Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Bias about abuse still abounds

I've been vaguely following the Owen Glenn Inquiry melt-down which the NZ Herald seem particularly pre-occuppied with, providing an almost daily instalment.

What I keep noticing though is the slant on the subject of abuse. For instance in today's Herald editorial:

Like most men, he will be unable to fathom how any self-respecting male can do violence to a woman or child. He knows it should not be happening in his own country. He wants to know why it happens, what the police and social agencies are doing about it, and how it can prevented. So do we all.
Then from another piece by Simon Collins:

 Waikato University psychologist Dr Neville Robertson, who said on Friday that the think-tank hoped to make a collective response by Sunday night, said he told other think-tank members by email yesterday that he used to think it would be possible to end violence against women and children in his lifetime.

This tenor has struck me at other times. Collins describing the recruitment of now resigned head, Ruth Herbert:


Ms Herbert jumped at the chance, and by the time the inquiry was announced in September its focus had broadened from child abuse to include domestic violence - the issue she has campaigned on for much of her life.
"Seventy per cent of the child abuse cases also have domestic violence happening, mostly the father abusing the mother," she explained.



In an earlier editorial not related to the Glenn Inquiry the Herald once again took this position:

 The vast majority of child abuse is perpetrated by men.

In the interests of balance here's a quote from Professor David Fergusson of the long-standing Christchurch Health and Development Study:

 "The proper message is that both gender groups have a capacity for domestic violence [and] women probably perpetrate more assaults on children then men do," Mr Fergusson said.
The ramifications are a public health system that tends to overlook male victims of domestic violence.
One example was White Ribbon Day, which he had been critical of because it focused on female survivors of domestic violence and there was "no comparable day for male victims".
"It is those biases which have been built into our system right the way through it, largely from feminist rhetoric that implies that males are always to blame"

And from Child Matters:

Myth: Most physical abuse is carried out by men, especially fathers.
Reality: Physically abusive acts towards children are just as likely to be carried out by mothers as fathers.

The inquiry is supposed to be officially about All Forms of Child Abuse and Domestic Violence in New Zealand

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wondered if those leaving the enquiry team were doing so because Glenn wanted facts and not a talk fest and they were illequipped to get to them because their perceptions were clouding a view of the uncomfortable truth.

The fact remains that abuse will never get fixed - its always been, always will be. Dealing with welfare would make the biggest visible change I suspect because the wealthy are a better class of abusers who leave scars that are not on the outside.

3:16

JC said...

"Seventy per cent of the child abuse cases also have domestic violence happening, mostly the father abusing the mother," she explained."

Soon as I saw that I knew the inquiry was doomed.. plus the fact the inquiry team numbers seemed to bloom hugely.

The fact is we already know and have known for decades how and why child abuse occurs.. but we don't want to acknowledge the facts and take the obvious steps to stop it.

JC

Anonymous said...

The fact is we already know and have known for decades how and why child abuse occurs..

In one word: welfare

but we don't want to acknowledge the facts and take the obvious steps to stop it.

end welfare.