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Not for men only - a place to discuss men's trauma issues (comments welcomed from all)

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I've got a question for the group.

I'm participant of NZ's biggest attitudes and values study, which I've been part of for I think 5 years now.

I was just filling out the latest questionnaire. As a participant in the study I can suggest areas/questions that I feel are lacking from the latest questionnaire.

It frustrated me, being met with questions:
"We should focus on teaching men to not sexually assault women"
And
"We should be teaching women ways to avoid being sexually assaulted by men"
[strongly agree - - - - - strongly disagree]
Note: I've remembered the questions as best I can, but these -may- have slightly different wording from the originals.

But it was something along those ridiculous lines.


I really hope I won't further frustrate anyone by posting these, I suppose I am trying to continue with a dialogue, and wanting to know how best to approach the organisers with alternate/additional questions.
Not expecting me suggesting some questions to one study to work wonders, but there's definitely some amendments to be done in this example, and there are some pretty great brains in this thread.

As a woman who has been sexually assaulted by a man, those statements were a total mindf*ck to respond to.
Like yeah... of course I know (even if I have doubts regarding my own experience) that the perp is the one at fault and the focus should be on {perps not being perps}.
But what about women not sexually assaulting men... women not sexually assaulting women... men not sexually assaulting men... etc.
People should not sexually assault other people, really.

I think what mostly pissed me off was the lack of an equivalent question suggesting that a female could be a perp.

But then again, maybe an exactly equivalent question wouldn't be the best way to raise this?

Maybe this study isn't the best place to raise this?

Still, I don't feel comfortable with the question set I just answered.


Thoughts?
Suggestions?

ETA: I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this post; perhaps the "not for men only" men's issues thread is better? This one was just fresh in my mind. Mods, please move it if you feel it'd be better elsewhere.
 
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Well I think you are spot on in querying the gender bias in those questions but also remember that on average one woman a week is murdered by a male in a domestic situation in my country and that stat has remained the same for years despite all efforts to work out why and prevent it. NZ tends to mirror us in many areas.

The stats for man on woman assault is also staggering and is steadily climbing despite a lot of work to bring it down too.

On the other hand, women are six times more likely to finish University than men and more women are enrolling in courses than men and despite lots of work to get men engaged again that's not working either.

Women earn less than men for the same work still...

More men commit suicide than women.

There are more women becoming homeless than men, particularly older single women....

I could bring more gender based questions in response too but I hope I've described example's.

So is the study of sufficient scope to bring all gender biased questions into focus or would that make it unmanageable? What is the purpose of the this long term study? Was it just this questionnaire that seemed to be biased?
 
Here's the study, for context:
The New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study - The University of Auckland

I could bring more gender based questions in response too but I hope I've described example's.
Yeah, absolutely see your point.

From memory, gender wasn't mentioned in any of the other questions.
Social equality... our country's economic status... politics... religion and spirituality... views of other ethnicities... all those topics were in there, but gender was not brought up in relation to them.


You clearly have done a lot of research and are well informed of the gender biases in a range of topic areas.
So is the study of sufficient scope to bring all gender biased questions into focus or would that make it unmanageable?
Not all the gender biases you've described featured as topic areas in the questionnaire.
What is the purpose of the this long term study?
I've linked it at the top of this post :)
Was it just this questionnaire that seemed to be biased?
I'm sent yearly questionnaires which I complete online.
I do notice slight changes between the years, but am quite sure this question with its bias has featured in past years; I just didn't have the drive for noticing + wanting to speak up about it, back then.


I suppose as it was only that question that I noticed had an obvious gender bias, which is why I asked about only that. But,, you do bring up a lot of food for thought.
 
The problem with statistics is that we only know what people report or what ends up in police and hospital logs. We also know that men are, in general, far less likely to report abuse, call the police, or go to the hospital.

Some people have made their careers out of arguing about how often men are abused, or whether or not men can even be abused.

Some researchers suspect that the rate of abuse of women and men is roughly equal. Other groups disagree very, very strongly. The latest surveys in the United States show the rates for men going up steadily and the rates for women going down steadily. There are many reasons why this could be happening.

There is no doubt that men's abuse against women is more violent. Some researchers say that's a good enough reason to ignore women's abuse against men.

@bellbird - I think it is perfectly appropriate to share your thoughts and concerns with the study organizers. If you do, I thank you.
 
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How many years have you been responding to the study? If it's in the middle of it or at the end maybe you've missed the boat for querying the gender bias in respect to this particular question. Maybe they would as SRG has pointed out appreciate it being brought to their attention. Maybe they know already and it's quite deliberately focused that way because they have other studies they are doing a comparative analysis on. No harm in asking. :)
 
It seems like a better way for the survey to address that would be that PEOPLE should be taught to treat other PEOPLE with respect and not assault them, and PEOPLE should be taught to assess the risk of being assaulted and what might be appropriate responses.

It pains me to think that anyone is stupid enough to think sexual assault is ok. I think what usually happens is more along the lines of people thinking that rule somehow doesn't apply to them, in their current situation. So, maybe they should consider teaching people what assault IS (or the meanings of yes and no).

The questions seem well intended, but lame. I hope you contact them with suggestions. It might actually make a difference.
 
Contacting groups actually CAN make a difference. Even ONE person contacting a group can make a difference.

I recently contacted the Domestic Violence Hotline to take (polite) issue with the way that a paragraph on their page for men was worded. When I checked the page again a few weeks later, the paragraph had been rewritten. Sometimes people DO listen.
 
The problem with statistics is that we only know what people report or what ends up in police and hospital logs. We also know that men are, in general, far less likely to report abuse, call the police, or go to the hospital.

Some people have made their careers out of arguing about how often men are abused, or whether or not men can even be abused.

Some researchers suspect that the rate of abuse of women and men is roughly equal. Other groups disagree very, very strongly. The latest surveys in the United States show the rates for men going up steadily and the rates for women going down steadily. There are many reasons why this could be happening.

There is no doubt that men's abuse against women is more violent. Some researchers say that's a good enough reason to ignore women's abuse against men.
You bring up a lot of food for thought here too @somerandomguy -- thank you.
@bellbird - I think it is perfectly appropriate to share your thoughts and concerns with the study organizers. If you do, I thank you.
I hope you contact them with suggestions. It might actually make a difference
I will.
ow many years have you been responding to the study? If it's in the middle of it or at the end maybe you've missed the boat for querying the gender bias in respect to this particular question
Since 2014.
The survey I filled out yesterday was actually from the 2018 round. They're sent out around November each year, and it has to be completed within a few months. I was a bit slack this round, but have had a lot going on.

Unsure/can't remember when it began, but I won't let that discourage me. Like you say, no harm done by trying :)

If this is one way I can use my voice, then that's exactly what I'd like to try and do.
It seems like a better way for the survey to address that would be that PEOPLE should be taught to treat other PEOPLE with respect and not assault them, and PEOPLE should be taught to assess the risk of being assaulted and what might be appropriate responses.
This is a good suggestion, thanks.
I think it's best I approach them with solutions; in my (general) experience of speaking out about things, it can help.
Not necessarily expecting them to run exactly with one of my suggestions, but you know.
Contacting groups actually CAN make a difference. Even ONE person contacting a group can make a difference.
It's reassuring to hear this.
I recently contacted the Domestic Violence Hotline to take (polite) issue with the way that a paragraph on their page for men was worded. When I checked the page again a few weeks later, the paragraph had been rewritten
Awesome stuff SRG.

--
Ok, so, suggestions for, well, suggestions? :)
 
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