Male victims of violence insulted
Yet again his department excluded male victims and gave a helpline number for female victims only.
Mr Fahey acknowledged that men can also be victims, but he continued by referring to domestic violence as if it was occurring only against women.
He said he had taken some time to familiarise himself with some of the issues “in relation to violence against women to date,” and that he had only just begun to learn about the “complexities of violence against women”.
It would appear the minister has no interest in learning about the complexities in relation to violence against men.
The TV campaign which the minister was launching referred to a national helpline number operated by Women’s Aid. The minister claimed they would be on hand “to offer support to any victims, women and men, who need their help”.
Women’s Aid, as the name implies, has always been a service exclusively for women and when men have contacted them, they have been advised accordingly.
They subscribe to a feminist model of domestic violence which precludes the possibility that women use violence as a means of controlling their male partners. Male victims will not use such a helpline and it is naive of the minister to make the statement he did.
Four years ago his predecessor, Mary Wallace, and officials from the department gave a commitment to Amen that future campaigns would be gender-neutral. Sadly, they have reneged on that commitment.
The minister insulted male victims by his token reference to them in his speech.
Mary T Cleary
Amen
St Patrick’s Terrace
Navan
Co Meath
