The Department of Child Protection and Family Support WA has two helplines.

All of that is a lot easier said than done. I don't say that to be defeatist, I just say it to ground the argument for them and bring some understanding that it isn't like a bunch of blokes can just wake up tomorrow, get dressed, and will those things into existence.

In terms of social climate, male victims of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence are treated horrifically from all sides. The only time men are taken in any tangible way seriously as abuse victims is when they were abused as children, and even then there is so much stigma associated with being a child abuse victim that most men bury those secrets for the bulk of their lifetimes. In the public consciousness, men are still predatorial, still dominating, still physically and mentally powerful.

Modern views of masculinity are seldom different from views held fifty years ago. Those ideas have never been challenged at a mass societal level, which is unlike the case with women where a combination of war and economic pressure forced ideas to begin to change, and then a massive social upheavel in the 60s and 70s brought a lot of those old ideas - underpinned by proof in the pudding - into question. Men have had no such thing occur. The very events that changed women's position in society only served to solidify men's. What a woman could be began to change, what a man could be never did.

Another important element to remember is that a huge amount of the work that went into developing those women's services came from academics and women students and charity organisations. In other words, people who had the freedom to dedicate the most valuable resource - time - to cultivating those support structures and the did so with a wider community support.

Contrast that with how it would pan out for men today. Yes, there are men who can dedicate that time resource, but they would be doing it without wider community support. They would be doing it without major resources from large charity organisations. And while some of the men may be students or men with the time, the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of men are in full time employment and simply do not have the time. What I'm getting at here is that the social and economic climate during the 70s and early 80s was very, very different to what it is now.

Another issue that we face is the politicising of domestic violence. There is nothing to be gained, as far as MPs are concerned, in fiddling with services for men. But launching national campaigns for women is a big vote-getter. Our government is currently mid-swing with yet another nation-wide campaign. It is unlikely that they will spend much time, if any at all, addressing their oversights when it comes to male victims. We are unimportant.

Having said all of that I do agree with you, and I do think us blokes ought to get schooled on what services are available and push them wherever is appropriate. We should talk to our mates about how things are, and make sure they know that violence in anyone's direction is wrong, and that a woman (or man) who slaps, hits, spits, verbally abuses, or emotionally manipulates you is someone who doesn't respect you, and is abusive. And we should cultivate personal environments where blokes feel safe to admit those things, and feel confident that their friends will support them.

As for me, I do plan to enter social work in the future - after my education is on point. I do plan to work on services for male victims. The whole thing is incredibly important to me as a victim. The point of my comment here is just to be like "fair's fair" and point out why not everyone can do all of the things you've listed, and just to say that women didn't just come up with those things without support and cultural shifts.

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