Culture of hostility to women leads to domestic violence, say police chiefs
Last edited Tue Feb 24, 2015, 01:17 PM - Edit history (1)
(of course, then we have the other side of the view of domestic violence there:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026269640
Culture of hostility to women leads to domestic violence, say police chiefs
Exclusive: Changing men’s behaviour is the only way to tackle a crime that kills one woman every week, say commissioners
Flowers in Lockhart, near Wagga Wagga, where farmer Geoff Hunt took the lives of his wife and children. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Australia’s police commissioners have identified “vulgar and violent attitudes towards women” as a key cultural cause of unacceptably high rates of family violence and say it will not stop until men’s attitudes change. They have urged victims to report assaults to police, who they say have transformed their own attitudes towards family disputes in recent years. Most commissioners say police working closely with other agencies involved with family violence is the only practical way to tackle a crime that kills one woman a week in Australia.
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In Victoria, family violence has become an unexpected election issue, with the Labor opposition promising a royal commission and the Coalition government pledging substantial new money and initiatives to reduce the incidence of domestic violence, which makes up almost half of all assaults in the state. “I place family violence in a wider culture where vulgar and violent attitudes to women are common,” he said. “These attitudes show that we perceive women differently than men and by differently I mean we perceive them as less valuable. In order to stop a problem we have to tackle the cause.”
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On the statistics supplied, the Northern Territory has the most alarming incidence of family violence, especially affecting Indigenous women. More than 60% of assaults in the NT are domestic violence-related and 56% of homicides occur within families. More than 80% of domestic violence victims are women, and 73% of these are Indigenous womenDomestic violence also affects children, more than 40% of Indigenous children witnessing violence against their mother or stepmother in the NT, compared with 23% of all children.
The NT’s police commissioner, John McRoberts, said there will be little lasting improvement until “community attitudes, specifically male attitudes, change”.
Most commissioners stress the need for cultural change in Australia. The Australian Capital Territory chief police officer, Rudi Lammers, said reporting family violence remains “an emotive and traumatic experience that can divide families and friends”. Only through reporting would the stigma lessen, he said. “We already have strong legislation and great support services,” said Lammers. “What we need is a change to the culture that says it’s OK to either commit family violence or be silent about it.”
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http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/nov/03/culture-of-hostility-to-women-leads-to-domestic-violence-say-police-chiefs
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which is what it is.