Men’s issues group unveils billboard in reaction to Ontario’s ‘sexist’ campaign against domestic violence

Story here. Excerpt:

'Calling the Ontario government’s campaign against sexual violence “sexist,” a men’s issues group unveiled a new billboard in downtown Toronto Monday in an attempt to draw attention to male victims of domestic abuse.

“HALF of domestic violence victims are men,” reads the billboard, paid for by the Canadian Association for Equality (CAFE). “NO domestic violence shelters are dedicated to us.”

The billboard comes after Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne released a three-year, $41-million plan to combat sexual violence last week. The campaign, spurred in part by the high-profile sex assault allegations against Jian Ghomeshi, includes a video ad with staggering scenes of women being sexually assaulted and harassed.

In a news release Monday, CAFE accused Premier Wynne of forgetting “half the victims of violence.”

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s violence against women initiative reinforces sexist stereotypes that ignore violence against men, gays and lesbians, and endanger children with abusive mothers,” the statement reads.
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But those figures are based on police reports, CAFE spokesman Justin Trottier said, noting the Centre for Justice Statistics report itself finds female victims are “three times more likely than males to state that they had reported the incident to police.”

“In other words, there is an important scholarly debate about the rates of victimization, severity and reporting,” Mr. Trottier said in an email, “but the idea that male victimization is non-existent and can be safely ignored, is to neglect to support a huge group of people in need.”'