Thread: Letter to MP over clear case of discrimination in Parliament

Thanks Douglas, I've sent to my local MP.

sent one also, cheers Douglas.

Excellent.

I was asked to supply my full postal address. Normally, I would do so on this kind of correspondence but had missed it off on this occasion. It's perfectly normal and acceptable that your political representative knows fully who they are trying to represent (and to whom they are answerable). I recommend including it whenever writing to a local politician.

Mine always includes my full postal address and telephone numbers. All I have so far is an "out of office" email...

The (postal) response received today from my MP is as encouraging as one could reasonably hope for, I think.

He agrees that, whatever the ratio of male to female victims, it is "certainly the case that men are subject to abuse" and they should not be ignored when the subject is being discussed.

He has committed to writing to the Attorney-General about it, and to letting me know when he has received a response.

Have you sent your MP an e-mail yet? The more people in parliament are alerted on anti-male discrimination, the more likely they will spot it themselves in future. The more MPs who write to the Attorney-General, the more we are likely to see improvement.

I'm still waiting on a reply...

This is excellent activism.

If only we all lived in Dominic Raab's constituency.

Can't remember the name but there's superb Member of the Scottish Parliament who forced a debate on "violence against men" last year which was a superb achievement. Can I suggest people ask their MP's to propose a similar debate in England (or in Wales if you live there). If they can achieve this in Scotland it should be possible anywhere.

I blogged about the Scottish debate here:

The Rights Of Man : FOR EVERY £3,500 SPENT ON FEMALE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS, £1 IS SPENT ON THEIR MALE COUNTERPARTS

One matter though.

This 35 - 70%.

I am always skeptical when a percentage range is given without some explanation.

35 - 70 would be taking into account of all different studies. I.e. both those figures are the extremes and anomalies and the chances are that the figure is someone in the middle.

The most respected figures from a UK perspective are without doubt the UK crime survey and it's always best to quote these when dealggn with MPs. This consistently shows 40% of vicitms to be men.

Douglas,

you excellent example and lead has prompted me to adapt your letter and send it to my own MP in Australia. As below:

Dear Mr Wilkie

A parliamentary question was recently asked in the UK about the steps being taken to increase the conviction rate for domestic violence and sexual assault.

It is an issue occasionally pursued by members of the Australian Parliament and in like fashion here, other than one sentence of bland assurance of continuing review, the response was entirely centered around female victims.

As Ms Erin Pizzey (founder of the first ever domestic violence shelter for women) has pointed out, incidences where males are victims of domestic violence is more prevalent though far less visible and reported than those where females are victims (Pizzey is now patron of the men's domestic violence charity).

Research since Pizzey's evidence indicates that men are between 35% and 70% of the overall victims of domestic violence and almost 100% of False Allegation victims. Differing emphases in different reports accounts for the variation. Men, too, are subject to sexual assault and there is evidence that this is on the rise.

Most men feel a social and political pressure against reporting that they are being victimised at home or elsewhere. When men do report domestic violence or sexual assault, they are often demeaned, denied or dismissed. They even find themselves treated as a suspect and their attacker as the victim, because the entire legal system (as evidenced by the way the parliamentary question was answered) is aimed at having only the female as the victim.

I would like you to raise with the Attorney-General, publicly if possible, in Parliament, what steps are being taken to increase the conviction rate for domestic violence and sexual assault and False Accusations specifically where men are the victims.

I would also like to know that the various Equality and Anti-Discrimination Acts are going to be implemented properly to protect men from violence and false accusation and to help and shelter them when the protection fails.

What steps will you take to ensure the safety and security of men in this country?

Yours faithfully,
.............


Hansard (UK) Extract of 10th January 2011
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm110110/text/110110w0003.htm#11011036000021

Ms Bagshawe: To ask the Attorney-General what steps his Department plans to take to seek to increase the conviction rate for offences of (a) domestic violence and (b) sexual assault. [32317]

The Attorney-General: Improving prosecutions and support for victims in violence against women (VAW) cases is a priority for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The CPS keeps under review its specific policies on prosecuting cases of domestic violence and rape. In January 2011, the CPS will launch a new VAW assurance scheme to help further improve VAW prosecutions. Convictions in domestic violence cases rose from 65% to 72% between 2006-07 and 2009-10. During that period, convictions for rape rose from 54% to 59%; and for sexual offences other than rape, from 68% to 76%.

Quote from Percy

Douglas,
your excellent example and lead has prompted me to adapt your letter and send it to my own MP in Australia. As below:

I'm glad to have been an inspiration to such an inspiring man as yourself.

You have a lot of issues in Australia, with the laws on domestic violence in some states (is that the word) being prefaced with the concept that almost all violence in the home is committed by men. I understand that this is even proposed at Commonwealth level. Like the UK, you also have most police and social services automatically treating society as though women=victim and man=thug.

It will be interesting to see what kind of response you get.

I received a response today from my Member of Parliament. His letter is not very important in itself, since mostly it refers to two enclosures: a letter from Dominic Grieve, the Attorney General, to my MP about my letter (which was apparently forwarded); a booklet dated in the previous government titled "The Code for Crown Prosecutors" (emphasis is original).

Presumably, replies to other MPs on this subject will be much the same, so I'm going to substantively quote the Attorney General's letter to my MP verbatim.

Thank you for your letter ... regarding your constituent ... and his concerns about the steps that are being taken to increase the conviction rates in cases involving male victims of domestic violence abuse and sexual assault.

I have received a letter from Mr Nick Hunt, the Director of Strategy & Policy at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The CPS takes all cases of violence seriously, regardless of the gender of the perpetrator or the victim. I can assure you that the CPS Violence Against Women (VAW) strategy does not discriminate against male victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. The CPS has a number of individual policies that sit within the VAW framework (for example domestic violence or rape) that are all gender neutral and are applied irrespective of gender, in accordance with the principles set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. I attach copies of the Code for you and [your constituent].

The CPS VAW strategy is an overarching framework designed to address specific crimes and ultimately increase the number of successful prosecutions of offences that have been identified as being committed primarily, but not exclusively, by men against women. These crimes include, among others: domestic violence; rape; other sexual offences; prostitution; and human trafficking. Although the majority of victims covered by offences with the VAW strategy are women, the CPS recognises that many victims will be men and they require that justice is done.

I hope you are assured that the CPS takes cases of domestic violence and sexual assault very seriously regardless of the gender of the victims.

RT HON DOMINIC GRIEVE QC MP

(For those confused by the signature:
Rt Hon is abbreviation for Right Honourable, which indicates that this is a Member of Parliament who is also on the Privy Council;
QC is initials of Queen's Counsel, which means he is a lawyer;
MP says, again, that he is a Member of Parliament.)

The booklet I was sent is also available online in PDF format (English version 278k).
The CPS : The Code for Crown Prosecutors
Having had a quick scan for words like 'woman' 'male' 'wife' 'husband' I could find no evidence that 'The Code' has any gender bias. Indeed, section 2.4 says

Prosecutors must be fair , independent and objective. They must not let any personal views about ... gender, ... sexual orientation, or gender identity of the suspect, victim or any witness influence their decisions.

I have several thoughts so far about this response. However, I'd rather keep them to a separate post than this one, so I won't air them just now. Comments, anyone?

In terms of the response from my MP (I'll deal with the AG's response when I'm more awake), I asked three things of him:

I would like you to raise with the Attorney-General, publicly if possible, what steps are being taken to increase the conviction rate for domestic violence and sexual assault specifically where men are the victim.

This has been addressed by relying entirely on the AG's letter to him. The summary of that letter seems to be that the Violence Against Women strategy is completely gender neutral.

I don't see how the VAW can be gender neutral, even if one is to accept the contemporary intention. If one is to devise a gender-neutral strategy, one does not start off by including gender in the heading whether or not more people commit that crime are of one gender. Most shoplifters are women but it would be nonsense to have a Female Shoplifter Strategy that included all shoplifters. Further, by having discrimination in the title, all readings and dealings under that title are inevitably coloured by it.

I would also like to know that the Equality Acts are going to be implemented properly to protect men from violence and to help and shelter them when the protection fails.

This has not been addressed.

My MP has relied entirely on the answer from the Attorney General, which addressed prosecution issues, not the wider aspect of protection and shelter for men. I need to press on this point, preferably backing it up with other statistics to show the necessity.

What steps will you take to ensure the safety and security of men in this country?

This was partially addressed in my MP's first letter to me, when he told me he was writing to the Attorney General.

This question could be read as just a pressure-point but is not fully answered to my satisfaction. I think I need to provide some areas of specific concern and ask which of these he feels he should be addressing himself to.