Female Shelter Workers Oppose Shelters For Men

This page was last updated on Friday, 07 November 2003

Last month, May 2003, a county coordinator for a rape crisis and domestic violence shelter and four staff members boycotted a meeting after making a pubic statement. The coordinator objected to a presentation that appeared in a segment of '20/20', a news program carried by the ABC television network. The subject of this broadcast is that some women beat men and she objected to this fact. She revealed her conceit when she said that the county undermines her work when the county's priorities "are not properly aligned with our center."

She said that we should not provide services for men because 85 to 90 percent of the victims, and maybe higher, are women. That 'statistic' is a lie. Yet many women's shelter groups spread their lies to raise funds and advance their corrupt cause - the subjugation of males and the destruction of families. These are the facts.

At least 41 percent of the victims of domestic violence are men but other studies and surveys show nearly 50 percent of the victims are men. A female spouse or partner who makes a false allegation of spousal abuse or domestic violence is extremely likely to achieve her desired result. Studies of trial verdicts show that at least 42 percent of allegations of spousal abuse against men are false. Some experts believe as much as 60 to 80 percent of such allegations are false especially within the context of divorce.

Of those parents who maltreat their children, 61.8 percent are biological mothers and 38.2 are biological fathers. Mothers are 2.6 times more likely than fathers to fatally neglect or fatally physically abuse their children. Children less than six years old make up 86.1 percent of the total maltreatment fatalities. Children less than one are at the greatest risk of fatal maltreatment. This group comprises 42.6 percent of the total maltreatment fatalities. After age two, the victims of fatal maltreatment are more often boys than girls. Government data shows that children are by far safer when they live with their father and another stable person than living with their mother.

Mothers are more likely than fathers to accuse the other parent of sexual abuse of a child. The 1991-1992 San Diego County Grand Jury reported: "There is no dispute within the Juvenile Dependency System that false allegations of sexual molest during custody disputes occur and that the system fails to deal with them properly.  There is, however, considerable dispute about how to handle these cases.  The Jury has found that a parent making a false allegation of abuse or molest during a custody dispute is very likely to achieve the desired result.  These accusations are made primarily to avoid visitation and joint custody provisions and the accuser frequently succeeds." According to a study conducted in one state, 75 percent of child abuse and child sexual molest allegations are false especially within the context of divorce. Several judges have cited higher percentages, as much as 90 percent.

The potential rewards for a female who makes a false allegation of spousal abuse, child abuse, or child molestation are enormous and the risks are minimal.  A man who is victimized by his spouse's or partner's deceit can lose his possessions, home, savings, contact with his children, and his job.

Many employers will not hire a person with an arrest record for a violent crime though a court found the person factually innocent. Some government agencies require that a person reveal arrests though the person is innocent and a court has sealed or destroyed the records.

Many men are suffering from physical and anxiety disorders resulting from actual abuse or false allegations of abuse. These disorders have disabled some men to the extent that they cannot work at all, or as they did before.  Prompt intervention can reduce or prevent these effects. This is why we should provide safe and supportive shelters for men and their children.