Men’s abuse advocate takes lack of Alberta resources for victims to Human Rights Commission
Earl Silverman says abuse by women deserves greater recognition
Earl Silverman, seen here with former Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, says he suffered physical abuse during marriage.
By Christopher Walsh, editor
The province has ignored male victims of domestic violence and does not provide adequate resources for men looking to escape violent domestic situations, says a men’s rights advocate who’s heading to court to fight the issue.
Earl Silverman, who first launched a complaint against the province with the Human Rights Commission back in 2006, will appear before a judge at a judicial review Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench to hear if his complaint will come before the commission.
“All I know is there are male victims of domestic violence,” said Silverman. “There are not the same support services available to men as there are for women.
“We have explored the needs of women for such a long time, at the expense of ignoring men. At what point do we say we can put that on hold and start looking at men now?”
Silverman himself is a male victim of female perpetrated domestic violence, finally forced to leave his wife 20 years ago to get away from the abuse. Since that time, Silverman has started a helpline for men because there were no similar resources at the time and a few years ago, he opened the Men’s Alternative Safe House or MASH, to give men a shelter to escape violent domestic situations. Neither operation has been recognized by the provincial government to date.
The issue of male victims of domestic violence is still one of those dirty, little secrets amongst polite society, Silverman says.
“Men are not really provided with an option of asking for help,” he said. “Number one, men are not victims. Victim is sort of reserved for women. I want men to be recognized …[The groups involved] don’t want to admit there’s a problem. ”
Andrea Silverstone, co-chair of the Calgary Domestic Violence Committee and director of Peer Support Services for Abused Women, says while recent Statistics Canada numbers show only a .4 per cent difference in the perpetration of domestic violence between men and women, the actual day-to-day dealing of male victims remains quite low.
“Probably about 92 to 93 per cent of my practice are women who have experienced domestic violence and about 7 to 8 per cent are men who have experienced domestic violence. It definitely is a stark contrast,” Silverstone said.
“I’m not saying it’s not an issue. It’s for sure an issue, it’s just not an issue to the same degree that women claim family violence is an issue, or there’s not the same amount of men who need those supports and resources. But I’m saying for the number of men who need those supports and resources, I think that there is adequate resources in Calgary.”
Aaron Korneychuk, the interim male domestic abuse coordinator with the Calgary Counselling Centre says from what he’s seen, 20 per cent of all domestic abuse cases the centre handles involve male victims.
“But that’s not including unreported cases that I think increases the numbers on both sides for male and female victims,” he said. “It’s a big enough issue that needs more attention brought to it.”
Korneychuk added part of the problem with male victims of domestic violence is the social stigma men feel for admitting they have been assaulted.
“A lot of people don’t come out and say I’m a male victim…. I do think that there are men out there who are in abusive situations and they’re not getting the services they need,” he said. “Whether that could be from shame, from guilt, from just not thinking that there’s any services out there. The more men that come forward, the more that we’re gonna be able to expand these services.”
A spokeswoman with Alberta Human Services would not comment on the upcoming court case, but says there are now services for men to access if they find themselves in violent domestic situations.
“We certainly believe they need to access services just the same as any other victim,” said Christina Bruce. “We need to be providing that support, absolutely. And we do have a number of [services].”
Those services include a provincially-mandated helpline for all victims of domestic violence, online and print resources and a family violence facility in Strathmore that does permit men to take a bed in the co-ed shelter.
Bruce says the province’s statistics show a “fairly close” rate of female to male perpetrators of domestic violence.
“It is an emerging issue for sure and something that’s coming to light,” she said.
“There’s a bed for men but that’s only if a woman isn’t using it,” Silverman said. “There aren’t the support services there that are available to women. They are putting the processes together according to their previous agenda which is only to support women.”
Silverman added he has not seen much movement by the province or local service groups to fully address the ‘emerging issue’ of male victims of domestic violence.
“If that was so, I would imagine that Alberta Children’s Services would, rather than go to the judicial review and argue against me, they would say OK we agree. I have not seen any movement on the issue.”
Silverman’s first complaint to the Alberta Human Rights Commission was rejected and his subsequent appeal to the commissioner was denied in a written response, stating there was no demonstrative need for more services for abused men.
The judicial review on Wednesday will examine the facts of the case and determine how the commission came to their conclusion to deny hearing Silverman’s complaint.
“There are services, but it’s nowhere near as comprehensive as what the women’s shelters provide women,” Silverman said. “They may have one or two services, but that is not demonstrative of what men’s needs are. They don’t know what men’s needs are.
“They say they have support services, which is different than treatment. Treatment typically is anger management. They need support, whatever that may look like. And that’s not available for them right now. Men do it in a different way than women do it but it’s been put together all by women.”
Category: Alberta
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Sites That Link to this Post
- Canada abuse by women deserves greater recognition | December 20, 2011
- NCFM Canadian Liaison Earl Silverman interviewed by the Calgary Beacon about abuse by women and lack of resources for abused men | NCFM, Australia | December 20, 2011
- NCFM Canadian Liaison Earl Silverman interviewed by the Calgary Beacon about abuse by women and lack of resources for abused men | NCFM, Australia | December 20, 2011
Never mind resources for men, there is no acknowledgement of the issue in the courts. There are people in the courts to help woman. Men have to figure it out for themselves. It took me over ten years to realize my wife was abusive. Now my 17 year old son that was given to her is dead. Too late my my knowledge to do any good.
“Andrea Silverstone, co-chair of the Calgary Domestic Violence Committee and director of Peer Support Services for Abused Women, says while recent Statistics Canada numbers show only a .4 per cent difference in the perpetration of domestic violence between men and women, the actual day-to-day dealing of male victims remains quite low.”
Funny how a woman, who makes their living off of the perception of women as victims of abuse, doesn’t really want to acknowledge male victims (meaning that, perhaps some of her victims are really reciprocal abusers working the system to gain advantage in their own abuse methods).
It should also be noted, she is using personal experience to dismiss male victims, but really, when your work at a WOMEN’s shelter, is it really a surprise to discover 92+% of respondents are women? If anything, the fact she works for an abused woman shelter, and still has managed 6-8% male clientele should actually telling about just how bad things are for male victims.
““I’m not saying it’s not an issue. It’s for sure an issue, it’s just not an issue to the same degree that women claim family violence is an issue, or there’s not the same amount of men who need those supports and resources.”
I don’t know of anybody who has claimed otherwise. The only people claiming their issue is more important is women’s advocates. But the fact is, the resources men have available don’t even match her measly 6-8% client breakdown, let alone what the statsCan numbers suggest, so regardless of which is more of an issue by degree, the resources available are currently entirely one sided, and being “more of en issue” does not mean getting sole access to resources.
“But I’m saying for the number of men who need those supports and resources, I think that there is adequate resources in Calgary”
Virtually no government funded resource available is deemed adequate? Seems to me you are trying to deny male victims by claiming understanding, then sweeping it under the rug in favour of her own bread and butter. As mentioned in the last paragraph, anger management is not a support program for male victims, even if it is a program for males (the way most shelters get away with claiming they offer programs for both men and woman).
The numbers are real and there is absolutely no support / safe house available for Male victims of domestic violence compared to the many facilities made available to women. I am a female trying to help an abused male (in GTA Ontario) and no one as yet has been able to provide me with a place he can go other than the soupkitchens for homeless – given the numbers in several studies that have been conducted this is deplorable. The male victim ends up returning to the house of abuse as there is nowhere for them to go to get help.
Thank you, Mr. Silverman, for what you’re doing.
Good blog! I truly love how it is simple on my eyes and the data are well written. I am wondering how I could be notified when a new post has been made. I’ve subscribed to your RSS feed which must do the trick! Have a great day!
It is just a tip of the iceberg. Radical feminists have been waging a war against men and breaking up families since the 1960′s through controlling domestic violence laws, insisting which statistics are used and being very politically active – usually without much opposition. Those that have opposed or questioned the bias have been bullied and accused of not caring about women and children and supporting violence. It is a reality that is here today in Calgary in 2012 and throughout the world in many countries. The extremists are writing the social policies with an agenda to destroy families. Crazy as that sounds, I believe that is what is happening after much study over the last two years.
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Hi can anyone help me. I am a victim of female on male domestic violence. I reported this woman twice I was treated poorly by the police. they refused to do nothing yet this lady was on probation at the time for assault. This woman threatened me constantly with death. I had to sleep in a locked room for fear of being stab this woman has been hospitalized many times for suicide. she would tell me I will stab you then kill myself. I explained this and was told by police they could do nothing. 3rd assault I didnt even call i’d either be arrested again or ridiculed.4th assault I asked her to leave she said fuck you I’m calling the cops your assaulting me. Well guess what she did. I was promptly arrested and now have an assault charge against me. No one would help no one cared now I’m threatened with jail time and the cost of a lawyer. I’m disabled from a stroke and dont have the money for this. It should’ve never got to this had the police done their job. This was blantant gender bias. I have no friends here and am so alone I’ve been kicked out of the place i live because of this. I have no money or help to do anything. so in 5 days I’ll be homeless. Please help me. I dont know where to turn anymore