statistics + morons = danger

While waiting for my sushi last night I was checking out the weekend edition of the local paper. There was a commentary on the prejudice against men in cases of domestic violence. The bias described in the article was that violent women are getting away with injuring men in a way that is no longer accepted of men against women. The facts were disturbing, but what I found even more disturbing was the picture/cartoon that went along with the article.

I don't think the discrepency between the article and the illustration would jump out at most people, and that makes it all the more dangerous. The picture was of a nice, middle-aged man looking in a mirror, tying his tie (I know he was supposed to be "nice" because the eyebrows were tilting up and he had a pleasant smile on his face). The catch? This nice, hardworking chap had a big target drawn on his back. Now from my understanding the article wasn't about innocent men being targeted by the laws and practices in place against domestic violence. Instead, the commentary discussed a bias working for women who are perpetrators of domestic abuse. The outcome of research showing this bias does not mean that male perpetrators of violence are getting punishment they don't deserve. It demonstrates that female perpetrators do not receive equivalent condemnation for equal wrongdoing.

On a similar note, here's an excerpt from a "rant" on www.canlaw.com ("Canada's Best Lawyer Referral Service"): "Over the 11 years from 1989 to 1999 an average of 421 men and only 218 women were killed each year. Twice as many men are murdered as women. Where is the outcry? Where are the shelters, the grants and the special programs to help men?....So much for feminist propaganda and justice for men in Canada."

Unfortunately the loser who wrote that little ditty (which, sadly, was my first hit when I googled "domestic violence statistics in Canada") lacks a basic understanding of statistics. Or, on a darker note, maybe he deliberately chooses not to investigate further. I'm not sure that his actual numbers are correct, but assuming they are, the author fails to recognize that the majority of male homicides are committed by MEN.

When I see illustrations and/or statistics being tweaked and twisted in the area of domestic abuse--against women AND against men--it chills me.