Male victims ignored
WHILE Andrew Cairns makes some valid points on funding for the battle against the scourge of domestic violence he, like so many others, has been captured by gender politics and continues a rhetoric of domestic violence equals violence against women exclusively (Talking Point, October 3). While women suffer the larger proportion, men are significantly represented across the full spectrum of behaviour that constitutes domestic violence. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals 35.3 per cent of victims of violence from an intimate partner are men, 32.7 per cent of victims of violence from a cohabitating partner are men and 39.9 per cent of all violence by a current partner is experienced by men. On harm against children and the act of filicide, Australian Institute of Criminology data shows women constituted 52 per cent of all perpetrators of filicide, hardly a men’s only issue. If domestic violence is to be truly tackled then an honest, brave and open discussion is required. Anything less is a slap in the face to victims of female-perpetrated violence and probably goes some way to explaining the over-representation of disempowered and disenfranchised men (75 per cent) in suicide and (60 per cent) homelessness. Commentary from those far from the frontline of troubled households should be tempered and factual. We all, irrespective of gender, have a responsibility in tackling domestic violence.
Grouse difference
I’M glad reader John Hunter had a good experience on Grouse Mountain in Canada (Letters, October 11). My wife and I took the trip last year and while we enjoyed ourselves on the whole I wouldn’t like to see that set-up on kunanyi/Mt Wellington. At the top there is a large building with restaurant and retail facilities which are obviously planned by the MWCC organisation. I don’t know how much else was there 24 years ago but my worry would be that once a foothold was gained there would be pressure to spread as happened there, with display areas covering quite a large area for entertainment. Grouse Mountain is several kilometres outside Vancouver and totally invisible to the naked eye from the city in comparison to what we would get here.
Religious freedom cost
THE discussion on the action of religious schools in declaring young LGBTI students as immoral, unnatural and decadent as a religious right to be protected and enshrined in law, is reaching a new understanding and balance in the Australian community. While there is an accepted right for religious freedom of worship and for churches to preach doctrine however narrow and antiquated, it is becoming more widely understood that children and young people are seriously harmed in the practice. We are moving from the anecdotal treatment of LGBTI children in Catholic schools and the sacking of LGBTI teachers to a deeper analysis of the high rates of suicide and depression in this group. The call to withdraw public funding from institutions that have such practices is legitimate, as is the call for an inquiry into the extraordinary human and social costs of so-called religious freedom
Build smaller houses
THERE is a crisis in housing due to lack of supply and unaffordable prices. We should allow smaller, cheaper houses. We allow people to live in motel rooms, but much larger small homes are not allowed. If sizes were reduced, cheaper houses could be built. We could allow construction in two stages, with occupation of a small stage one, and pre-approval of an extension. We could allow construction of a shell, with a small area fitted out for occupation. Fitout can proceed as time and finances allow. In the Huon Valley pressure could be relieved if low-cost houses were built on the 500 empty blocks of less than half an acre. The other factor is red tape. As councils are effectively a monopoly, they can set fees and require consultants’ reports, but at the expense of the resident or business owner. Anecdotally these costs can be $20,000 or $30,000.