New Domestic Violence stats

This just came through to me.

New research has revealed one-in-five South Australian children has watched physical domestic violence against their mother or step-mother. The findings of a national report also showed 6% of South Australian women have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence in the last 12 months, which is above the national average of 5.8%. There is now concern for children who witness these acts of violence, as living in a violent home has been linked to depression, increased aggression and poorer education.
© Media Monitors 2008

This is so timely as I am curremtly reading 'The Macho Paradox' by Jackson Katz. I will put a quote from the book here.


" For women and men involved in the batterred womens movements, especially those who deal daily with victims, convincing people - especially men- of the urgency of the situation may appear to belabour the obvious. Doesn't everyone already relise how big a problem this is? Dont they know there are survivors in thier own families?

Well not necessarily. A lot of people cannot face the ugly reality - or dont want to. It is important to remember that coming to terms with the extent of the problem can be disorienting, and profoundly disruptive. As a man, once you are aware of the degree to which women suffer from gender violence and all forms of sexism, you cannot simply go about your business and pretend everything is fine. You have to do something about it or lose your self respect. "

Another quote: " If the term 'male basher' silences women who speak out against men's violence, a similar process applies to the increasingly popular convention in media where alleged rape victims are referred to as 'accusers'. This usage accelerated during the Kobe Bryant case ( a top professional basketballer), when media commentators routinely referred to the 19 year old alleged victim as 'Kobe's accuser'. This usageusage subtly but powerfully undermined the credibility of the alleged victim, furthering the mistaken impression that it was a 'he said -she said' case.Language matters. Imagine if every time people said Bryant's name, they referred to him as ' the accused' or 'the accused rapist' Kobe Bryant. Whether it was intentional or not, the widespread practice of calling the basketball superstar's alleged victim his 'accuser' no doubt contributed to a shift in peoples perspective on what happened........Instead of focusing on the merits or deficiencies of the prosecution's case against Kobe Bryant, the use of the term accuser subtly but profoundly turned people's attention to the actions of the young woman.


The Macho Paradox is availalable for loan from the SHine Library