The battered woman industry....
A great column by Barbara Kay in today's National Post....
This year, the Quebec Auditor-General's report focused an accusatory light on fiscal profligacy and lack of oversight in the women's abuse industry. Grants to abuse-related women's projects have soared from $30-million in 2002-2003 to $60-million in 2007-08. One six-bed shelter's grants in that period bounced from $58,832 to $406,817, even though the shelter only served nine women throughout 2006-07.
Almost half a million dollars to house nine women? Yet a bamboozled public believes thousands upon thousands of battered women are seeking refuge.
Reality just doesn't jibe with that picture. In 2004, the Yellow Brick House, an Aurora, Ont., shelter closed during a labour dispute. It emerged that of the eight women and three children residing there, only one woman was fleeing abuse. The others were homeless.
Exceptions, believers will say. Everyone "knows" violence against women is epidemic.
Really? Edmonton Police Service reports from 1999-2000 indicate the police responded to 3,000 domestic incidents. They referred exactly 24 women--less than 1% -- to shelters.
That 1% figure recurs again and again. The co-ordinator of Cornwall Commmunity Hospital's Assault and Sexual Abuse Program in Cornwall, Ont., claims that "17-30% of all women treated in hospital emergency departments are victims of domestic violence." Reality check: Her own hospital's screening for abuse of 157,000 in-patients turned up only 150 IPV-related injuries (both sexes).
posted by GayandRight @ 12:05 PM
6 Comments:
Wow. Are you for real? "battered woman industry"? How can you turn a serious problem like violence against women into this?.
What is your alternative? Tell me where should battered women turn to for support if they have no job? If they are trying to protect their children? If the can't tell their family?
Sure, make sure money is not being wasted but "battered woman industry?
Typical Conservative. Blame the victim.
You people are sick.
Sick ... hmmm ?
Anon ... perhaps you mean the Auditor-General is perverted because she had the temerity to question a 100% increase in spending of this "industry" which is not borne out by police statistics?
More like typical "lefty" ranting ... much like the arts funding that PM Harper wanted to reduce.
A key problem with the lucrative 'battered women' industry is that most of the money is going, not to the women who need the money to get their lives on track, but to the administrators of these programs.
The money goes to these administrators, their high wages, benefits, pensions and all sorts of other benefits, such as funding to conferences and such. Only a small amount gets to the women in need.
The irony over this Dion/Layton/Bloc coup by those upset Leftists that didn't win the last Election is that their Hatred for a Canada being ruled by Harper has blinded them from the male-hating feminists that rejoice every Dec 6th for what Gamil Gharbi did in Quebec in 1989.
Yes folks, the male-bashing CBC took a break this year because they were consumed with Hatred for the truth that Liberals Aren't the Party Of Canada entitled to reign forever and shell out Billions to the Artsy-fartsy losers via workfare to earn their hand-outs.
Hatred seems to unite some people and if you look at the Islamic followers in canada they too have found a common ground like the Palestinian excuse to rally and bash the jews and Israel.
BTW,I did some digging for the Spousel-Abuse Stats and I was shocked to see that the Same-Gender violence is included for female victims but by as for males, it only reports the male doing the abuse to the other male partner while ignoring the male victim.
Just grab a phonebook for Toronto and check out the same-gender support Shelters for abuse , then ask yourself why the Feminists and gay community keep allowing heterosexual males to be blamed for 99% of domestic violence.
True equality by EGALE should include taking the blame for some of the social ills or violence within that sector of Society , unless Homosexuals are saying that they are so weak and fragile that they need a special dispensation from several Criminal Laws because they have no self-control for violent acts created by rage.
I'm not surprised you are taking some criticism for questioning this industry.
For my part, I agree with you questioning the industry, but I think you go a bit overboard in language seeming to question the presence of abused women.
I am sure there are lots of abused women, most of them will not speak out, it being even harder if they have children with the abuser. Having places like shelters is part of a civilized country.
I would prefer these shelters to be charitable, rather than taxpayer-funded, but I'm not sure how realistic that is in a hugely socialistic country like Canada. And in the meantime, while wishing this to change, I'd rather we had taxpayer funded shelters than none at all.
If these shelters are lying about what they really are (e.g. Shleters for Homeless AND abused women), or if they are wasting money, we should demand accountability. We shouldn't be afraid to insist on tax-funded industries being efficient, not least to help those in need better.
And I'm male and Conservative BTW.
"The irony over this Dion/Layton/Bloc coup by those upset Leftists that didn't win the last Election is that their Hatred for a Canada being ruled by Harper has blinded them from the male-hating feminists that rejoice every Dec 6th for what Gamil Gharbi did in Quebec in 1989."
I don't get your point. How do "male-hating feminists" rejoice over the Ecole Polytechnique Massacre. That was a shocking and extreme act of women hating and it should be remembered every year- I dont know how you could make this into a political point. People certainly to do not rejoice and this was an extremely tramatic event for Canadians (esp women) in the late eighties.
And we should remember that Marc Lapine was a victim of male violence himself- his father physically abused him and his mother and left them eventually. It has been repeatedly shown that abused children are likely to become abusers themselves.
All men have a stake in combating male violence. Yes battered wives is a serious problem but the number one victim demographic of young male violence is other young men. I think this is largely because of socialital pressures for you men to be 'tough' and not to be a 'pussy' or a 'fag'.
Feminism was fairly successful at allowing women to step out of their rigid gender roles but unfortunately feminism still has to liberate men from a lot of their gender roles. Please see this video for more explanation- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3exzMPT4nGI
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