David Norris (Independent)

The attacks are unbalanced and unworthy. One must put them in the context where they challenge whether this is a gender-based issue. The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women states:

...violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women, and that violence against women is one of the most crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men...

That is a world view and is not adequately challenged by people who are against it.

Aspects such as the rights of co-habitees must be looked at. If I had more time, I would draw the parallels with violence against the gay community. Having said all that, we must not close our eyes to the fact that there are circumstances in which men are subject to violence and while the violence is predominately against women, we should ensure that no citizen is badly treated.

There is an automatic assumption that if a woman engages in violence against a man, it is his fault and he is responsible. There was a notorious case in the courts in Dublin recently where an unfortunate man was stabbed 21 times, hit 26 times with a hammer and flattened to death. There was a record of violence by his wife against him which was not presented to the jury and she got off with manslaughter. We need to accept that there are a minority of cases where, within marriage or relationships, men can be subject to violence and we are not doing any justice to the cause by ignoring that. No doubt it is essentially a gender based issue and our arguments will not be reduced or diminished by accepting what may be, in a small minority of cases, the reality.