Completely agree, it’s great when services finally jump on board with apps but this seems like an app for the sake of an app. Perhaps it may be handy for friends to access information but then again if you were worried about someone in a violent situation I’m sure you’d take the time to do research.

Perhaps it would be more user friendly if it was disguised as a game or something else that when u go into it you can send a warning to a friend or service that u need help.

That was my first thought too. I’m pretty sure women in abusive controlling relationships would have their phones checked constantly as another means of being controlled.

Well perhaps people like yourself who are so quick to decry any Journal post dealing with domestic violence against women, equality for women, the fact National Women’s Day exists and any other woman positive post as ‘sexist’ could get together and do some fundraising and campaigning on behalf of the abused men you cite so frequently? Just a thought.

@Sam Rhodes Nowhere did I “decry any Journal post dealing with domestic violence against women, the fact National Women’s Day exists and any other woman positive post as ‘sexist’” and that is plain from the content of my comment. Where in the comment did I decry any journal post dealing with woman, where. Come on. Where did I denounce equality for women, where? Where are the other comments on the journal you say I did this. Show them to everyone. Its public record. You can search for them on journal.ie using the search function.

You can’t show them because they simply don’t exist do they so dont you dare defame me in that manner. Clearly you haven’t read my comment and how dare you for basically calling me anti-woman & anti-equality when its clear I’m calling for inclusive equality in dealing with an issue such as this. If you have read it & still believe what your saying your either ignorant or simply anti-men. Thats your issue, not mine.

Maybe you should learn to read and pick up a bloody dictionary to get a definition of ‘equality’ before commenting. BTW You also have about as much knowledge of my charitable credentials as you have the ability to comprehend the issue at hand. Pathetic.

That wasn’t aimed at you, I hit the wrong reply button, apologies, was meant to be upthread.

Ah, Sam. What a breath of fresh air you are. If these ‘yokes’ who constantly hi-jack any thread about violence against women and kids are genuinely concerned about violence against men, let them organize as women did. Let them open help lines and shelters. Their ill disguised misogyny makes me want to puke.

When’s National Men’s Day.?

Have a look at some of SAFE Ireland’s video campaigns etc. There’s never a mention of men being subjected to abuse.

The only mention of men in any of their campaigns is as the abuser. It’s never a woman in that role. It’s blatantly sexist in how it portrays the issue of abuse.

Hi Alan, to the best of my knowledge there is none – perhaps Amen, which is a service for men affected by domestic violence, might know more.

Here is the Amen website: http://www.amen.ie/ and phone number: 046 9023718.

SAFE Ireland is specifically aimed at women and children which is why this app is aimed at women and children.

Thanks
Aoife

Well said. We’ve all seen Damian getting a battering on fair city.

Aoife, brilliant. I’m still laughing at the last para.

I’m not sure what you’re trying to get at there, Simon – my comment was clearly not intended to be ‘funny’.

Well it sounded humorous Aoife because you were basically stating the blatantly obvious for the poster you were responding to.

Jesus lads, lay off. She was pretty darn clear and provided useful info for any males experiencing abuse. What more do you want?

Some people need blatantly obvious things to be stated.

I’ve no problem with the fact that SAFE Ireland was set up to deal with women and kids only. That’s not an issue at all.

What I have a problem with is their portrayal of men being the only ones capable of abuse. It’s quite frankly disgusting and archaic.

In the case of Safe Ireland’s client base it is men committing the abuse though. Highlighting awareness of DV against women does not negate the fact it also happens to men. However this is a service for women who are being abused by men who have different needs and requirements to men being abused by women or being abused by other men. nnIt would be refreshing if instead of every mention of DV services for women on the Journal being followed by a tirade of accusations of sexism and cries of ‘men get abused too’ there was an acknowledgement that a service for women being abused by men received 800 calls in one day last year and that says something disgraceful about our society. nn

Thank you Sam. Well said.

It’s not sexist to focus on one particular group of vulnerable people and champion their cause. If we’re talking about women’s safety here, then that’s what we’re talking about. It’s not sexist to keep things in context and appreciate that every issue is different and must be tackled in a unique way. It’s not sexist to focus on women’s safety because women experience more violence and harassment from men than men do from women.

It IS sexist to portray one sex as the victim and the other as the abuser. It’s sexist to completely ignore the threats to men’s safety, domestic violence experienced by men etc.

But the groups set up to fight for women’s rights and protection do not have to accommodate everybody else’s needs. They need to focus on their specific issues in order to have an impact at all. It’s not them we should be focusing our attention on. What’s wrong is that there is no one else even talking about violence. Violence against men is not treated with any sort of seriousness in our society or by our government and that’s wrong. But you know what? The only reason why people talk about domestic violence at all is because of the women’s movement. Until the 90′s it was legal to hit your wife. The women’s movement had to fight hard to explain what domestic violence was and to make the term “domestic violence” even matter.

So whose responsibility is it to start speaking up about violence against men? Everyone’s. Just as everyone should be speaking up against violence against women. But not that many people do, and it took years of struggle and organising for women to get any recognition. It’ll take years of struggle for violence against men to matter too.

However, despite the National Women’s Council and the likes, the fact is: men are more powerful in Irish society than women. Men make up nearly all of the government. They own and run the media. They own and run the religious institutions and the educational systems, and practically everything else. There are a few women involved of course, but few and far between.

So if men wanted to set up some sort of National Men’s Council, or group together to provide much needed services and support for men…well surely they have the power to do so. And if not – why not? Why are the Dail (nearly all men) uninterested in father’s rights, or domestic violence against men? Why does the media (nearly all men) portray men in such a negative light, or refuse to highlight important issues like suicide or domestic violence?

They’re the people that need to be tackled, never mind the National Women’s Council and the rest of ‘em.

Because in this context the services being referred are women’s refuges. For obvious reasons women’s refuges are women only, this is to ensure women cannot be tracked to refuges by their abusers, it’s to ensure peace of mind and safety of the women and staff. It’s to ensure traumatised women and their children are safe. There’s lots of info online about why women leaving male abusers are particularly vulnerable. Among them include the fact that features of DV towards women tend to include enforced isolation, lack of access to finances, more likely to leave family home, more likely to have children with them, more likely to be pursued, more likely to end up on the streets. No one is saying there shouldn’t be facilities for men too but their needs are different and for obvious reasons such facilities must be kept separate. nnI’m turning into a broken record here but if people believe shelters are required for male DV victims then campaign, lobby and fundraise for them. Bemoaning that women’s shelters don’t support men is missing the point, hugely.

And in terms of support groups as mentioned above there are support groups for male DV victims, ie Amen. Should there be more? Yes but women’s refuges and support services are overwhelmed as previously mentioned on the Journal recently. There are intrinsic differences in the ways men and women experience DV and differences in the support they need. I don’t have all the answers but what BOTH male and female DV victims need is more support and better access.

Men can be abused too and can be just as vulnerable if not more due to the fact that they don’t have much access to the same services that abused women are offered.
Abuse does not discriminate

Physically men are generally stronger but men with a half ounce of honour and decency would never raise their hand to a woman. There is still a stigma attached to men being the victim of domestic abuse. Emotional and psychological abuse are equally as damaging as physical abuse.

Tell that to Tyrone

Why, what is happening in Tyrone ?

That facepalm in your picture is enough for me