Los Angeles Commission for Men Campaign

A growing number of people are recognizing the dire need for a County Commission for Men in Los Angeles, similar to the Commission for Women. A Commission for Men would address the often neglected issues that affect males and their loved ones. These issues include:

• male victims of partner violence
• depression
• suicide
• violence
• gangs
• fathers
• masculinity
• prostate and testicular cancer
• attention disorders and Ritalin
• dropouts
• homelessness
• gay and bisexual men
• prison conditions
• mental health

One silent but major problem facing men in Los Angeles, for example, is the complete lack of shelter and outreach for male victims of domestic violence.

In 1998, the Institute of Justice found that 835,000 men and 1.5 million women were victims of spousal rape or battery in the previous 12 months. (See exhibit 7 at http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles/172837.pdf). Other studies show much higher numbers. The Institute of Mental Health found in 1975, 1985 and 1992 and that 1.8 million women and 2 million men are victims of domestic violence yearly (http://www.safe4all.org/essays/vtbreak.p df). About 100 other studies verify this (http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm).

No matter what the numbers are, a battered male deserves services just as any other victim does. Statistics cannot change that.

Yet domestic violence has for decades been phrased in terms of "violence against women" while male victims are routinely excluded from shelters and outreach. (No Place To Run For Male Victims of Domestic Violence, Detroit News, 4/20/97: http://detnews.com/1997/metro/9704/20/04200070.htm) Even the Violence Against Women Act has language that restricts funds only to shelters for women.

This neglect is fostering the very violence that domestic violence activists claim they are trying to stop. When men don't seek help, the violence tends to escalate, and children who witness the violence and often grow up to become batterers themselves. This cycle will never end until we address the violence in its entirety and get males to come forward for help.

As things are, many in the domestic violence field have political agendas that oppose reaching out to male victims (Philip Cook, Abused Men: The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence). They often cite misleading data to show low numbers of male victims, such as crime reports or crime surveys that are inaccurate because males are less likely than females to report the violence or to see the violence as a crime. One example is the California Bar Association, which says men make between one and five percent of victims (http://stage.calbar.org/2con/calbar_pamp/3condomestic.htm#dom1).

One way to resolve this problem, as well as other problems relating to men, is to create a forum of experts within the county to address the issues faced by men, as we have done for women. June Dunbar, the President of the County Commission for Women, recently wrote a letter supporting a Commission for Men and a battered men's shelter. But much more support is needed.

Anyone interested in helping with this should write to their County Supervisors in Los Angeles and ask to put a Commission for Men on the agenda (http://bos.co.la.ca.us/). Another thing we can do is get various leaders and groups to also support a Commission for Men. And anyone may give their comments in person to the Supervisors at their meetings on Tuesday mornings (http://bos.co.la.ca.us/Categories/MtgsBoard/LiveBroadcast.htm).

For more information, write to MENS (Men Enabling New Solutions) at mens@mensactivism.org.

Please help us. By showing support for a Commission for Men, we can impact the city of Los Angels in ways never tried before. Now is the time to act.