Violence

I focus in the following on men’s roles in sexual exploitation and violence in prostitution and their prevention. I focus particularly on men’s involvements as buyers of commercial sex – in other words, on male ‘prostitute users’ or ‘clients’ or ‘Johns’, on the sexual violence and coercion involved here, and on how to prevent these.

There is a persistent debate, in both community and academic circles, regarding domestic violence and gender, and in particular, whether women's domestic violence against men is as common or as serious as men's domestic violence against women. The following articles are useful contributions to this debate. While they acknowledge women's domestic violence, they show that the claim of gender symmetry in domestic violence is not supported by the evidence.

This was written for a newsletter published by an organisation* working to make custody decisions in Australia centered on what is in the best interests for children, based on principles of justice and compassion, not in service to abusive husbands and fathers. It is for one woman in particular. May her daughter be returned to her soon, removed from the custody of the man who has abused them both.

*Here is the link to that organisation: www.safety4parentsandkids.org.au

The Heart of Justice

Myth:

  Women routinely make up allegations of domestic violence and rape, including to gain advantage in family law cases. And women use protection orders to remove men from their homes or deny contact with children.

Facts:

• The risk of domestic violence increases at the time of separation.
• Most allegations of domestic violence in the context of family law proceedings are made in good faith and with support and evidence for their claims.
• Rates of false accusations of rape are very low.
• Women living with domestic violence often do not take out protection orders and do so only as a last resort.
• Protection orders provide an effective means of reducing women’s vulnerability to violence.

A group called the Christian Domestic Discipline (CDD) has been advocating relationships of "domestic discipline" applied, not toward the children, but toward the wives.

It has been claiming such "discipline" to be part of "traditional Christian marriage."

It is time that both be seen for what they are.

The recent sexual assault allegations brought forth against Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger have provided another teachable moment. But just like the Kobe Bryant case, and other cases involving professional athletes, the media missed the mark in putting sexual assault into perspective.

April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month.  Every two minutes in the United States, a man rapes a woman – and it’s usually a woman he knows.  Those of us who know victim/survivors of sexual violence know the toll it takes on them - yet there continue to be numerous examples in our popular culture of blaming rape victims, glorifying rape culture and apologizing for rapists’ behavior. 

Engaging men and boys has emerged as a vital strategy for ending gender based violence, including in refugee and post-conflict settings. While prevention and response activities are essential, the humanitarian community and host country service providers understand that they must move beyond simply addressing each individual case of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and begin to address the societal, cultural, economic, religious and political systems that either perpetuate or allow for violence based on gender to continue.

This discussion paper was produced for “Partners for Prevention: Working with Boys and Men to Prevent Gender-based Violence” a UN interagency initiative UNDP, UNFPA, UNIFEM and UNV. This regional programme is a coordinated approach to support primary prevention of gender-based violence in Asia and the Pacific with the deeper involvement of boys and men.

Promundo and an International Advisory Committee, with support from the OAK Foundation, announce a call for proposals for pilot-scale projects related to the prevention of the sexual exploitation of adolescent boys (10-19 years old).