It’s not often that we in the MHRM get a chance to see the mainstream media give a levitating fornication about the wellbeing of men. Usually, if male victims are mentioned at all, it’s only in comparison to how women supposedly have it so much worse. However, perhaps for the first time ever, Channel 7 News Australia has aired a news spot that highlights the fact that men make up a significant portion of Domestic Violence victims & doesn’t use it as a platform to lament the plight of women.

I know, weird right?

A large part of the kudos for the mainstream acknowledgement & increased awareness of male DV victims that this has created, must go to Mark Brooks & The Mankind Initiative UK who put together the video that sparked this story. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can do so here. It is, quite simply, a brilliant (if not entirely original) piece of marketing. Unlike earlier versions of this concept however, this one has succeeded in going viral, so the mainstream media have picked up on it & have given it even more coverage which can only be a good thing.

Much of the thanks for this is due to the fact that the video’s creators didn’t just record the actions (or lack thereof) of passers by but also the reactions of onlookers. Predictably, when the woman was playing the role of victim, onlookers appeared sober, concerned, & several directly intervened whereas, when the man was playing the role of the victim, the reactions were universally that of amusement which, even though it came as no surprise to me, I found to be sickening. This enabled them to highlight perfectly, & in a way that was instantly & viscerally understandable to the public, the disgusting double standard that society applies when it comes to male & female victims. A woman in trouble is cause for concern & a call to action, but a man in trouble is a joke & an object of ridicule. It’s an amazing piece of communication & The Mankind Initiative deserve to be highly praised for creating it.

For those who are interested, the entire piece that Channel 7 ran this morning (27/5/2014) can be viewed here.

Channel 7 News itself did a fine job of giving the story due consideration &, refreshingly, displayed the appropriate concern for the male DV victims being discussed. However, not all of the opinions aired were as positive. During the interview with Mark Brooks, they flashed up a number of comments & tweets that had been made in response to the video. I was gladdened to see that these were mostly positive but, there were still one or two that showed evidence of a strong gynocentric bias and a total lack of understanding of the issue.

The following was fairly typical of these comments…

Men and women are very different in lots of ways. 99 percent of men are stronger than their female partner. It’s ridiculous to try to make equality work in every situation. – MALINA

Is that right Malina? Well, what about the fact that female perpetrators of DV are far more likely than men to use a weapon or attack while their victim is incapacitated? What about the fact that men are not only conditioned their entire lives not to hit women, but are also almost always the one arrested if they do fight back against their female aggressors? What about the fact that threats of future abuse &/or false accusations of DV, can prevent a man from deciding to defend himself? What about the fact that DV is not just a physical phenomenon but a mental & emotional one as well, & many victims are so broken down by years of abuse that they simply don’t have the mental wherewithal to even think about standing up for themselves?

Oh, you never thought about those? No, that’s blindingly obvious.

Furthemore, I find it amusing that you take this opportunity to say that trying to make equality work in every situation is ridiculous. I wonder, would you be saying the same thing if the issue was the number of women in STEM fields or the number of female CEOs? Yeah, somehow I doubt it. Funny how the rules only apply in your mind, & in the minds of those who think like you, when women are getting the shit end of the stick.

What the nitwits like “Malina” fail to realise is that physical ability makes little difference in domestic abuse cases. Not only are men conditioned from birth not to hit women, under any circumstances, they also face stiff legal & social penalties should they try, even in pure self defence. A couple of superficial injuries & a few artful tears & the poor sap wins an all expenses paid trip to the jailhouse & is forever labelled a wife-beater. If you don’t believe me, I suggest you watch this video again, & again, and as many times as is necessary for you to realise that society cares far more for the wellbeing of women than it does for that of men & are willing to give them every protection possible while giving little if any consideration to justice or equality.

And this is the problem in a nutshell. Until society wakes up & starts treating men as if they have intrinsic worth as human beings, men will continue to be overlooked, ridiculed, or disbelieved, when they face Domestic Violence & will continue to be mocked when they stand up & complain about it.

Feminism is not the cause of this problem, gynocentrism is. However, the false statistics & false narrative that feminist organisations promote (i.e. that DV is largely perpetrated by men on women) in order to feather their own nests & reinforce their ideology, is only making it harder for the wider population to get a clear picture of the true state of affairs. This video campaign, however, brings widespread awareness of the fact that at least 40% of DV victims (in the UK) are male & that the figures are comparable in other western countries.

Finally, I would ask anybody who feels that it’s warranted, to please email Channel 7 & thank them for running such an even handed & compassionate piece about male DV victims. As most of you are no doubt aware, it is a rarity bordering on being unique so Channel 7 definitely deserve to be applauded for sticking their necks out over it. Please encourage them to do likewise in future by letting them know that there are a lot of people out there that appreciate their efforts.