I recall a story that was doing the rounds a time ago, about a move to ensure that any man who had been found guilty of a violence/threat charge against a women, would appear on a data base. The idea was that if women meet a man, they can potentially ask for the man to be searched on the database, to see if he has any previous. I can well understand the principle behind it. If my daughter could be saved from unwittingly dating someone with a skeleton in their cupboard, someone that may well be a danger to her, then sure, I can see the benefit there. My worry is that it may be abused in ways beyond the principle of it. And that there is no equality with it. Like just about everything relating to this matter, it implies that the man is always the abuser, and the women always the victim. This is factually wrong and utterly false, but Gov funded adverts on TV, and beyond, they help to keep that myth perpetuated. They simply ignore the library of facts about female to male violence. Or that a female is several times more likely to use a weapon. Or that a female is three times more likely to be violent to her kids, if the father happens to leave. Nup...let us take ALL of that out, and let us further ignore it by offering next to no infrastucture for men, the way we have for women. And this database idea seems to be consistant with this bias, because, from what I recall, it specifically spoke about men being on it, and not just PEOPLE found guilty of abuse. As much as I would be happy if such a system informed my daughter about a potential boyfriend being a danger, I would be equally as happy to know that my son(if I had one), was not dating a girl with a conviction for slashing her last b/f in her anger. Just ponder the two messages that are being given out, in the two ad examples, as per here http://www.glennsacks.com/dart/ Really, if any other sector of society, gays, blacks, Jews, were collectively tarred by default, in this way, it would not be tolerated, but it seems to me that rather than 'equality', we are even prepared as men, to allow ourselves to be demonised, while paying no mind at all to the other facts, to balance it out, which is what good representation should do. I am 100% in support of offering help and assistance to anyone that is the victim of an true abuse, or threat to their life, be that male, female, the wife, husband, whatever, but let's please not be hypocritical and simply pretend that this is merely a male problem, and that males are guilty, unless proven otherwise. What a perverse society we live in, when we have one that seems to want, not so much as to assist all victims of true abuse, but select the 'brand' best for their PR, and spend money on expensive adverts that attack men. Who the hell let that creep in? Jack
