London Mayor Sadiq Khan is back in the limelight, making his usual vote-grabbing pleas to virtue, and spouting meaningless platitudes. In his latest quest to combat domestic violence - it’s gay men who have been thrown under the bus. That’s right. And it’s the same ignorance as usual, you may have heard it before… The idea is that whilst men can be abused by a partner, it is mostly coming from ‘other men’ – suggesting that gay male relationships are contributing the lion’s share of domestically abused men. It sounds convincing right? It’s a concept often trotted out within domestic violence discourse, and has now made its way into the Mayor of London’s latest ‘tool kit’ to end gendered violence. ‘A large proportion of male victim-survivors have been in same sex relationships, so the perpetrator is male,’ the Mayor claims. A ‘large proportion’ huh? Except… only about 1% of abused men come from same sex relationship. This is just one myth Sadiq’s (tax-funded) tool kit contains; so much propaganda, contortions of truth, and down right lies are sealed within, that it has quietly been withdrawn, revised, and will soon be re-released with all the dogmatic bullshit taken out. Phew. This is good news, and a meaningful victory, but it’s also another opportunity to ask – when will we get an honest, inclusive, and evidence based conversation around domestic abuse? When will our wayward politicians grow a spine, stop shilling for votes, and do their actual job? Do your job @mayorofldn ~ ONS Stats MABC Open Letter Images by Codioful, and Leilani Angel. Illustrations by the Noun Project

2023-09-06