Mens Aid NI
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Equality
Search results:
Accommodation type: Any second stage, Any specialist, Domestic violence, Single parents; Accept or target:People with children; Area: Belfast, Derry, North Eastern, South Eastern, Southern, Western; Accept: Any agency, Self referral; Gender: Men only
Search results:
Accommodation type: Any second stage, Any specialist, Domestic violence, Single parents; Accept or target:People with children; Area: Belfast, Derry, North Eastern, South Eastern, Southern, Western; Accept: Any agency, Self referral; Gender: Will accept men
| Name | Type |
|---|---|
| FHA&SS - Shepherds View Young Parents Project Tel 028 7134 4309 Area(s): Derry | Medium support |
| SATH Tel 028 7138 3098 Area(s): Strabane | Medium support |
| SL-eight Project Tel 028 8225 9000 Area(s): Omagh | Medium support |
Equality??
Search results:
Accommodation type: Any second stage, Any specialist, Domestic violence; Accept or target: People with children; Area: Belfast, Derry, North Eastern, South Eastern, Southern, Western; Accept: Any agency, Self referral;Gender: Women only
| Name | Type |
|---|---|
| Belfast and Lisburn Women's Aid Tel 028 9066 6049 Area(s): Belfast, Lisburn | Domestic violence |
| Causeway Women's Aid Tel 028 7035 8999 Area(s): Coleraine | Domestic violence |
| Cithrah Foundation - Selah Accommodation Service Tel 028 9336 3188 Area(s): Carrickfergus | Domestic violence |
| Cookstown and Dungannon Women's Aid Tel 028 8676 9300 Area(s): Cookstown, Dungannon | Domestic violence |
| Craigavon and Banbridge Women's Aid Tel 028 3836 2777 or 028 3834 3256 Area(s): Banbridge, Craigavon | Domestic violence |
| Fermanagh Women's Aid Tel 028 6632 8898 Area(s): Fermanagh | Domestic violence |
| Foyle Women's Aid Tel 028 7134 4499 Area(s): Derry | Domestic violence |
| Life House - Belfast Tel 01926 421587 Area(s): Belfast | Single parents |
| Newry. Mourne, S. Down and S. Armagh Women's Aid Tel 028 3025 0765 Area(s): Newry & Mourne | Domestic violence |
| North Down and Ards Women's Aid Tel 028 9127 3196 Area(s): Ards, North Down | Domestic violence |
| Omagh Women's Aid Tel 028 8224 1414 Area(s): Omagh | Domestic violence |
| Sydenham House Tel 028 9065 6444 Area(s): Belfast | Domestic violence |
| Women's Aid ABCLN Tel 028 2563 2136 Area(s): Antrim, Ballymena, Carrickfergus, Larne, Newtownabbey | Domestic violence |
Sunday, 25 July 2010
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Fw: Response to your emails - male victims of domestic violence
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Friday, 16 July 2010
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Friday, 9 July 2010
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Accused told gardaĆ she helped bury husband
A murder trial has heard that a woman accused of murder told gardaĆ she saw her husband being killed, that she hit him herself, and she helped to bury him in a shallow grave.
Vera McGrath and her former son in law, Colin Pinder both deny the murder of Brian McGrath in 1987.
The court has been hearing statements given by Vera McGrath to gardaĆ in November 1993.
On the night Brian McGrath was killed, she said she told her daughter, Veronica, and Colin Pinder that her husband was still fighting with her and she wished he was dead.
She said Colin Pinder said he had the very thing and took a silver bar out of a wardrobe.
Mrs McGrath said Mr Pinder told them they would all have to agree on it and they all shook hands on this.
Mrs McGrath said Colin Pinder hit Brian McGrath outside the McGrath house at Lower Coole.
She said he kept repeating that she would have to hit him as well. She said she hit her husband as he was lying on the ground.
Mrs McGrath said she saw Colin Pinder hit her husband with a slash-hook a number of times and then told her 'it's all over'.
She said he told Veronica he did it for her because he loved her.
Mrs McGrath said the three of them dragged her husband to the top of the field and buried him in a shallow grave.
Some weeks later she said they burned his body. Mrs McGrath said she and Veronica helped Colin Pinder by banging on the body with shovels.
On 19 November 1993, the court heard, Vera McGrath went back to the house at Coole and pointed out various locations to investigating gardaĆ.
After being cautioned she said: 'It doesn't matter now, anyhow.'
During her statement, she described her husband running down a lane to a ditch and said to gardai 'didn't he nearly make it?'
The trial continues tomorrow.
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Football initiated DV
As communities plan World Cup 2010 parties and pubs prepare for record business, campaigners and support workers are warning about a rise in domestic violence.
During the 2006 football World Cup in Germany, social scientists noted a significantly increased trend towards marital and relationship tension, domestic violence and divorce in the aftermath of the competition.
As the 2010 tournament gets under way in South Africa, watched by 2.4 billion people across the world, including millions in the UK - and especially England - NGOs like the Stepping Stones Spurgeons Family Support Project in Small Heath, Birmingham, are prepared to give support to those who do not hit the newspaper headlines - including frightened women and children on the receiving end of violence.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has reported that violence in the home increased by an average of 25 per cent on England match days during the last World Cup.
Annually, reported rates of domestic abuse in Birmingham are among the highest in the country, points outs Stepping Stones manager, Jeanette Mulcare.
"The World Cup should be a time for celebration and fun, not fear," she declared.
During the past two seasons, football authorities and fan groups in the UK, through 'Kick It Out' campaigns, have encouraged awareness and response to violence against women in particular, and other kinds of bigotry and racism that can creep into the game.
Ms Mulcare has pioneered the 'Freedom' Programme in Birmingham, Britain's second largest city. This is a community based training and education course for women, delivered by Stepping Stones Spurgeons.
Those taking part gain a better understanding about both the myths and the true dynamics of abuse, she says.
The programme also provides access to other specialist support agencies and empowers women to make positive and informed choices. It is delivered at all times of the year, not just during football's international showcase.
"It gives women the chance to see they are not the only ones it happens to and that it is not their fault," says Ms Mulcare.
Stepping Stones Spurgeons launched the programme almost three years ago when Ms Mulcare recognised abuse as a major factor for four out of five families referred to the project.
The Birmingham Safety Partnership 2008's monitoring suggests that each year some 26,000 women will be affected by a significant incident involving violence, and 33,000 children will have witnessed one.
There are Spurgeons children's centres and family support projects across England. All work with families who have experienced domestic violence.
Meanwhile, Relate and other counselling organisations are prepared for clients who may be under relationship pressure over the summer.
They say that the media is talking up a supposed 'World Cup factor' in divorce somewhat.
Publicity has been galvanised by celebrity former 'WAG' and singing star Cheryl Cole, who has announced that she will be throwing a 'divorce party' during the 2010 World Cup after the high profile end of her marriage to her cheating husband Ashley Cole, the Chelsea football star - who is out in South Africa with Fabio Capello's England squad.
England takes on the USA in their first match on Saturday 12 June.
[Ekk/3]
Advertising Campaign
Please visit link to watch another sexist video purporting the male to be the offender.
An advertising campaign is being launched to raise awareness of domestic violence in teenage relationships.
The adverts will target boys and girls aged 13 to 18, urging them not to use violence against their girlfriends.
The £2m TV, radio, internet and poster campaign is part of a government strategy announced last year to reduce violence against women and girls.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said it was essential to change attitudes in order to stop abuse against females.
He said: "We want to see young people in safe and happy relationships and this means tackling attitudes towards abuse at an early age, before patterns of violence can occur.
"We hope this campaign will help teenagers to recognise the signs of abuse and equip them with the knowledge and confidence to seek help, as well as understanding the consequences of being abusive or controlling in a relationship."
Controlling behaviour
The campaign follows research by the NSPCC.
The study suggested a quarter of girls aged 13 to 17 had experienced physical violence from a boyfriend and a third had been pressured into sexual acts they did not want.
Shane Meadows Film director |
The children's charity said it was alarmed by the number of young people who viewed abuse in relationships as normal.
Diana Sutton of the NSPCC said she hoped the campaign would encourage teenagers to come together to tackle the problem.
"Many teenagers perhaps don't talk to their parents and maybe it's not that comfortable to talk to a teacher," she said.
"So any initiative like this that reaches out and gets them to talk about it amongst their peer group will be very important, and really say it's absolutely not appropriate to punch, or hit, or slap, or pressure your partner into early sex."
One version of the advert shows two teenagers lying on a bed watching television.
When the girl gets a text message from a friend the boy dislikes he loses his temper, throwing her phone to the floor and grabbing her by the hair.
'Powerful lesson'
The TV advert's award-winning director Shane Meadows said he wanted to highlight the problem of emotional violence, including verbal insults and controlling behaviour such as monitoring text messages.
"It's a message I fundamentally believe in, and it's what most of my films have been about - finding another way of leading your life. It's a very powerful and valuable lesson," he said.
Christine Barter from Bristol University, who led the study, said long-term intervention in schools was also needed.
"[They need] to look at what is happening in peoples' relationships, to say to them, 'This is a serious issue, we do take your relationship seriously, we take the concerns you have in those relationships seriously'.... to challenge the violence and intimidation and control that is in those teenage relationships as it is in adult relationships."
Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos said the extent and pervasiveness of abuse outlined in the report were "quite startling".
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme many girls had an expectation that "boys will be boys" and violence would happen anyway.
"It is very interesting, the way it happens. It's much more about mind control. Through the language used, 'He doesn't allow me to do this, he wouldn't like me doing this'.
"It's as if the boy speaking to them like this is a way of them valuing them. As if they think, 'He cares enough to be jealous', and that is what is particularly worrying."
Monday, 5 July 2010
RFFJ Delegation present MensAid NI Business Plan at Stormont
This was to discuss discrimination and misandrist policies, allocation of government funds to victims of domestic violence, currently less than 15% of funding goes on services to support men, mostly being anger management, males being victims are conveniently ignored in policy, front line services and funding streams.
Rffj Northern Ireland coordinator Peter Morris presented a business plan to open a Mensaid branch in Northern Ireland, also discussed the possibility of a refuge for male victims of domestic abuse.
After protracted discussions and presentations of research and evidence supported by first hand accounts from Rffj and Mensaid delegates, Health committee officials Dr Deeny and Jim Wells agreed that the lack of provision for men was indeed a sexist policy, they would support future funding for projects helping male victims of domestic abuse, further meetings were planned.
Said Rffj coordinator Peter Morris "Fathers are often the last people that would seek help, many refuse to acknowledge they are victims of domestic violence"
"Recently a guy came to me for support, he had his 3 kids all living in his parents spare room while he was sleeping on the floor"
"He had escaped an ex partner who was often violent towards him and the children after drinking, when he approached the council they told him there was no provision and they could not help him, as he was not the name on the child benefit award as far as they were concerned he had no children and was only entitled to apply for one bedroom accommodation"
"He contacted Women's Aid who told him they do not support male victims, he contacted Refuge and they told him they had no places for men"
"Until his ex partner agrees to change the name on the child benefit award he is stuck in limbo, with no state support or an escape route to a temporary shelter"
"The thing is he is lucky, without his parents supporting him he would be trapped in a violent relationship or on the streets"
"Policy makers and funders must address gender specific services that discriminate against fathers"
"There are over 600,000 stay at home fathers in the UK >Source<, and another 238,000 single fathers with residence of their children>Source<, yet the support is all for mothers"
"I hope by raising these issues here at Stormont it will go some way to opening the eyes of the politicians, as fathers our issues have been brushed under the carpet for too long, it's time laws and policies were changed to reflect the changes in society to give parity to both parents"
http://news.realfathersforjustice.org/index.php?itemid=387
C McDeviit lays out question for answer.
32. Mr C McDevitt (South Belfast)
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety whether he has any plans to set up a refuge for male victims of domestic abuse, in line with the equality provision set out in Section 75 and given the lack of such services.
AQW 8229/10
THE DISCARDED PROGRAMME of FAMILY LAW REFORM
Find out here about the family reforms sabotaged by DfES civil servants.
This programme of seminal social reform:
was devised and agreed by the judiciary, legal professionals, parenting groups and child development specialists was accepted and funded by the Government in 2003 was announced by the Government as its flagship in 2004 but was discarded by DFES civil servants - who hoodwinked Ministers - by pretending these reforms were still in progressThe first two documents, set out the formal specifications:
Project 157 is the 2004 re-submission of that same reform to Government
This 2004 resubmission was made after it transpired that the DfES had thrown away the original 2003 submission (which the DfES was still pretending to work on)
The resubmission, Project 157, was again accepted by Government Ministers, and passed again to the same civil servant, who was again told to get on with it. On 15 July 2004 he again pretended to agree ('Yes Minister') and got rid of the project again - by pretending - again - that this time he was really going to do the job properly ('That was then, this is now'). Then he continued the same pretence. He replaced the agreed reform with something different and, indeed, useless. Meanwhile, as part of this package of deceit, the intended reforms were announced as the basis for the Government's 2005 package - which, of course, had already been killed by his clique within the DfES before it was publicly launched by the rest of the DfES.
Other documents listed under 'History' provide a minute proportion of other official documents recording this tragic farce.The article below provides a useful summary of events as they unfolded.
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