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Gender as a factor in the Family Violence Courts
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Gender as a factor in the Family Violence Courts
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From: R&E Sodhi
To: thedaily@statcan.ca
Cc: letters@nationalpost.com ; Fellegi, Ivan P. - CS/SC ; Orest-
Fedorowycz ; Anne McLellan
Sent: November 30, 2000 1:02 PM
Subject: Criminal harassment (Nov. 29, 2000)
Though your statistics are about
incidents reported to the police, you use the definite term
"victims" and "incidents", rather than "alleged
..." Furthermore, there usually are several incidents concerning
same participants.
-
Although this sample of police forces is not nationally
representative, it does deal with 41% of the annual national volume of
crime. [That is, allegations.WHS]
-
In 1999, females
accounted for three-quarters of all victims of criminal
harassment. Most victims of
criminal harassment know their accused and, in many instances,
the stalker and victim
were involved in a previous relationship. Slightly more than half of
all female victims were stalked
by a current or former partner. A further 25%
were stalked by a casual
acquaintance.
I have not seen the full report. There are no reliable statistics
available, but it is reported that as many as 99% of the allegations filed
during divorce and custody proceedings are false.
Most incidents filed are repeat allegations against same alleged offenders
and therefore do not provide us with any understanding about the number of
persons involved. Thousands of Canadian men are the target of tens of
accusations by the same person, all false. Defending against those
allegations often decimates entire families. Yet, there are no
consequences to the person who files those reports. On the contrary, she
will enjoy the full rewards of support payments and sole custody, just
like thousands of others in a similar situation.
Dept. of Justice Canada:
-
"Since the introduction of section 264 in 1993, the number
of reported incidents of criminal harassment has increased from 1,647 in
1994 to 2,482 in 1997. Such an increase is not uncommon following the
introduction of a new law. It is difficult to assess, however, whether
the rise is due to an increase in the number of criminal harassment
incidents, increased reporting by victims, or a change in how police
record such incidents.
-
58% of cases were stayed or withdrawn; approximately 17%
of all cases went to trial
-
25% of all accused pleaded guilty
-
10% were found guilty
-
7% were found not guilty"
[Source:
GUIDELINES FOR CROWN PROSECUTORS]
My note: The 25% who pleaded guilty in the first instant may, or may
not, be guilty (see the process at the FV courts below).
More from Dept. of Justice:
THE LAW
3.1 Prohibition of Criminal Harassment
"As outlined in, the criminal harassment provisions have only been in
force since 1993. A significant factor in the swift enactment of section
264 was the increasing concern amongst criminal justice personnel that
existing Criminal Code provisions did not adequately capture "stalking"
conduct which was emerging as a new form of violence against women."
[My note: If we look at the statistics, a better way to put it would
be "a new form of filing false allegations."]
"The need for the criminal law to evolve and address new forms of
criminal conduct such as criminal harassment was expressly recognized by
Madame Justice L"Heureux-Dubé in R. v. Hinchey (1996), 142 D.L.R. (4th)
50 at 66: "The notion of criminality, thus, is not a static one, but one
which very much changes over time. As society changes, the conception
of what types of conduct can properly be considered criminal evolves.
There are a myriad of different activities which at one point in time
were considered legal, but which we now consider criminal. The offence
of criminal harassment is one obvious example. For many years, it was
not recognized as criminal to persistently follow someone and cause them
to fear for their safety, so long as no contact was made. Now, that has
distinctly changed with the addition of s. 264 of the Code, which makes
this conduct a crime."
Once again, the famous "fear" has become the all encompassing term. Who
is able to say if it is real or feigned. If it is real, is it irrational,
or caused because of some action by the one to profess it? Thus a woman
only needs to utter: "I was afraid" and the man is behind the bars. A
man's fear for losing everything that he owns, including his children and
his freedom, never enters the equation. Men are ready to plead guilty in
order to be found not guilty, as dictated by the advocates who run the FV
courts.
3.4.5 Reasonableness of Fear
The victim must reasonably, in all of the circumstances, fear for
her/his safety or that of someone known to her/him.
In determining the reasonableness of the victim's fear, all of the
evidence must be taken into account including: "the gender of the
victim and the story and circumstances surrounding the relationship
which existed or which had existed, if any, between the accused and the
victim. As per Lavallee, it is legitimate to take gender into account
due to the differences which recognizably exist between the size, the
strength, and the socialization of women when compared to their male
counterparts.
See also R. v. Sousa, [1995] O.J. No. 1435 (Ont. Ct. (Gen. Div.))
wherein Cusinato, J. held that in assessing the reasonableness of the
victim's fear, consideration may be given to the victim's sex, race
and age, but section 264 did not require that the victim have knowledge of
what the defendant is capable.
The Department of Justice Canadas research found:
The most current Statistics Canada police and court data for 1997
relating to criminal harassment reveals that:
The vast majority of simple obsessional stalkers are not mentally ill.
Many have long-standing personality disorders. Department of Justice
Canada research found that of 601 cases examined, 91% of the
accused were male and 88% of the victims were female. Analysis of
the accused/victim relationship showed that a large proportion of
female victims were stalked by an ex-husband or ex-boyfriend. In many
respects, intimate partner stalking is an extension of domestic
violence. [See their other statistics below. Also, once more, an
accusation does not make a finding.]
In the same paper, we have the following data:
-
8 out of 10 victims were female (79%)
-
9 out of 10 accused were male (88%)
-
67% of victims were criminally harassed by a current or
former intimate partner or close male friend
-
43% of male victims were criminally harassed by a casual
acquaintance, almost half of whom were male [which means that more
than half of them were stalked by females WHS]; only 13% were
stalked by a former spouse or girlfriend [see the neat little
'only']
-
59% of all incidents occurred at the victim's home
although victims almost always suffered emotional harm, physical
injury was recorded by the police in less than 1% of all cases [no
mention who was injured and what was the cause for injury]
-
21% of all criminal harassment incidents involved other
offences: physical assault (16% of all related offences); property
offences (21%); breach of probation (7%); and bail violations (6%)."
[Source:
CRIMINAL HARASSMENT: A HANDBOOK FOR POLICE AND CROWN
PROSECUTORS]
Gender as a factor in the Domestic Violence Courts:
Domestic Violence Courts Project, By: Vivian Green, Metro Woman Abuse
Council [as published in the EWA Newsletter V.8 #1 Spring 1997: The
Impact of Funding Cutbacks
on assaulted Women]
North York Family Violence Court.
The project targets first time offenders where there is no
significant /visible injury to the person abused. [my note: if no
signs of abuse, the term should be allegedly]
Cases are screened by the Crown Attorneys, who identify those eligible
for the Pilot court. Women victims are given information cards by
the police which urge the woman to contact the Victim Witness Assistance
Program at the Courthouse. Cases are then also screened through the
victim witness co-ordinator's individual contact with victims. These
identified cases are directed to attend the specialized court.
At the court, a group of both the men and their partners are introduced
to the project. The women then go to a different room as a group, and
meet with a Crown Attorney. There is group discussion and, most
importantly, each woman has an opportunity to talk about what she
wants out of the court process.
If an individual before the court on abuse charges agrees to
plead guilty, and assuming his partner is agreeable, the
court will accept the guilty plea. His plea will be
entered and he will get a series of court orders from the
judge. The orders will be Bail Conditions which will include mandated
attendance at an intervention program for batterers. His
Bail orders will also be changed to allow him to reside
with his partner. It is specified that if his partner
feels threatened or afraid she should contact Police
immediately and the Bail condition can be changed to get him
out of the house. [i.e. no abuse, only an allegation that the woman
feels afraid or threatened can get a man evicted from his home]
While the women are speaking with the Crown Attorney and Victim Witness
Co-ordinator, the men have the opportunity [if there
ever was an oxymoron, that is one!] to meet with the centralized
intake staff person, provided by the Metro Woman Abuse Council, who is
responsible for assigning individuals to the intervention
programs. As the men meet with the centralized Intake
staff they begin to decide if they will plead guilty and if so, they are
assigned to an appropriate agency. Currently, there are ten community
agencies providing intervention programs that men may be
referred to, including a range of ethno-specific agencies with various
language and ethno-cultural capabilities.
Once all of the women have had an opportunity to identify what
they want, the full court reconvenes. At this point those
charged who are willing to plead guilty and enter the program appear
before the judge and are mandated to attend the already identified
intervention program.
The offender is then given new bail conditions which cite
that he is expected to attend the full program of sixteen
weeks. During this time, the partner will be contacted at least four
times by the community agency to monitor her safety and to
offer her support and services. While the offender
is on extended bail and mandated into the intervention program, any
threats to the partner's safety, and/or breaches of the bail conditions,
are reported by intervention program staff and handled by the local
police.
At the conclusion of the intervention program, assuming that all has
gone smoothly, with no risk or threat to the woman, the
offender will reappear before the specialized court and he
will receive his final sentence. The final disposition
will be a conditional discharge with one year probation.
All interventions programs must regard the safety and protection of
potential [my emphasis] victims as the highest
priority. Towards this end, all intervention programs must ensure that
women partners are made aware of advocacy services
[my emphasis] through community/education outreach strategy.
The victim never causes the violence. A man's violence [my
emphasis] is a matter of personal choice. Intervention strategies
with men who abuse should focus on the abusive behaviour,
not on other family or relationship issues.
In working with men who abuse, the physical safety and
psychological, emotional well being of potential [my
emphasis] victims must take priority over the abuser's right to
confidentiality [note the definitive "Abuser". There can not be
an abuser if the victim is only "potential"].
Intervention strategies for men who abuse should undertake
ongoing evaluation of program effectiveness, given that ineffective
intervention may do more harm than good and jeopardize the safety of
women.
Intervention programs must be an active participants within a
community-wide response, and must not operate independently.
The creation of two specialized domestic violence courts in Toronto
provided the opportunity to have batterer programs that strictly adhere
to the standards and guidelines.
After much negotiation, the Council agreed to administer a coordinated
batterer's program. Agencies interested in providing batterer's programs
could apply to be on a roster of agencies that would receive referrals
of men from the Domestic Violence Courts. A group with
representatives from women's advocacy services and
prevention programs interviewed prospective programs and identified ten
agencies that met the criteria of the accountability standards and
guidelines to participate on the roster. Using the standards as a
guideline, the agencies provide culturally based programs, while
maintaining a common criteria and accountability process. This group of
agencies is actively involved in ongoing collaborative monitoring,
review and tracking of offenders. Extensive work is done with other
sectors, such as probation, to ensure an effective and safe response to
women who are being abused.
This system has been in place now for more than a year. In that time,
over 250 offenders have attended programs at the ten agencies. There
seem to be successes in the system, as well as areas for continued
refinement and change. Perhaps the most important move is our continued
work to ensure that the purpose and goal of the program is to provide
safety for women. We are becoming clearer that while these
programs can teach men that there will be serious
consequences for their behaviour, but it takes a lifetime to change
values. [Heck, it took the Nazis only about 20 years to change
values. WHS]
We need to seriously reflect on how to continue to monitor behaviour and
demonstrate the community will, indeed, hold men
accountable for their abusive behaviour. But we must also continue to
find ways to reach out to women victims in order to
provide support and resources to them such that they can have a real
choice in creating a violence free life for themselves and their
children.
Statistics Canada would best serve the Canadian people if
it made an effort to compile statistics of the real crime, namely of false
allegations. Police reports are only reports, they do not make a finding
of actual facts. It is totally immoral, if not actually criminal, to
disseminate information based on alleged incidents, not substantiated
cases. Though I have read the reference to the tragic case of Gillian and
Ralph Hadley as an example of fatal stalking, the court documents on that
case would make one believe that the real reason for the tragic outcome
was false allegations.
P.S. (not in the original letter)
Manitoba: Woman pleads guilty to beating former
husband
National Post
WINNIPEG - A 35-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to beating her
former common-law husband, who fled by leaping out a third-floor
hotel window and landing on a parked car last January. Katyna King
continued to attack the much smaller victim outside. He suffered a
broken leg. She was given a sentence of time spent in custody. |
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The following was provided by me, not by Eeva Sodhi. WHS |
Race as a factor in the People's Courts:
People's Courts Project, By: Karin Himmler, Metro Aryan Abuse
Council [as published in the AA Newsletter V.8 #1 Spring 1997: The
Impact of Funding Cutbacks on assaulted Aryans]
Dachau Racial Violence Court.
The project targets first time Jewish offenders where there is no
significant /visible injury to the Aryan person abused.
Cases are screened by the State Attorneys, who identify those
eligible for the Pilot court. Aryan victims are given information
cards by the police which urge the Aryans to contact the Aryan
Victim Witness Assistance Program at the Courthouse. Cases are
then also screened through the Aryan victim witness co-ordinator's
individual contact with Aryan victims. These identified cases are
directed to attend the specialized court.
At the court, a group of both the Jews and their Aryan partners
are introduced to the project. The Aryans then go to a different
room as a group, and meet with a State Attorney. There is group
discussion and, most importantly, each Aryan has an opportunity to
talk about what she wants out of the court process.
If an individual Jew before the court on abuse charges agrees to
plead guilty, and assuming his Aryan partner is agreeable, the
court will accept the guilty plea. His plea will be entered and he
will get a series of court orders from the judge. The orders will
be Bail Conditions which will include mandated attendance at an
intervention program for Jewish batterers. His Bail orders will
also be changed to allow him to reside with his Aryan partner. It
is specified that if his Aryan partner feels threatened or afraid
she should contact Police immediately and the Bail condition can
be changed to get the Jew out of the house. [i.e. no abuse, only
an allegation that the Aryan feels afraid or threatened can get a
Jew evicted from his home]
While the Aryans are speaking with the State Attorney and Aryan
Victim Witness Co-ordinator, the Jews have the opportunity [if
there ever was an oxymoron, that is one!] to meet with the
centralized intake staff person, provided by the Metro Aryan Abuse
Council, who is responsible for assigning individual Jews to the
intervention programs. As the Jews meet with the centralized
Intake staff they begin to decide if they will plead guilty and if
so, they are assigned to an appropriate agency. Currently, there
are ten community agencies providing intervention programs that
Jews may be referred to, including a range of ethno-specific
agencies with various language and ethno-cultural capabilities.
Once all of the Aryans have had an opportunity to identify what
they want, the full court reconvenes. At this point those Jews
charged who are willing to plead guilty and enter the program
appear before the judge and are mandated to attend the already
identified intervention program.
The Jewish offender is then given new bail conditions which cite
that he is expected to attend the full program of sixteen weeks.
During this time, the Aryan partner will be contacted at least
four times by the community agency to monitor her safety and to
offer her support and services. While the Jewish offender is on
extended bail and mandated into the intervention program, any
threats to the Aryan partner's safety, and/or breaches of the bail
conditions, are reported by intervention program staff and handled
by the local police.
At the conclusion of the intervention program, assuming that all
has gone smoothly, with no risk or threat to the Aryan, the Jewish
offender will reappear before the specialized court and he will
receive his final sentence. The final disposition will be a
conditional discharge with one year probation.
All interventions programs must regard the safety and protection
of potential Aryan victims as the highest priority. Towards this
end, all intervention programs must ensure that Aryan partners are
made aware of advocacy services through community/education
outreach strategy.
The Aryan victim never causes the violence. A Jew's violence is a
matter of personal choice. Intervention strategies with Jews who
abuse should focus on the abusive behaviour, not on other family
or relationship issues.
In working with Jews who abuse, the physical safety and
psychological, emotional well being of potential Aryan victims
must take priority over the Jewish abuser's right to
confidentiality [note the definitive "Abuser". There can not be an
abuser if the victim is only "potential"].
Intervention strategies for Jews who abuse should undertake
ongoing evaluation of program effectiveness, given that
ineffective intervention may do more harm than good and jeopardize
the safety of Aryans.
Intervention programs must be an active participants within a
community-wide response, and must not operate independently.
The creation of two specialized racial violence courts in Berlin
provided the opportunity to have Jewish batterer programs that
strictly adhere to the standards and guidelines.
After much negotiation, the Council agreed to administer a
coordinated Jewish batterer's program. Agencies interested in
providing Jewish batterer's programs could apply to be on a roster
of agencies that would receive referrals of Jews from the People's
Courts. A group with representatives from Aryan's advocacy
services and prevention programs interviewed prospective programs
and identified ten agencies that met the criteria of the
accountability standards and guidelines to participate on the
roster. Using the standards as a guideline, the agencies provide
culturally based programs, while maintaining a common criteria and
accountability process. This group of agencies is actively
involved in ongoing collaborative monitoring, review and tracking
of Jewish offenders. Extensive work is done with other sectors,
such as probation, to ensure an effective and safe response to
Aryans who are being abused.
This system has been in place now for more than a year. In that
time, over 250 Jewish offenders have attended programs at the ten
agencies. There seem to be successes in the system, as well as
areas for continued refinement and change. Perhaps the most
important move is our continued work to ensure that the purpose
and goal of the program is to provide safety for Aryans. We are
becoming clearer that while these programs can teach Jews that
there will be serious consequences for their behaviour, but it
takes a lifetime to change values. [Heck, it took the Nazis only
about 20 years to change values. WHS]
We need to seriously reflect on how to continue to monitor
behaviour and demonstrate the community will, indeed, hold Jews
accountable for their abusive behaviour. But we must also continue
to find ways to reach out to Aryan victims in order to provide
support and resources to them such that they can have a real
choice in creating a violence-free life for themselves and their
children.
We may think that the Nazi's rule was the precipitating factor in
the persecution of the Jews, but that would be wrong. The program
of persecution was well laid out long before the Nazis came to
power, but the active persecution of Jews and the eventual final
solution weren't implemented until after their take-over of power.
Imagine what things will be like in Canada if things like those
described above were to be operational before the
redfems were to take over all power.
It'll never happen, you say? Sorry to disappoint you, but the
procedures outlined above are in place right now in Ontario Canada
and in other Canadian provinces.
The text shown above is a verbatim copy of an excerpt from an
official government-sponsored document: "Domestic Violence Courts
Project," By: Vivian Green, Metro Woman Abuse Council. It is the
subject of a discussion by Eeva Sodhi.
The only changes that were made to the quoted text shown above are
as follows:
- Man or men was changed to Jew or Jews.
- Woman or women was changed to Aryan or Aryans.
- Family Violence Court was changed to People's Court.
- Toronto was changed to Berlin.
- North York was changed to Dachau.
- Vivian Green got changed to Karin Himmler.
Now all you have to wait for is
the final solution.
Whether it is race or gender, if we treat one sector of the
population as perpetrators and the other as the victims, even though
they are equally likely to be either, then we face a massive problem
of discriminatory persecution of an identifiable sector of the
population. We then have a rampant abuse of the human rights of one
sector of the population. We then deal with an atrocious hate crime
that is promoted, implemented and perpetrated by our government.
That is what we have going in
Canada right now. We have a big problem, and it's
getting worse without the "Aryans" even having acquired absolute
power as of now. |
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From the Holocaust Museum |
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Will there be a Patricaust Museum? |
An average of 500,000 Jews lost their lives per each year of the
Nazi regime. |
It used to be:
Juden Rauss!
(Jews out!) |
World-wide, the annual number of male victims of fatal
discrimination is in the order of
4.4 million or higher. |
For more details see:
Now and Then A Comparison |
|
See also:
Feminism
For Male College Students — A Short Guide to the Truth, by Angry
Harry (Off-Site)
__________________
Posted 2000 12 01
Updates:
2001 03 26 (format changes)
2006 03 04 (added link to Feminism for Male College
Students) |
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