HEAD2HEAD: Mary Cleary,chairwoman of advocacy group Amen and Margaret Martin,director of Women's Aid, debate the issue
YES: Mary Cleary says the evidence shows that men and women experience domestic violence in roughly similar numbers
The question posed here is one to which no one can give a definitive answer. Domestic violence by its very nature is largely a hidden crime and includes psychological abuse and false allegations. To answer this question, the best we can do is to look at evidence available from reliable scientific research. We must distinguish between objective, independent research and studies which are commissioned or carried out by those with vested financial or ideological interests in a particular outcome.
Research which could be used for guidance in answering this question would have to look in an even-handed manner at the experiences of both men and women, as victims and perpetrators. A number of Irish studies meet these criteria. All of these have been carried out since Amen was set up 10 years ago and vindicate Amen's position that men and women are both victims and perpetrators of domestic violence in roughly equal numbers.
When Amen was set up we were met with constant denial that women could abuse men. We were regularly asked, where is the evidence? Over the next few years a number of two-sex studies on domestic violence were carried out in Ireland. The most important of these was the Report of the National Study of Domestic Abuse of Women and Men in Ireland, carried out for the National Crime Council (NCC). This was the first ever large-scale study undertaken to give an overview of the nature, extent and impact of domestic abuse against women and men in intimate partner relationships in Ireland. The notable findings of that study as regards gender prevalence are: 29 per cent of women and 26 per cent of men suffer domestic abuse; 15 per cent of women and 6 per cent of men suffer severe domestic abuse; 13 per cent of women and 13 per cent of men suffer physical abuse; 29 per cent of women and only 5 per cent of men report to the Garda. The Government regards the NCC study as the definitive piece of research on domestic violence in this country.
An Accord survey of 1,500 clients found that women were perpetrators in 30 per cent of domestic violence cases, men were perpetrators in 23 per cent of cases and mutual violence accounted for 48 per cent.
A study of patients attending GPs, carried out by Trinity College Dublin (2006), found that 52 per cent of men and 43 per cent of women experienced domestic violence. The author of the study, Dr Susan Smith, said it was "inappropriate to continue to address this issue as solely a woman's problem".
Despite all the evidence, there are those who still deny the truth. They quote studies, mostly quite old, which, they claim, show that men are predominately the perpetrators of domestic violence. Those studies are not independent, neutral, balanced two-sex studies. They were predicated on the assumption that men are the aggressors and women the victims; were based on interviews with women only; did not make any attempt to establish the views or experiences of men, or were carried out by or for people or organisations with a feminist ethos, and a vested or ideological interest in promoting a distorted view of men as inherently violent and responsible for all domestic disharmony. Hardly surprising, therefore, that such studies wrongly portray men as the aggressors in the vast majority of cases.
The most significant statistics from the NCC study is that one in three women report while only one in 20 men do so. We are told that, 30 years ago, when the lid was being lifted on domestic violence, certain vested interests sought to suppress the truth and thereby prevented women victims from speaking out and seeking help. It is sad to see that some of those who are most vociferous in criticising the attitudes of that era are now doing exactly the same thing to male victims. Of course, there are also many who are more magnanimous and support the work we are doing in empowering male victims.
Regardless of how one interprets the statistics, no one can deny that a significant number of both men and women are abused in intimate relationships. The debate as to which sex suffers most, or whether it is a 50/50 phenomenon, will probably never be resolved. What we can say with certainty is that there is not a huge divergence between the numbers of male and female victims. Certainly nothing that would justify the massive difference between the supports available to men and women who are abused. For every euro spent on female victims less than one cent is spent on male victims.
This question puts Amen on the defensive and once again asks us to justify our existence. The fact that we have survived for 10 years should be sufficient testimony to the need for the service we provide. People don't spend 10 years of their lives dealing with a problem that doesn't exist.
• Mary Clearyis chairwoman of Amen, an advice and advocacy group for men and children affected by domestic violence. Amen can be contacted at 046-9023718 or www.amen.ie
NO: Margaret Martinsays that when domestic violence is understood as a relentless pattern of abuse, it is clear most victims are women
Violence against women is one of the world's most pervasive and serious problems. In Europe, 25 per cent of all reported violent crimes involve a man assaulting his wife or partner. In parallel with the growth in awareness of the social significance of violence against women, there has been a growth in understanding of the other types of inequality which exist in our society. However, this has, in some quarters, been used to argue that men are victims of domestic violence to the same extent as women. This may seem politically correct in ensuring equality for all, but is dangerous as it deflects attention from the reality that women are overwhelmingly the victims.
For the most part, evidence to support the claim of equal infliction of domestic violence is drawn from research which uses a tool called the conflict tactics scales (CTS). This tool has been extensively critiqued by academics as being both inadequate and inappropriate to measure a complex phenomenon like domestic violence. The CTS is limited to capturing the types of behaviours people engage in during times of conflict in a relationship, eg slapping, pushing, name-calling.
It fails to capture the intent behind those acts and the impact they have on the person's well-being. Domestic violence is not about outbursts of anger, nor is it about random, isolated minor incidents, but rather it is a relentless pattern of physical, sexual, financial and emotional abuse with the deliberate aim of maintaining control over the partner.
In 2005, the National Crime Council, in association with the ESRI, published a large-scale study of domestic violence of women and men in intimate partner relationships. The report draws an important distinction between those experiencing severe abuse resulting in a significant negative impact (domestic violence) and those experiencing minor incidents that had little impact on them.
When those experiencing severe and minor abuse are combined, there appears to be symmetry between the genders and this can lead to the assumption that men are victims to the same extent as women.
However, when we exclude those who experience minor abuse, we find that women are much more likely to experience severe domestic abuse. They are twice as likely to be injured as a result of domestic abuse; more likely to experience serious injuries; more likely to require medical attention as a result of abuse; and the impact of the abuse in terms of fear, distress and health impacts is more significant for women than men.
Correct reading of this research reinforces what logic and 30 years of data and research have already confirmed for us, that men are generally the perpetrators of domestic violence and that women are generally the victims.
Irish and worldwide research - as well as data from hospitals and police stations all over the world - reveal a consistent pattern of violence in intimate relationships where men are the perpetrators 90 per cent of the time. This violence frequently results in physical injury, often serious, and sometimes results in death. Of the 140 female murders in Ireland in the last 12 years, almost half of the resolved cases were committed by a husband, ex-husband, partner or ex-partner.
Male victims of domestic violence should be supported, protected and treated compassionately, just as female victims should. Men do not have to compose half of the victims to receive this response. A mistaken belief that men are victims of domestic violence as much as women could undermine protection of female victims. Seven refuges for men were opened in the UK in the 1990s. All closed due to lack of uptake. In Ireland, and worldwide, services for female victims are often stretched to breaking point.
When seeking gender symmetry with regard to violence, there is a place that we can find it: in childhood. The Sexual Abuse and Violence Report showed that, as children, both males and females were equally likely to experience sexual abuse. However, as males grew into adulthood their vulnerability to such violence decreased, whereas for females it remained the same.
Women's Aid's experience of providing support to women for more than three decades is that women experiencing domestic violence are terrorised in their homes using a combination of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, that the abuse is deliberate and relentless, and that women live in constant fear.
One of the most intractable gender differences worldwide is violence.
As the late Prof Anthony Clare said: "I accept, as a psychiatrist must, that there are indeed occasions when women grossly abuse men, and grossly manipulate and abuse their trust. But this is no competition, and the toll is ghastly and the indictment is solid. Men abuse women. Men abuse children. And men abuse each other."
• Margaret Martinis director of Women's Aid. The Women's Aid National Freephone Helpline is open every day from 10am to 10pm: 1800 341 900.
Last week, Liam Delaney and Paddy Power debated the question: Is online gambling a cause for concern? Here is an edited selection of your comments:
I think there is ample reason to be concerned, but certainly no reason for panic, or knee-jerk regulation. The draconian response of the US authorities to online gambling was not encouraging for the "new economy". Regrettably, our attitude to alcohol in Ireland must tell us a lot about our propensity for addiction. I think Paddy Power inevitably finds it difficult to be candid about this. He says, for example: "About 360,000 bet with a bookie monthly (12 per cent), while fewer than 65,000 people bet online (2 per cent). So, according to the facts - and regardless of what claims may be made in certain sections of the media - we are dealing with a small number of people when it comes to online gambling." Now, I don't think 425,000 gamblers is a small number of people. And if 65,000 of them play online, that is actually nearly 10 per cent of people who have broadband in Ireland (about 700,000 and rising have broadband). So this is a significant figure we are talking about. And in fact, earlier in his piece, Paddy Power acknowledges that the online trend can only increase.
A High Court judge, Ireland
Yes, we should be concerned about online gambling. I largely agree with Liam Delaney. He does not necessarily call for draconian regulation, merely that the pros and cons of gambling should be debated and we should look at ways of helping the 1 per cent to 2 per cent who have a gambling problem (ie, engage in damaging behaviours because of gambling). I accept Paddy Power's argument that online gambling is convenient for some punters and has spurred improvements in the service and environment of betting shops and also that it is a relatively small proportion of the population that engage in it. However, if they find that online gambling is increasing the incidence of problem gambling (I stress if), then they must look at the possibility of regulating it, like they do in, for example, the USA.
Conor, Ireland
I wholeheartedly agree with Liam Delaney's comments on the pernicious dangers which gambling present to society. Gambling is well known as the addiction most closely linked to depression, incidences of suicide and mental health problems, which are on the rise in Ireland year on year. For that reason it makes sense to bring in legislation to protect those who may fall victim to it and also limit the advertising power of bookmakers in this country who seem intent on gathering ever-increasing profits at the expense of gullible individuals who believe in sure bets.
The only certainty regarding gambling is that the bookie will always make huge profits and the punter and their families will always lose money. Gambling leaves many people in desperate poverty and often times unable to concentrate on anything else. It is impossible to hold down a job and gamble, for example. The addiction is a curse. It ruins the lives of those who fall prey to it.
Brian, Ireland
Gambling in this country is entwined with the drinking culture. It is romanticised and allowed from an early age. But some of us find it hard to stop when the soft few quid is just inside a bookie's shop. I agree that it is a big problem in Ireland and the advent of the Celtic Tiger has just shaken it up so much that we now have a culture of "money is god". And by hook or by crook we will get it. I personally don't believe it is the bookies' fault: they have always been there. I think it is our society that is at fault. We need to start putting values back into everything and try and get back a little bit of faith. Addiction is a symptom of our sickness.Will the real Government please stand up and do something about it before the horse has bolted?
Alan, Ireland
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