Interesting skirmish a few weeks ago over a police union submission to the federal inquiry into family law. In their submission the Queensland Police Union pointed out that false allegations of domestic violence are regularly used to gain advantage in family law disputes and that members of the police force are finding themselves on the receiving end.
Well, that was enough to prompt The Guardian to leapt into the fray, quoting ‘experts’ from domestic violence organisations to dismiss the claims as ‘factually incorrect’. The serve from The Guardian prompted Shane Prior, an executive from the Police Union, to hit back, pointing out that serving police officers spend huge amounts of their working days dealing with domestic violence problems and know a lot more about the issue than most women’s groups.
“We’re experts in DV too!” he wrote on his Facebook page. “We’re tackling the real issues that affect police like trying to fix broken and unworkable domestic violence laws and the ‘DV industry’ condemns us for it?’’
I loved seeing him reference the “domestic violence industry,” an expression I have long used to describe this huge, multi-billion-dollar boondoggle. The term was originally used by the brave Erin Pizzey who started the first women’s refuge in Britain in the 1970s but was forced to leave the country following death threats from feminists when she publicly exposed the fact that domestic violence usually involves two-way aggression, involving both violent women and men.
As I pointed out in my major article on the industry five years ago, the whole feminist DV edifice depends on a constant stream of propaganda downplaying the true causes of this complex social problem, denying women’s role in family violence and pretending it’s simply about dangerous men terrorizing women.
The image of big burly policemen having their careers destroyed by false violence accusations from an ex-spouse risks real damage to this carefully maintained facade. The feminists have good reason to be concerned if police go public with the truth about what’s actually going on.
Look at these comments posted by police officers on Prior’s Facebook page:
“I have heard countless women in my career advise other women, ‘Just say he raped you or bashes you and the kids. It works every time.’”
“I literally had a woman attend the front counter of a station and the first words out of her mouth were ‘I’ve been told to come and get a DVO against my boyfriend because it’ll stop him from getting custody of the kids’… The system is broken and the legislation appears to be written by someone I wouldn’t trust to tie their own shoes.”
Augusto Zimmerman knows all about that flawed legislation. Back in 2016 as a former WA law reform commissioner, the Perth law professor was involved with assessing proposed DV laws for his state. Augusto and colleagues lined up legal heavyweights to warn of the dangers if women could simply claim they feared rather than experienced violence in order to receive apprehended violence orders. The government ignored the advice and went ahead, proudly declaring they were tilting laws in favour of victims and the rest of the country followed suit.
Given that the police are required to act as enforcers of these draconian laws, it’s hardly surprising that they are not happy. Almost three years ago Augusto was asked by the WA Police Union to address their members regarding these concerns. Augusto drew on his prior experience teaching police officers in Rio de Janeiro to explain to his very receptive audience that our police are being placed in an invidious position, used as instruments of oppression in a corrupt system.
My own correspondence shows the growing disquiet in our police force. Two years ago, I made a video with a retired chief inspector who contacted me wanting to speak out about women using false allegations to obtain restraining orders and destroy their ex-partner’s lives.
He was just one of many – here’s a sampling from some such emails:
“When I was a young police officer I learned to love and respect due process and presumption of innocence. Even if you thought that someone might have gotten away with it, it was weirdly comforting knowing there was a high bar set. Now all those principles and processes are being perverted for the sake of ideology. Good and smart men are letting it happen. And others are too fearful to challenge it.”
“As a victim of the most savage family violence as a child and adult, I understand the stand you are taking in relation to males as victims. My father never touched any of us children in his lifetime. The savage attacks were all from our mother,” wrote a retired veteran police officer, expressing his concern at the denial of female violence.
Another retired officer commented: “When I was a policeman, we attended many domestic violence calls. Often 5-6 per night shift. What I saw was, in the overwhelming majority of cases, it was the female who would initiate the violence. Usually by throwing things. The man would respond and, being bigger and stronger, inflict the greater damage. Then, he would get arrested. But when we went to pub brawls, the first question was always, ‘Who threw the first punch?’ That’s who would get locked up. I could never understand the two different policies.”
That last comment is a very good illustration of how brilliantly the feminists have rewritten the script and changed the rules of how we respond to domestic violence. It’s no longer relevant who initiated the violence, they say, claiming that women are only ever aggressive if they are goaded into it by years of bullying and coercive control. Only then will women hit out in self-defence unleashing men’s dangerous anger, they claim.
But that’s not what research tells us. Decades of international studies show most interpersonal violence is two-way, involving violent women as well as men. Here’s a 2012 bibliography from psychology professor Martin Fieberg listing 286 scholarly investigations, 221 empirical studies and 65 reviews and/or analyses, which demonstrate that women are as physically aggressive, or more aggressive, than men in their relationships with their male partners.
A chapter in the Handbook of Male Psychology and Mental Health by psychologist Deborah Powney from the University of Cumbria details research showing women are more likely to strike the first blow. Given that women who participate in physical violence are more likely to end up injured, Powney points out that denial of this reality is contributing to harm experienced by women. “It is of note that this data has been available for as long as the women’s movement has been actively promoting the gender paradigm, yet due to concealment and denial, most organisations and individuals are unaware of these findings,” she writes.
The public discourse promoted by the huge government-funded industry remains governed by distorted feminist narrative. It’s not surprising that police are unhappy about being compelled to enforce that false narrative, unfairly punishing men and failing to provide assistance for violent women needing help to control their dangerous behaviour.
I have just had a video chat with Evelyn Rae, a conservative political commentor and former police officer. She confirmed growing disquiet in the force about being complicit in promoting ideologically driven injustice against men.
It was fascinating listening to her speak about the false domestic violence reports now taking up so much of police officers’ time. “We are fed by media, politicians and domestic violence resources that false allegations aren’t a thing. But I can tell you that with all my years of experience I have seen and investigated more false allegations than I have real crime,” she says, speaking about both domestic violence and sexual assault investigations.
Her own impression was that at least half of domestic violence allegations she dealt with during her 12 years in the force were false. Police aren’t happy, reports Evelyn. “Police are fed up with it. They are in a precarious position and cannot act the way they believe is right and in good faith. They have lost the ability to use their discretion.”
She believes that discretion should include taking action against people making false allegations. Evelyn reported that in her time in the force she came across many allegations which were proved to be false but never charged anyone. “We are not allowed to because this might deter real victims of crimes,” she said. She reports only three “genuine rape cases” amongst the many she investigated. Most turned out to be based on false allegations or were murky consent cases unsupported by any proper evidence.
The domestic violence industry is causing immense harm in our community, using their powerful resources to demonise men instead of properly addressing the real causes of this complex social problem. It’s very encouraging seeing people like Evelyn Rae and other brave members of the police force exposing this disgraceful rort.