Domestic abuse can happen to anyone, regardless of age, class, gender, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation.

Who is the audience for this? The person who asks about male victims? Or do they expect any sympathy points for that sentence? Like, just answer the question...

While 99% of gender-based violence is committed by men, it is important that this does not mask the domestic abuse that is committed by women.

This has nothing to do with the question. I don't think the mail talked about the perpetrators (instead, it asked about male victims). Furthermore, usage of "gender-based" to describe certain categories of violence (e.g. all cases of DV) beyond the actual intentions and circumstances surrounding each act whilst ignoring the gendered biases (empathy gap -> perceptions, evaluations, actions, ...) that shape the average male victimization (be it ipv or not) even beyond the act itself only serves to make it harder to address violence that is actually influenced by gender beyond the fact that is is part of a heterosexual relationship - which isn't necessary nor sufficient for violence to be affected in the abovementioned way. Men's violence against men is shaped by the aforementioned biases. And that does not just mean that, for example, the man may have a lower threshold for violence when the opposing party is male. It also doesn't just mean that, for example, bystanders may be less likely to intervene or report the crime. It also means that the fact bystanders may be less likely to intervene in turn also affects the already biased perpetrator, who may now - be it consciously or unconsciously - base their decisions on the lower risk that is associated with an attack in case the victim is male. This is just a fraction of the endless network of co-occuring biases surrounding such actions, though I assume it should suffice to establish the possibility for male on male violence to be affected by gender in a way that may justify calling it "gender-based".

Former Lib Dem Welsh education minister Kirsty Williams led the way in educating young people to help stem the problem, introducing a new curriculum that centres the importance of respectful, equal relationships. We want to extend the improvements to sex and relationship education across the UK, and ensure better training and resources for police, prosecutors and judges.

To speak about "extend"ing "improvements" whilst addressing the issue of male victims would need for an explanation regarding what kinds of male disadvantages where taken into account, how they were addressed and how that implementation helped men in practice. As it stands, I am unsure whether the paragraph properly reflects the extent of men's issues throughout society.

All victims of domestic abuse should have access to support. We want to ensure that Britain has a culture where men feel they can come forward if they are experiencing domestic abuse.

The message and terminology used are in conflict with this statement. See above for a discussion on "gender-based".

Upon the return of Parliament next week, I will ensure we table a written question to ask what works the Government is doing to protect male victims of domestic abuse and extend services specifically for men.

Good, I guess? Better than nothing, though they didn't really establish anything they would do - which was what they were asked though...

Cyb3rd31ic_Citiz3n · 2022-04-06T14:06:49+00:00

If we assume that your numbers are true: 78,6000

And that her numbers are the correct:

99% of gender-based violence is committed by men

That means that...

78 million, 6 hundred thousand women suffer violance in the UK per year! An astonishing feat given the population of the UK is 66.44 million in its ENTIRITY!

Look, I know they can't send a personalised email to every single person (there is some poor schmuck intern writing these replies) but the blaize default strawman of the problem is disheartening...

BUT at least something is recognised and being done. It is a start, and that's worth being pleased about. Now that you've got a foot in the door, put pressure to keep the ball rolling.

wylaaa · 2022-04-06T13:56:25+00:00

No response is probably better than a response like that.

YesAmAThrowaway · 2022-04-06T16:02:38+00:00

I'm not surprised at all. LibDem will hold onto relevance in any way they can and you offered them an oppportunity to increase support. With their party I can actually imagine that they'll stick to what they told you here, even if the 99% figure is entirely unscientific. Putting out this question to parliament sounds very important and it is, however as a very minor opposition party, it's going to be one of those questions and depending on how the Tories handle it, it'll likely go nowhere except what we already know: that they count male victims under the program of violence against women and will provide no resources. They never gave us the magical new hospitals after refusing to increase nurse wages ages ago and cut thousands of police jobs, leading you to now hope they ever get to you when you call at all.

In short: As long as the Tories or Labour are in government, we cannot expect a lot.

ramacphee5 · 2022-04-06T16:48:46+00:00

Given the Lib Dems had (and maybe still have) a known woman abuser as their domestic abuse spokeswoman I am not surprised this was the response

fuzijo · 2022-04-06T17:05:59+00:00

the thing is, some women abuse their partners in other ways. it may not be physical (sometimes just shoves or slaps), but abuse can also be verbal & emotional. the founder of the first women's shelter even stated that women were just as, if not more, abusive than their partners

xsplizzle · 2022-04-07T02:08:43+00:00

While 99% of gender-based violence is committed by men <-- its not, female mp.

r2o_abile · 2022-04-06T23:35:20+00:00

Ask her for a source on the 99% of perpetrators are male.

Then her send a UK (or Ireland) based study that shows a more correct number.

Could a mod help with UK peer reviewed study?

peanutbutterjams · 2022-04-07T03:52:35+00:00

jfc you not only got a reply but they promised to table a question at Parliament?

in writing?!?

As someone who has respectfully written to all levels of government in Canada and to all my political representatives (and even wrote to the Prime Minister's wife about her work for 'gender equality' in Canada), I have never, ever, once received a reply. From anyone.

You should appreciate that email and the person who wrote it. You've got a good one and it's not common.

But ~~maybe~~ Canada just sucks.

Honestly, I struggle with depression and the complete lack of response from my democratic government on many different issues (from many different email addresses) has been one of the major challenges to my mental health.

I believe in democracy, especially the American ideal laid down by the Founding Fathers. It's very humanistic. And humble in a way that's sadly unrecognized today. ("Here's how we think a country should be run; here's how you can change anything we had wrong.")

I have left-wing governments on all levels, one of which is loosely connected to a federal party once born from a collection of socialists, labour unions and farming collectives exactly 90 years go. Yet not one of them will bother to respond to their constituent.

I'm not trying to hijack your thread; I just hope this helps you appreciate this response and to warm yourself in the embrace of active democracy. You deserve it.

beeen_there · 2022-04-09T10:06:47+00:00

You won't get any joy on men's issues from media obsessed, self serving and male disposability complicit MPs. See the post here

https://www.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/ttns64/an\_idea\_for\_a\_political\_advocacy\_website/

LolwhatYesme · 2022-04-06T22:42:45+00:00

Not surprised. Those in power want to keep their power. Why would they even want to entertain more open-minded perspectives when speaking out against dominant ideologies held up on a pedestal could obliterate their careers?

In fact, this does not just apply to politicians. It applies to everyone. So much of the world's power is found in ideological hegemonies, but exactly who forms those pervasive belief structures in the first place is not so straightforward in my humble opinion.

Title	UK parties response to my message about domestic violence against men
Author	rochesterslim
Upvotes	113
Comments	83
Date	April 6, 2022 12:45 PM UTC (4 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/txlc1y/uk_parties_response_to_my_message_about_domestic/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/uk-parties-response-to-my-message-about-domestic.1111059 https://theredarchive.com/post/1111059

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