Also let me state, that I am summarizing what the links provided to me by PLEA state, and that if you want the full text, you will have to read them yourselves.
Let's start with the RCMP posting first:
- the main body of this posting is definitely gender-neutral, and is explaining what abuse is and the RCMP's stance on how they handle abuse.
- the RCMP is pro-arrest, which is excellent, people who abuse other people need to suffer the consequences.
- the gender neutrality in the post ends quite quickly in the section titled: "The Roots of Abuse" where they quote:
There are also known factors that increase the risk of wife abuse, especially the risk of serious abuse:
Alcohol is a prominent but not a causal factor in wife abuse. In just over half of all violent incidents, the violent partner was drinking.
Women are at greater risk of severe violence or even of being murdered just after they leave their husbands or partners.
The risk of being killed by a spouse or partner is eight times higher for women in common-law relationships than in registered marriages.
Wait a second, we just threw gender neutrality out the window and went straight into "wife beating". Yes, this is the RCMP's website. Further it goes on to say:
Spousal abuse is tragically common. It is also very complex. How can you bring her flowers one day and hit her the next? Why does she stay? How can she leave? What happens when that safe place called home becomes a prison or war zone? What about the hildren? How does society step into these private, personal spaces and help make a difference? Let’s find the answers — because spousal and partner abuse can be stopped.Men who have witnessed violence by their fathers toward their mothers inflict more severe and repeated violence on their own wives than men whose fathers were not violent.
Again pause for a second, I didn't see any application of the law here, rather some kind of unsubstantiated observations that are clearly gender biased again. Let's move on.
The majority of abusers are men and the majority of victims are women.
Yes, this is correct. Well kind of, perhaps a better way of wording this would be: "the majority of reported abuse cases are perpetrated by men.". Can you tell the difference between what I said and what they said?
However, men are also victims of spousal and partner abuse. The rate is significantly lower than among women and the severity of abuse, especially homicide, often less. We are just beginning to learn more about the abuse of adult men.
Oh there we go, we got ourselves a paragraph! Well not quite, in the first sentence they acknowledge that men are victims to abuse too, but then they minimize it.
What every person involved in an abusive relationship should know is that the RCMP will investigate spousal and partner abuse of any type, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or circumstance.
Well that makes me feel a whole lot better, we'll slam men throughout this entire post, on an official RCMP website, but don't worry folks we really treat everyone equally. Really we do, trust us. We're the RCMP after all.
They later post more results and facts about abuse, but it only references three reports, done by two agencies. I may note that these reports are 8, 14, and 15 years old respectively.
Ok, so deep breath, let's move on to the second link they sent me:
An estimated 7% of women and 6% of men in a current or previous spousal relationship encountered spousal violence during the five years up to and including 2004, according to a comprehensive new report on family violence.
Great! Accurate, unbiased reporting of FACT. This is looking better already. The report is full of great information, and clearly shows an unbiased look at the numbers. Yes, the numbers show men commit more acts of abuse towards women, I am not denying that, however, the numbers also show that there are a great deal of men (look at the graphs throughout the publication) who suffer the same types of abuse as women, and in comparable numbers.
It also shows that women are twice as likely to report abuse than men are.
The third link they sent me explains it all: "Measuring Violence Against Women".
What I am trying to show to these people is not that women DON'T get abused, because only a crazy person would say that. What I am saying is that we need equality in how we present the information to the general public, especially under the guise of being a law education organization.
Did they miss the point of what I am trying to say? Read my response email to see if they get it or not, but rest assured I won't let this go lightly.
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