I’ve always struggled to track down this tyrannical dominator class of “men”. The male oppressor group, sat around that high table, a top mount Olympus, striking down villainous retribution upon one group, and bestowing privilege onto another. A shady cabal, a monolith of men, a cult of masculinity… The Patriarchy. Interestingly, on my many years at @thetinmen, there is only one place in the UK where I have found such a gender cult. An opaque organisation that is in the ear of government. One dominated by a single gender, who work tirelessly to advantage those like them, at the cost of those who aren’t. That place is @refugecharity. A charity that takes the lion’s share of tax payer funding, and who with the help of @womens_aid have monopolised the domestic violence industry to the exclusive benefit of women and girls, and to the detriment of everyone else. It’ll be no surprise to remind you that (despite being at least one in three victims), there is virtually no support for vulnerable men and boys, trying to escape abusive households. And it is partly due to the dogmatic views of organisations such as Refuge, that such a harmful and one sided reality has been born. Whilst not only do these organisations only help women, but they also almost exclusively employ women too. So with that I ask an uncomfortable question. In the hunt for this allusive patriarchy, might the story’s valiant heroine, our domestic violence organisations themselves, have more in common with their mortal enemy than they are willing to accept? And in a time where other large bodies like the Metropolitan Police of London, are rightfully being investigated for institutional misogyny, is it time for a new enquiry into the shady goings on, the overt sexism, and systemic discrimination, within the domestic violence industry too? What do you think? ~ Images by Gryffn, Codioful and Kiwi Hug. Illustration by Alice Noir Sources Victims of abuse by sex ONS  Refuge Funding (charity commission) Refuge Inclusion and Belonging Strategy  Refuge by gender (England) 

2023-06-18