SAFE BlogArchive

Distressed men like John made up a near-three-fold increase in the number of males applying for protection orders last year as compared to 1997, according to a study released by the Subordinate Court yesterday.

Last year, the number of men seeking protection was about 450, compared to about 161 in 1997, the study showed.

The study Faces of family violence: A profile study of family violence was based on a sample of 1,918 cases, picked randomly from the number of cases received in 2003 and last year.

Last year, the centre's Family Transformation and Protection Unit received 2,522 protection order applications. In 2003, it was 2,783.

Calling the increase in the number of men seeking protection orders "significant", the centre's director, Ms Annie Lee, said a lot of men could have suffered verbal abuse, threats or "actions that border on violence".

And some men have been at the receiving end of physical pain too.

"They scratch, they scream, they shout, they threaten," said Ms Lee, of abusive women.

One reason for the increase in male applicants could be heightened awareness.

"Men are more aware of their protection rights … they are more aware that they can complain," said Ms Lee.

Also, there might be more men who realise that it is not embarrassing to ask the court to protect them, she added.

The website also has other papers on abused women, abusive men, and same-sex victims.

Pretoria - A man who claims the Domestic Violence Act is biased against men had to watch his ex-fiancée and alleged attacker walk out of Pretoria magistrate's court a free woman on Monday.

When the authors of this article undertook a study into the way the Australian legal process managed child abuse allegations in custody and access disputes following partnership breakdown in de facto and legal marriages, they encountered what they came to think of as ‘the child abuse and divorce myth’. The myth centred around a belief that child abuse allegations made during or after partnership breakdown were weapons fashioned to gain advantage in the marital war. Therefore, they were not real; therefore, they should not be taken seriously. Despite little previous research, these views were strongly held by both families and professionals. The article examines the myth, believed to be an international phenomenon, and shows, in detail, how the study's findings do not support it. In fact, the findings from this unique study contradict the myth in its totality and in its specific aspects. Thus, it is argued that the myth should be abandoned and a new knowledge base for professional intervention that recognizes the reality of this problem be adopted instead. As a result of the study, a new specialized intervention program for children involved in residence and contact disputes where child abuse was alleged is being trialled in the Family Court of Australia. Hopefully, the introduction of further intervention programmes based on the reality of child abuse in these circumstances rather than on the myth will follow.

I have heard from many individuals (men and women) about false allegations of domestic violence being used for advantage in divorce situations. And I'm sure that there are some child abuse allegations that happen if there is an advantage to doing so. But I guess I can't really comment on this article without having read it.

The El Paso Police Department tracks the days they tend to get the most calls and last year Super Bowl Sunday came in first for domestic violence arrests and ranked fifth for domestic violence calls.

Darnell Forte is accused of slapping a woman he lived with. To try to get a domestic violence charged overturned, his lawyer has raised a wider issue, claiming a conflict between Ohio's new constitutional amendment defining marriage and the state's domestic violence law.

Opponents of the amendment banning gay marriage, among the nation's broadest, feared the measure would be used to try to curtail all sorts of rights for unmarried people, and they say the domestic violence case in Cleveland is one such attempt.

A news release from Prattville Police  indicates Sandra Thompkins dragged her husband 415 feet to the bottom of the hill.  Smith says he saw it all and ran down the hill to see if he could help.