Australia has increasingly become an upside down place, not just geographically, but also in its sensational political narratives, and contorted views of so-called “gendered violence”. As a result of seeing the issue with one eye closed – there is virtually no dedicated shelter for male victims of abuse, anywhere in Australia. And no reliable source that outlines Government funding to support these vulnerable men – which in my experience, suggests “no funding” too. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of Australian dollars are spent to protect abused women; with $4 billion dedicated to the next generation of refuges, judicial reforms, and intervention programmes, as well as providing financial and legal services to female victims of violence. Nobody could begrudge such things. But why is there nothing for men? Why is the ‘privileged’ gender, again, left in the cold; unable to seek help, betrayed, berated, and not believed? Such lopsidedness would suggest that male victims of abuse are non-existent, or a mere rounding error, or drop in the ocean, and therefore unworthy of support. But this isn’t true – and far from it. The ABS Personal Safety Survey for many years has found that one in three victims of abuse in Australia is a man, and now, a huge survey that questioned several thousand Australians has found the actual number might be significantly higher than this. So, within the public hysteria and sensational headlines of Australia’s “epidemic of violence against women”, is there nothing at all to be said about the men, who by the recent data, experience IPV at rates approaching those of women? And when will we treat the issue, not the gender? What do you think? ~ Analysis Study Images by Vasin Aribuga, Wesley Tingey, Photoholgic, and Getty Images

2025-05-21