Introduction

Perhaps a more descriptive title for this page would be:  Child Abuse and Neglect Data that should be but isn't available from the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, Health Canada.  Instead, the Canadian National Clearinghouse on Family Violence of Health Canada promotes family violence data that is distorted, quoted out of context, lacking in accuracy, enormously subjective, largely incomplete, and clearly and extremely biased against men.  The data they show are quite openly an all-out effort of feminist-inspired propaganda directed at the Canadian public, in an enormously successful, government-sponsored program to vilify Canadian men.

This page contains a letter written by Eeva Sodhi.  Mrs. Sodhi outlines in the letter what is wrong with the family violence data presented by Health Canada at their web site.  She also identifies that what is being done by Health Canada is a propaganda effort that not only should never take place in a democratic society but is a massive violation of the human rights of all Canadian men.

In her letter Mrs. Sodhi identifies research data produced by numerous reputable social researchers throughout North America and the World.

The original message by Eeva Sodhi shown here is largely reproduced unaltered, except were it was necessary to change its format but not its content slightly to take advantage of the superior format of presentation that HTML offers, compared to that available in the e-mail message by which Mrs. Eeva Sodhi transmitted excerpts from a bibliography that she is presently in the process of compiling.

Throughout the text of the original message graphs and tables have been inserted to make it unmistakably clear what it is that the various researchers found, namely that the vast majority of all child abuse and neglect is being committed by women and not by men.

It cannot be mentioned often enough: In general, about two thirds or more of all child abusers anywhere in the world are female.  The vast majority of female child abusers comprises natural mothers. Although natural fathers are the largest group of men who commit child abuse, child abuse by natural fathers is relatively rare. Stepfathers and mothers' boyfriends commit a very disproportionately large share of child abuse. For an illustration of that see the detailed information that are available through the statistics for North Carolina. —WHS]

A letter to Health Canada, by Eeva Sodhi

From: "R&E Sodhi" <rajeeva@ripnet.com> To: <hpo@hc-sc.gc.ca> Cc: "Walter H. Schneider" < >, Dave Rutherford – Host of the Rutherford Show on WIC radio "Ontario Today" CBC <onttoday@ottawa.cbc.ca> (The CBC is one of the foremost promoters of the destruction of traditional moral values in Canada.) Alexa McDonough – Leader of the Federal National Democratic Party (whose politics, being Marxist, appear to be guided by the principle "Women Good, Men Bad") Hedy Fry, Secretary of State Status of Women (who firmly denies that women could possibly mete out unprovoked violence.  Well, it's not because she doesn't know any better.) Carolyn Bennett – Liberal MP from Toronto (she was also a member of the Joint Committee on Child Custody and Access) Nick Bala –  law professor at Queen's University (Kingston), a well known feminist apologist.  He was one of the first to make a presentation. on behalf of the women's groups to the Joint Committee, see his web site.  He is a prolific writer on case law. I attached one of my letters concerning his publications. Mary Wiens – the CBC reporter who interviewed Dr. Wolfe and exposed her ignorance on the subject Allan Rock – Health Minister (Liberal, an ardent feminist who as the former justice minister was instrumental in preventing changes to Canadian divorce law that would have addressed the equitability of child access and custody.  It appears that he's now continuing his ideological vendetta against Canadian men.  After all, the Health Canada web site is under his jurisdiction.) Ottawa Sun –  one of the local papers, well known for its feminist stance Anne McLellan – (Liberal, the current Canadian justice minister, former law professor at the University of Alberta, radical feminist with an extreme anti-male and anti-family stance.) LaRose, Yvonne – a United Way spokesperson (with the United Way being well entrenched in promoting rampant anti-male propaganda) Kenney, Jason –  Eric Lowther's parliamentary assistant (Canadian Alliance Party, a pro-family party) The Hon. Michael Harris — Premier of Ontario Debra Grey – Leader of the Opposition (Canadian Alliance Party, a pro-family party) Subject: Child Abuse and Neglect data at the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, Health Canada Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 13:52:56 -0400

While searching the Health Canada site for "Child Abuse and Neglect" I found that the major research on this subject was not included in the bibliography found at the [web site]:

The link to appendix A was a link to feminist research, unrelated to child abuse.

Feminist advocacy propaganda on a child abuse site is abhorrent, considering that most child abuse and murder is committed by women.

A short list of abstracts that are a vital part of any research on the subject.

Trocmé N, McPhee D, Tam KK, Hay T. (1994) Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS)  Toronto, Ont.: The Institute for the Prevention of Child Abuse, chapter 4: Characteristics of maltreatment, p. 67, table 4.4a gives the following statistics:  All Maltreatment Relationship to alleged perpetrator  Investigated Cases Substantiated Cases Mother 48% 49% Father 32% 31% Stepfather 11% 13%   Sexual abuse: There were an estimated 11,846 investigated cases, out of which 4,953 (43.8%) were parents; biological mother 312 (2.8%); natural father 2,737 (24.2%); stepfather 1,321 (11.7%); stepmother 70 (0.6). Altogether all accused males comprised 90% of total investigations. 28% of all investigations were substantiated. Substantiated cases: parent: 24%; natural father: 19%; natural mother 14%; Stepfather 35%; stepmother 0%;  [What motivated the editor of the abstract to obscure the large disparity between the accusations against men and the small number of substantiated cases that was found – by citing the substantiated cases only in terms of percentages – is left to anybody's imagination.     Furthermore, one must wonder what motivated the editor of the abstract to identify that 90 percent of the allegations labeled men as the perpetrators but didn't identify that in about 90 percent of those charges were false and that only 10 percent were substantiated.    Assuming that the quoted numbers of investigated cases and  percentages of the substantiated cases are accurate, the percentages of the investigated cases and the actual numbers of substantiated cases are as shown in the following table.     The question marks in some of the fields identified in the table indicate values that could not be determined from those given in the abstract quoted above. —WHS] Sexual Abuse Cases (Source OIS)   Investigated Substantiated Biological Mother 312 2.6% 464 14.0% Biological Father 2,737 23.1% 630 19.0% Stepmother 70 0.6% 0 0.0% Stepfather 1,321 11.2% 1,161 35.0% Other Females 803 6.8% ? ? Other Males 6,603 55.7% ? ? All Others 7,406 62.5% 1,061 32.0% All Females 1,185 10.0% ? ? All Males 10,661 90.0% ? ? Totals: 11,846 1 100.0% 1 3,317 2 100.0% Notes: Categories in the column overlap. The sum of the figures doesn't match due to rounding errors. [The large number of unsubstantiated cases becomes much clearer in the following graph.  What becomes clear as well is the insanity of the witch hunt on men that results in an extraordinary large number of false allegations against men and boys that must nevertheless be investigated at enormous costs.  Not only that, but think of the misery facing the accused, who are automatically assumed to be guilty and forever must live with a tarnished reputation, even if proven innocent.  What is the good of that?  What purpose is being served? —WHS] [Contrasting the large number of false accusations of men is the circumstance that in the case of mothers who sexually abused their children the number of substantiated cases far exceeds the number of alleged cases and that the number of cases of substantiated sexual child abuse by biological mothers is of the same order of magnitude as that by natural fathers.     If it should ever come to pass, That the government-sponsored vilification of men comes to an end, That women are considered objectively as mere humans,  That society truly and honestly focuses on "the best interest of the children,"  That women can no longer make with impunity accusations of child sexual abuse by the fathers of their children, and That women are made to face the consequences of the criminal act of making false allegations,  is it then perhaps possible that we will find that the majority of child sexual abuse, just as with serious and fatal physical child abuse and neglect, is in reality perpetrated by women? —WHS]

The Statistical Abstract of the United States (1987)    Of reported child maltreatment cases between 1980 and 1984 between 57.0% and 61.4% were perpetrated by the mother

Sedlak,  Andrea J. & Broadhurst, Diane D., U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Administration on Children, Youth and Families National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. (1996) Executive Summary of the Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect. (September 1996). Children were somewhat more likely to be maltreated by female perpetrators than by males:  65 percent of the maltreated children had been maltreated by a female, whereas  54 percent had been maltreated by a male.  Of children who were maltreated by their birth parents, The majority (75%) were maltreated by their mothers, and A sizeable minority of 46% were maltreated by their fathers  Some children were maltreated by both parents.  [Of] Children who had been physically abused by their birth parents, 60% suffered at the hands of their mothers, 48% suffered at the hands of their fathers,  while those who had been physically abused by other parents or parent-substitutes were much more likely to have been abused by their fathers or father-substitutes,  90% by their [non-biological] fathers versus  19% by their [non-biological] mothers.  The last statistic indicates that, on average, non-biological mothers are about twice as likely as non-natural fathers to abuse their stepchildren, even though most abuse by non-biological parents is perpetrated by non-natural fathers. That is because there are far fewer stepmothers than stepfathers.  The group of parents that is least likely to abuse children – natural fathers – rarely receives child custody. It's all done "in the best interest of the children." —WHS]

North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Division of Social Services. Central Registry Reports of Child Abuse, Neglect, & Dependency (1997/98) Selected Statistical Data. FY 97/98  61,298 reports consisting of 114,152 children. Unsubstantiated reports: 41,988 (68.50%), consisting of 79,393 (69.55%) children.  Substantiated reports: 19,310 (31.50%) reports of 34,759 (30.45%) children.  Number of children reported:  96,697 (84.71%) neglect;  10,039 (8.79%) abuse;  6,479 (5.68%) neglect & abuse;  937 (0.82%) dependency.   Substantiated maltreatment:  1,414 (4.07%) physical abuse.  1,453 (4.18%) sexual abuse;  132 (0.21%) emotional abuse;  74 (0.21%) moral turpitude.  Total abuse substantiated: 3,073 (8.84%);

Total neglect substantiated: 31,164 (89.66%).

Perpetrators: 29,282 (84.19%)  biological parent: 7,050 (24%)  male; 22,232 (76%)  female; 217 (0.62%)  adoptive parent: 109 (50.23%) male;  108 (49.77%) female.  1,628 step parent:  1,424 (87.47%) male;  204 (12.53%) female.  139 (0.40%) foster parent:  43 (30.94%) male;  96 (69%) female.  894 (2.57%) grandparent:  228 (25.50%) male;  666 (74.50%) female.  112 (0.32%) step grandparent:  97 (86.60%) male; 15 (13.40%) female.  771 (2.22%) other relative:  366 (47.47%) male;  405 (52.53%) female.  1,173 (3.37%) other caretaker:  942 (80.30%) male;  231 (19.70%) female.  Institution: 133 (0.38%):  90 (67.67%) male employee;  43 (32.33%) female employee.  Daycare facility/plan: 432 (1.24%):  35 (8.10%) male;  397 (91.90%) female employee.  Total: 34,781 perpetrators:  10,384 (29.86%) male;  24,397 (70.14%) female  [note: Victim may have more than one perpetrator and perpetrator may have been listed for more than one victim]

North Carolina — Child Abuse & Neglect Numbers of Perpetrators  [as per the data shown above: —WHS]   Male Female Biological Parent 7,050 22,232 Adoptive Parent 109 108 Step Parent 1,424 204 Foster Parent 43 96 Grandparent 228 666 Step Grandparent 97 15 Other Relative 366 405 Other Caretaker 942 231 Institution 90 43 Daycare Facility/Plan 35 397 Totals: 10,384 24,397 Child Abuse Perpetrators — Ranked    Relationship to Victim N % Biological Parent Female 22,232 63.92 Biological Parent Male 7,050 20.27 Step Parent Male 1,424 4.09 Other Caretaker Male 942 2.71 Grandparent Female 666 1.91 Other Relative Female 405 1.16 Daycare facility/plan Female 397 1.14 Other Relative Male 366 1.05 Other Caretaker Female 231 0.66 Grandparent Male 228 0.66 Step Parent Female 204 0.59 Adoptive Parent Male 109 0.31 Adoptive Parent Female 108 0.31 Step Grand Parent Male 97 0.28 Foster Parent Female 96 0.28 Institution Male 90 0.26 Foster Parent Male 43  0.12 Institution Female 43 0.12 Daycare facility/plan Male 35 0.10 Step Grand Parent Female 15 0.04

Nagi, Saad (1977)  53.1% of perpetrators were female, 21% male and 22.6% both.

Mississippi Family Council (1997)   Child abuse/neglect. Substantiated cases of child sexual abuse have increased over 40% since 1985, to 804 cases in 1995. Substantiated cases of neglect for 1995 were identical to the number in 1985, and in fact were 28% lower than the peak of neglect cases in 1987. Overall, seven out of every 1,000 children in Mississippi suffered proven cases of abuse or neglect, less than half the national rate of 16 per 1,000.   Parental abuse of children under 10 years old is up to 40 times more likely with a stepparent in the home than with two biological parents, and non-parental abuse is 5 times as likely in a single-parent home as in a two-parent home, with most of  that abuse committed by the mother's boyfriend. In 1995 4,689 cases were proven; 13,151 unproven or open to the total of 17,840 cases investigated. Analysis: The signal indicator of our cultural decline is the rise in the number of single-parent families. More and more studies are showing that virtually every social ill is directly related to fatherless families. In Mississippi, such households are 3½ times as common as they were in 1960.   Nationally, 70% of juvenile offenders in long-term correctional facilities grew up without a father in the household. Children from single-parent homes are two to three times as likely as children in two-parent families to have emotional and behavioral problems. In addition, they are more likely to drop out of high school, become pregnant as teenagers, abuse drugs, and become entangled with the law.

Hodgins, Sheila and Dube, Myriam (1995)in: Lethal Violence [Against Children in Quebec]: Proceedings of the 1995 Meeting of the Homicide Research Working Group. National Institute of Justice.    The cohort included all parents who killed their own children (newborn to age 18) in Quebec from 1986 through June 1994. 69 parents killed 99 children, an annual average rate of 11.7 children. 67 of the 69 were biological parents, two were companions of the parents. 36 (52.17%) of the offenders were female. Two thirds of the victims were six years old or younger. 42 were girls and 57 were boys. At the time of the homicide 28 of the offenders committed suicide and another 9 unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide, and eight of the other parents were killed by the offenders. 11 of the offenders had a prior history of mental illness. Six of the offenders had a prior criminal record. The data suggests that 54% of the offenders were seriously depressed at the time of the homicide.

Health and Welfare Canada (1986) In a study by Bell: The perpetrator of child abuse was the mother in 38.7%, the father in 18.4% of cases.  Greenland, Cyril (1986) analyzed 100 child abuse and neglect deaths in Ontario, from 1973 to 1982. He found that natural parents were the perpetrators in 63% of cases. Mothers in 38%, fathers in 13% and both in 12% of cases.

Gordon, Michael and Creighton, Susan (1988) Natal and Non-natal Fathers as Sexual Abusers in the United Kingdom, A Comparative Analysis,  [in: Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50 (February 1988): 99-105] Of the 198 reported cases of paternal child abuse in England between 1983 and 1985, in roughly 46% of the cases the offenders were step-fathers and 54% were natural fathers, even though only 4.6% of all children were living with a step-father and 63% of all children were living with both biological parents.

Fedorowycz, Orest, (Homicide Survey, Statistics Canada) (1999) Homicide in Canada, 1997,  gives the "accused-victim relationship" on page 9 as: father, 37, without further explanation. It also states, in the table, and confirms in the text on the same page, that the number of mothers is 25.  Family Violence in Canada: a Statistical Profile, 1999," issued by the Centre for Justice Statistics: p. 39, table 5.5: Solved homicides of victims under age of 18 by accused-victim relationship, 1997: father 37, mother 25. Text: The number of accused fathers increased ... to 37 in 1997.   In a private letter to the compiler, Mr. Fedorowycz gave the following statistics: Father: 24 Mother: 23 Total: 47. There were 3 step-fathers and 1 step mother. In 10 incidents (41.7%) the accused father committed suicide. As the total number of children killed was 62, the number of accused mothers would be 25, as is stated in the Homicide Survey. This figure is not disputed by Mr. Fedorowycz.

See also Family Violence in Canada: The reliability of StatCan's data — Errors in homicide survey

Family Court Reporter Survey 1982 - 88 for England and Wales   A seminal British study confirms that a child is safest when his biological parents are married and least safe when his mother is cohabiting with a man other than her husband. The same report presents concrete evidence that children are between 20 to 33 times safer living with their married, biological parents than in any other family configuration. The rate of abuse is 33 times higher if a child is living with a mother who is cohabiting with another man.

Dawson, J., & Langan, P. (1994) Murder in Families, Bureau of Justice Special Report.  Washington, DC, Justice, NCJ-143498. 55% of convicted child murderers are the biological mothers of the victims.  Biological, married fathers of children account for about 6% of convicted murderers of children

Daly, M. & Wilson, M. (1988) Parent-Offspring Homicides in Canada, 1974-1983  [In: Science v. 242, pp. 519-524, 1988 ]  54% of parent-child murders where the child is under 17 were committed by the mother in Canada between 1974 and 1983.

Daly, M. and Wilson, M. (1987) Risk of Maltreatment of Children Living With Stepparents,  in Richard J. Gelles and Jane B. Lancaster, Child Abuse and Neglect: Biosocial Dimensions (New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1987), pp. 215-232. Preschoolers in Hamilton, Ontario, living with one biological and one stepparent in 1983 were 40 times more likely to be victims of child abuse as like-aged children living with two biological parents. Children two years and younger are seventy to a hundred times more likely to be killed at the hands of stepparents than at the hands of biological parents

Cairns, James, Deputy Chief Coroner for the province of Ontario. Mothers murdered their children more often than fathers, 52% vs. 48%  [It should be obvious by now.  It must always be kept in mind that whenever the disparity in the proportion of being perpetrators between mothers and fathers appears to be slight, "father" is a euphemism for any man living with the mother. —WHS]

Benedict et al (1985)   Mothers were identified in 38.7% of cases as the abuser and fathers 18.4% rising to 31% where cohabitation i.e. boyfriends or stepfathers were involved.

Alberta Family and Social Service Office for the Prevention of Family Violence (print date: 13/03/1998) Statistical summary provincial total - shelter & satellite 01/01/1997 to 31/12/1997.  Abused by mother: 300 (4.8%), by father 226 (3.7%).

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1996) Child Maltreatment. Reports from the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System  (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1998).  Seventy-seven percent of perpetrators of child maltreatment were parents, and an additional 11 percent were other relatives of the victim.  It is estimated that over 80 percent of all perpetrators were under age 40 and that almost two-thirds were females.

U.S. Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics (2000). Homicide Trends. Infanticide Based on FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1976-98.  Of all children under age 5 murdered from 1976-98. 3,963 (31%) were killed by mothers; 3,990 (31%) were killed by fathers. Note: Parents includes stepparents.

U.S. Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics Murder in Families, CJ143498.1 Data provided by the Child Protective Service agencies.  Parents responsible:  Virginia (67% mothers, 33% fathers);  New Jersey (70% mothers, 30% fathers); Texas (68% mothers, 32% fathers); and  Minnesota (62% mothers, 38% fathers); and  Alaska (67% mothers, 33% fathers).

Children Witnessing Violence.

Walker (1984)  In her study of over 400 battered wives, 29% of the wives and 35% of the battering husbands had witnessed their mother inflicting violence upon their father during childhood. [It appears that the study, not to surprisingly, since it is feminist-originated and only investigated men as perpetrators and women as victims (feminists hold that men never can be victims), doesn't identify the corresponding statistic: How many of the battered husbands and how many of the battering wives witnessed their father inflicting violence upon their mother during childhood.  However, the study by Reena Sommer, identified just below, shows just that. —WHS]

Sommer, R. (1994)  Male and female partner abuse: Testing a diathesis-stress model.  (Unpublished.  [The full text of the thesis is accessible.]) 34.78% of men and 40.91% of women reported observing their mothers hitting their fathers. [and 30.95% of men  and 38.64% of women reported having observed their fathers hitting their mothers. The second statistic shown above (in italics) and the following excerpts from Dr, Reena Sommer's study report were not contained in Mrs. Sodhi's letter. —WHS        Among those who reported to have perpetrated partner abuse at some  point during their relationships, 34.78 percent of males and 40.91 percent of females reported having observed their mothers hitting their fathers.  On the other hand, 30.95 percent of "ever" abusive males and 38.64 percent of "ever" abusive females reported having observed their fathers hitting their mothers.  Mutual violence was reported by 37.50 percent of "ever" abusive males and 35.71 percent of "ever" abusive females.  None of these findings were significant with respect to gender.... (Source location) ...the highest rates of current perpetrated partner abuse among females were found among those who consumed high levels of alcohol and who had high scores on the neuroticism index, the interactions involving past perpetrated partner abuse and observing mother hitting father presented somewhat different relationships.  Where females had neither perpetrated partner abuse in the past nor observed their mothers hitting their fathers, rates of current perpetrated partner abuse were very low regardless of the amount of alcohol consumed.  However, when there was a history of past perpetrated partner abuse or exposure to mother's violence, the highest rates of current perpetrated partner abuse were found among abstainers as well as high alcohol consumers... (Source location) ...females who observed their mothers hitting their fathers have odds of perpetrating current partner abuse that are 12.514 times the odds of those who did not, other factors held constant,... (Source location) ...males who observed their fathers hitting their mothers have odds of perpetrating current partner abuse that are 4.569 times the odds of those who did not, other factors held constant,... (Source location)

Marshall & Rose (1988)   surveyed a sample of 330 undergraduate witnesses and victims of violence in childhood using a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale. 40% reported that they saw their fathers hit their mothers, 40.6% reported seeing mothers hit fathers.

 

Mrs. Sodhi continued in her letter:

All the literature that is issued or promoted by the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence fit the category of gender bias, and therefore are a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They even contradict the Convention on the Elimination of All Violence Against Women (CEDAW), as that particular document forbids reverse discrimination.

The recent human rights ruling in Alberta can, and will, be applied to the National Clearinghouse publications, including the paper on battered husbands by Leslie Tutty, which is written from a feminist perspective and is totally lacking any references to responsible, bi-directional data. That is a flagrant misuse of taxpayers' money, masquerading as "research".

For contrast see:

a) Kwong, Bartholomew, & Dutton. (1999). "Gender Differences in Patterns of Relationship Violence in Alberta". Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, Vol. 31, No. 3, July 1999. pp. 150-160)

Gender differences in patterns of relationship violence were investigated in a representative sample of adult men (N=356) and women (N=351).

Results

1. Gender agreement on one year prevalence rates

The proportions of male respondents who reported overall, minor, and severe husband to wife violence were 12.3%, 12.1%, and 4.8%. The proportions of female respondents who reported overall, minor, and severe wife to husband violence were 12.5%, 11.9% and 4.5%. Men reported receiving significantly more severe violence than they perpetrated (z=2.2, p<.05). Female reports show that women reported receiving lower level of violence than they perpetrated for all three indices. (z=2.2, p <.05) (p 153-4)

Gender agreement on frequency of violence:

Descriptive analyses were conducted to examine the proportions of respondents who reported experiencing one of three levels of violence: low (1-4 incidents in one year), moderate (5-20 incidents) and high (more than 20 incidents). The majority of perpetrators (male report: 85%; female report: 69%) and victims (male report 77%; female report: 79%) of violence reported relatively low levels of violence. Few perpetrators (male report: 4%; female report: 9%) and victims (Male report: 5%; female report: 12%) reported high levels of violence. There were no significant gender differences in violence levels reported by either perpetrators or victims. (p. 154-5)

2. Bidirectionality of violence:

Of those women who reported any violence in the past 12 months (received and/or inflicted), 52% reported violence from both partners, 35% reported female only violence, and 13% reported male only violence. Of the men who reported any violence in the past 12 months (received and/or inflicted), 62% reported that both partners were violent, 18% reported female only violence, and 20% reported male only violence. (p. 155)

3. Initiation of violence:

Male and female respondents, who had reported any violence within their relationship, were asked who had initiated the physical conflict during the most serious incident that occurred in the prior Year. Of the men reporting violence, 49% identified themselves as the initiator, 35% identified their partners, and 14% identified both partners. Of the women reporting violence, 67% identified themselves as the initiator, 27% identified their partner, and 6% reported that both had initiated the conflict.

4. Consequences of violence:

Of the 19 women who were asked about the consequences of a physical fight with their partner, only three reported that they had experienced any of the three consequences assessed in the survey (serious injury, need for medical attention, and time off work) No men reported experiencing any of these consequences. A more in-depth analysis indicated that women who reported suffering serious consequences from violence also reported experiencing the highest frequencies of abuse, both as perpetrators and victims..it is critical not to interpret reports of the existence of the bi-directional violence as indicating equivalence in the severity or nature of violence experienced

Consistent with prior research (More, 1995, Stets & Straus, 1990), measures of the context of violence experienced by these men and women was bi-directional. Sixty-two percent of men and 52% of women who reported violence indicated that it was perpetuated by both partners. (p. 156)

Gender patterns in violence reports:

A smaller proportion of women reported male only violence (13%) compared to female only violence (35%0, and fewer women reported male initiation of violence (26%) than female initiation of violence (67%). At the very least, this data suggests that not all of women's violence within intimate relationships can be interpreted as self-defensive. (p. 157)

Patterns of relationship violence:

Only 3 of the 52 women who reported receiving any violence in the year prior to the survey fit the batterer/victim pattern of clearly asymmetrical violence. The majority of violence reported by respondents was equally perpetrated by men and by women, relatively minor and infrequent, and did not result in serious injury. (p. 157)

Conclusions:

Consistent with research outside Canada, men and women reported similar rates of violence perpetration and victimization. And, while more comprehensive study is needed, it appears that a substantial proportion of women's violence cannot be explained as acts of self-defense. (p. 158)

Furthermore, the failure to acknowledge the possibility of women's violence, in the face of sound research evidence, jeopardizes the credibility of all theory and research directed toward ending violence against women. It also does an injustice to men who are victims of female violence and to women who need help in learning more constructive strategies to deal with the inevitable conflicts and frustrations that arise in intimate relationships. (p. 159)

Furthermore, the failure to acknowledge the possibility of women's violence, in the face of sound research evidence, jeopardizes the credibility of all theory and research directed toward ending violence against women. It also does an injustice to men who are victims of female violence and to women who need help in learning more constructive strategies to deal with the inevitable conflicts and frustrations that arise in intimate relationships. (p. 159)

b) Assessing Risk for Domestic Violence Donald G. Dutton* University of British Columbia P. Randall Kropp British Columbia Forensic Psychiatric Services

Dutton & Kerry (1999) found that spousal homicide perpetrators were more likely to be "over-controlled" dependent men than psychopathic or borderline men.

c) Domestic Violence: Findings from a new British Crime Survey self-completion questionnaire. -- by Catriola Mirrlees-Black (Home Office Research Study 191); A Research, Development and Statistics Directorate Report

Table 2.2 Prevalence of domestic victimisation: comparison of BCS estimates   Women 16-59 Men 16-59   1992 BCS % 1996 BCS (Victim forms)3 % 1996 BCS (CASI)4 % 1996 BCS (Victim forms)3 % 1996 BCS (CASI)4 % Life-time assault 13.6 na 22.7 na 14.9 Life-time injury assault 3.6 na na na na Last-year assault na 1.3 4.2 0.4 4.2 Last-year injury assault na 1.0 2.2 0.2 1.1 Last-year assault or threat na 1.7 5.9 0.5 4.9 Note: Source: 1992 and 1996 British Crime Survey core samples. Base for estimates are: 1992 - women aged 16 to 59 who had lived with a partner at some time (83% of all) (sample = 1560). 1996 victim form - all 16- to 59-year-olds (sample= 6098 women and 5146 men). 1996 CASI -men/women aged 16 to 59 who have ever been married, had a partner, or a boy/girl-friend and who accepted the questionnaire (97% of all). The victim form measure is of violence committed by a current or former partner against 16- to 59-year-olds only.  This is narrower than the definition in Mirrlees-Black et al (1996) which covered all adults aged 16 and over and additionally included violence committed by other household members and all relatives. Computer-Assisted Self-Interviewing (CASI)

As is evident, neither gender has a monopoly on violence or on innocence.

There is a common thread of gender bias running through all the publications by the Clearinghouse, suffice it to mention one series: Discussion papers on health/family violence, issued by the Health Prevention and Programs Branch, Family Violence Prevention Division, National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, Health Canada. Such unwarranted bias can only increase the prospects of future violence. The documents in the series present an one sided analysis of violence.

There are few things that are more damaging than half truths which are presented as if they were absolutes. Rather than presenting accurate findings about incidents of violence, the writers to the Clearinghouse emphasize women's perception of it. Women are taught to view their perceptions in a social, rather than personal context. The social context being that men, on the whole, are the perpetrators and women always are the helpless victims. This is advocating collective guilt rather than personal responsibility, an approach that is antithetical to democracy. Women's personal histories become intertwined with those of other women, and in the final analysis fiction becomes fact. The advocates in women's shelters and transition houses impress on women that they have personally been assaulted, or that they should be afraid of being assaulted, in a fashion that is common to all "victims" ("victim" always meaning female) of domestic violence. The results are often tragic as entire families, often spanning three generations, are destroyed.

As the Clearinghouse is financed by the Canadian taxpayers, it is the absolute duty of that agency to provide the Canadian public with responsible and accurate data.  There is no place for government funded propaganda and advocacy in a democracy.

Sincerely,

Eeva Sodhi

RR 1 McDonald's Corners   Ontario, K0G 1M0

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See also Eeva Sohi's annotated bibliography on Family Violence references.

__________________
Posted 2000 06 25
Updates:
2000 06 28 (to cover the data from the OIS in greater detail)
2000 07 13 (to insert link to FV bibliography in MS Word format)
2001 03 26 (format changes)