Posted by: Bob on September 20, 2007 9:06 AM
I work in this field here in Melbourne, and I must say that I disagree. Whilst there are some places that are for women only, it seems to be pretty standard to offer services for all genders - and to list this fact in their mission statement/beliefs. All the CASAs I've been to, for example, do this, and they even have a mens only service - SECASA, which Sam spoke of in his post. If there are any men reading this who are feeling alone and like they need someone to talk to, I can personally recommend SECASA - they are lovely and understanding there, and 100% confidential, and also free. Their phone number is (03) 9594 2289.
Posted by: Harry on September 20, 2007 9:50 AM
The Australia Says No adveritsements began in the pre-election period for the last federal election. I worked on this project, interviewing survivors who would tell their story and so forth. The reality is that it was a campaign strategy for the government. But before that... It was actually a much wider thing that broached all areas, for example, "To Violence Against Idigenous Australians, Australia Says No" and the interviews were with all genders. I can't go into too much detail, but basically, those ads are a watered down form of what it was meant to be. There were radio and television documentaries to be aired, in which some survivors bravely relived their trauma because they thought they were helping others -- but instead of airing these, Howard decided to "save" it for a pre-election campaign. When Howard was shown studies of similar schemes overseas and how effective it was to have a website for info, help and advice, he vetoed the idea. But instead he watered it all down and picked out what he wanted for his own campaign and aired it then instead. It's all just lip-service without a complete overhaul of the police and legal system to make it more accessible to anyone who has suffered violence/abuse/assault. At the moment, the 'justice' system is the main reason such a small percentage of rapes get reported.
It's so unfortunate that years later, these ads are the only ones that play. There are other ads, and documentaries to accompany them, that are sitting in a Senator's office somewhere and the media has been blocked from airing them. Triple J's Hack program did a good segment on this a couple of years ago. I personally think it is absolutely abhorrent and reinforces the myths that Sam was discussing in his post -- whenever I see those ads I feel for those male survivors who must be sitting there thinking "what about me", amongst other things... It's so sad.
Posted by: Ms Anonymous on September 20, 2007 10:34 AM
http://blogs.theage.com.au/lifestyl...2007/09/male_rape.html?page=fullpage#comments
