APPENDIX 2
Memorandum submitted by PARITY
1. PARITY is a voluntary non-party-political
charity concerned with the equal rights and treatment of men and
women. It was originally established in 1996. It has had several
successes in the European Courts challenging statutory sex discrimination
against men in the UK.
2. Summary of main points in submission
1. PARITY is concerned that there is still
widespread sex inequality in the attitudes towards and the support
services offered to male victims of domestic violence in this
country
2. A succession of reputable official surveys
in the past decade have consistently shown a substantial level
of female violence against male partners in intimate relationships,
and a corresponding substantial level of male victims
3. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the police
and other agencies involved are often not even-handed in dealing
with cases where there are male victims
4. PARITY believes that `zero-tolerance'
policies exacerbate the plight of male victims
5. The lack of publicly funded treatment
programmes for violent women suggests that female violence is
still not taken seriously
6. Abused fathers and their children are
particularly ill-served by the present inequality
7. The Government must publicly recognise
the existence and plight of male victims and initiate the measures
and funding necessary to promote an equitable support service
for both male and female victims.
3. Our concern extends to all victims of
domestic conflict. However, it is increasingly clear that the
existence and plight of male victims of domestic abuse by intimate
partners are still not being taken seriously by Government, or,
indeed, the police and other agencies. The result is that they
are largely ignored in public policy and funding and thereby marginalised
in the support services provided for victims. This submission
reflects the concern of PARITY at this widespread sex inequality.
4. There is now a considerable body of evidence,
in particular by a succession of detailed Home Office surveys
in the past decade of interpersonal violence in England and Wales,
to demonstrate the existence of a substantial level of female
violence against male partners, including severe and/or repeated
physical assault. Despite this, support services specifically
for male victims are largely absent or inadequate, and few women
are actually charged or prosecuted for domestic violence against
a male partner
5. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the
police and other agencies dealing with the problem of domestic
conflict are often not even-handed in their responses to male
victims—by not responding promptly (or by not responding
at all) to their calls for help, disbelieving their claims when
they do respond, and in a significant number of cases (the police)
arresting the male victim instead of the female perpetrator.
6. We believe that so-called "zero-tolerance"
policies have exacerbated the situation for male victims—since
for them officers are instructed to take overt action in any incident,
or explain later why they have not done so. In many incidents,
this translates into arresting or removing the man involved, even
though the woman is the principle culprit. Such policies are ill-tailored
to deal with situations where both partners are violent to each
other, particularly if there are children to be considered. Academic
studies suggest that mutual violence is the most common form in
the majority of violent households. These studies also suggest,
by the admission of women themselves, that self-defence is not
the prime reason for female violence in intimate relationships,
as is often claimed.
7. There are also virtually no publicly
funded treatment programmes available for violent women, in contrast
to the numbers available for male perpetrators. This suggests
that violence by females is still not taken seriously, even though
it can result in homicide or serious injury to others, or trauma
for their children.
8. Male victims with children are particularly
ill-served, often being removed from the family home if they report
the abuse against them, usually with subsequent problems of maintaining
child contact. Courts do not usually help in this respect, granting
ex-parte orders more readily to women than to men, even when it
is the man who the victim.
9. PARITY believes that it is time for the
Government publicly to recognise the need to support and protect
equally male victims of intimate violence as well as female, and
to provide effective measures and funding to achieve this. These
must include initiatives at all levels to ensure equitable treatment
of both male and female victims, including by the police and other
agencies (both statutory and non-statutory), and by the criminal
justice system. The implementation this year of the Equality Act
2006 and the new Gender Equality Duty reinforces the urgency of
such necessary measures.
5 September 2007
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