Group Opposes Family-Violence Stereotyping and False Statistics 

Because November is widely designated as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we wish to announce to our readers the recent formation of a group of academics and professionals with an alternative vision on this issue, and to present some reasons why we feel it is essential for us to speak out. 

RADAR-Canada ("Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting") is a Canadian organization, informally linked to similar ones in other countries, that has been formed to present important facts to government and the media regarding abuse in the family. Our members have spent years in scientific research or other professional involvement with this serious societal problem.  

 Even though research has established fundamental facts on this subject, publicity and policy have for years been driven, and are still being driven, by stereotypes and by ideologically biased information. Instead of the facts, the public is constantly presented with the stereotype that only men, or virtually only men, are violent in the family; women are just victims. The consequences of this view are very serious for individuals and for society as a whole; it must not be allowed to continue. 

In fact, it is now well established that as many women as men assault their partners, and that in the great majority of cases, they do equal amounts of physical harm: little or none. And the two genders sustain similar risks of serious emotional or psychological harm. There is evidently only one major statistical difference, important though it is: in the small proportion of cases where there is serious physical harm, greater male strength results in a higher injury to women than to men.  The studies find that men constitute between 1/5 and 1/3 of the victims of injury from partner abuse. But even these well established empirical findings are kept from the public in favour of the stereotype that only women are victimized. And there is much reason to believe that this greater likelihood of serious physical harm to women is not because more males want to harm their intimates. The motives and psychological causes for the violence are found to be very similar for men and women.

There is substantial research evidence for these claims available, and we will be publicly pressing for its recognition over time. The point here is that such facts have been ignored, and even actively suppressed, for the past 20+ years in Canada. For the sake of scientific, professional and media ethics and for the sake of better stopping family violence, a more honest and accurate set of statistics must be disclosed. 

Readers will naturally have doubts. "How could there be so much public misinformation, if there is as much research knowledge as you say?" In a word, the answer is the massive power of ideology over human thinking and behaviour. Despite the last 40 years of consciousness-raising with regard to sexist and racist values and stereotyping, large numbers of people still believe it is all right to stereotype men as a gender. They generally see it as a part of supporting women to do so, and denounce as anti-woman or anti-feminist those who simply want to tell the truth about both genders. And many others knuckle under to their biases to avoid being tarred with such labels. 

At any given time, examples of this ideology at work can be plucked from the news. Recently the Queen of Sweden was widely quoted for asking a conference on violence against women not to forget violence against children. Even though children are much more vulnerable, far, far more attention has for years been paid to women victims. When children are mentioned, it is usually just by tacking them on after women. Why? Because one cannot long discuss parental violence against children without having to face the fact that women are just as likely to batter and kill children as are men. But that would get in the way of the stereotype of women as nothing but innocent victims. Children pay the price for that particular aspect of the stereotyping. 

 Among the other consequences we will be calling attention to is the clear statistical evidence of pervasive anti-male bias in the justice system. Since 1984, federal and provincial governments have implemented over 1000 studies on the incidence and effects of women’s victimization. For men, not one single study has been done. Police, judges and custody assessors are taught to suspect men as the sole source of domestic abuse. Their vital decisions should not be based on gender stereotyping any more than on racial profiling.