Austalian Psychological Society promotes sexist discrimination -- follow up

(reproduced here with permission)

I'd like to thank Yuri Joakimidis for the recently posted articles on family abuse and gender discrimination, and also the anonymous post forwarded by James Adams of the gentlemen who was denied access to his child by the so called expert opinion of counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists.

On this note, I wish to advise you all that I am still chasing Bob Montgomery of the Australian Psychological Society for an explanation of his sexist media release, or if not possible, an apology and a correction.

We need to acknowledge the very real powerbrokers in the family law industry, and one of the most powerful gatekeepers of child access are the so called psychologists.

Evidenced from my recent correspondence to them, they are an incredibly bias profession, and exceptionally anti-father. We must take aim and chase down these sexists, and hold them accountable for their behaviour.

Below is my most recent email to the APS regarding Bob Montgomery:

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Elaine,

Could you kindly pass on the below articles to your President and to Mr Montgomery. They relate directly to the recent Media Release by Mr Montgomery.

Could you also acknowledge receipt of my original email, and if its not too much to ask, can I possibly receive a formal response from Mr Montgomery stating what research he has relied upon to support the sexist statement in his press release?

I in fact called him to ask him that very question but he hung up on me, refusing to engage with me and another one of my members on this very serious allegation.

I would like very much that we resolve this issue between our two organisations in a professional and appropriate manner, however if any of my membership is spoken to again in the abusive manner that Mr Montgomery spoke to myself and one of my members last week, we will have no option but to accept that this sexist attitude is endemic to the APS, and will will then have an obligation to make light of such an unnacceptable attitude in a public manner.

We would of course dialogue and hopefully justification based on credible research, or if none is available, an apology and a correction from Mr Montgomery.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

With thanks

Ash Patil
fathers4equality - australia

email: president@fathers4equality-australia.org

Prime Minister John Howard assigned $1.8 billion to the mental health system of Australia only a few months ago. It was the first significant increase in funding in almost a decade, despite increasing rates of suicide and serious mental health deficiencies in every level of Australian society. The lead issue has been the 5 to 1 ratio of male to female suicides across the country; which is significantly greater in the bush, or regional, areas of Australia.

Australia has neglected the protections and treatment of mental health to the point it can only be called criminal and perverse. Perverse because of the influence of a few unethical and unprofessional psychologists have had on the family law and domestic violence legislation and its implementation.
The profession seems to be unable to absorb the facts about abuse and domestic violence despite literally hundreds of studies. New studies appear nearly monthly showing similar results:

1: Killing their own children
We have found 11 citations to published research showing that where a parent (including step-parent) kills their child, the parent is the biological mother in the majority of cases. There is remarkable consistency that 55%-60% of perpetrators were mothers.

2:Women commit MORE domestic violence against children
Of all forms of domestic violence, violence against children must be given far more significance than violence between parents.
We have found 11 citations to published research showing that men are no more likely to abuse their children than their mothers. In six of the citations, mothers are shown to be more likely to abuse their children than a father.

3: Womens’ domestic violence against men
We believe that violence between parents is much less significance than violence against children. Especially since previous violence between parents is unlikely to continue after separation. Never-the-less it is used as the justification of the Family Court to remove a father from the lives of his children.
We have found 387 citations to published research showing that women’s domestic violence to men has similar frequency as men’s to women. The majority of the studies show that women are a little more likely to initiate violence than men.
Many of them also note that the rate of injury is similar also, with women more likely to use a weapon than men.

4: 348 studies show that women and men initiate domestic violence equally
This summary bibliography examines 17 4 scholarly investigations: 138 empirical studies and 36 reviews and/or analyses, which demonstrate that women are as physically aggressive, or more aggressive, than men in their relationships with their spouses or male partners. The aggregate sample size in the reviewed studies exceeds 163,800. shows that men constitute anywhere from 36 to 50 percent of domestic violence victims.

# Martin S. Fiebert. Department of Psychology
California State University, Long Beach Portions of this paper
were presented at the American Psychological Society Convention in Washington, D.C. May 24, 1997.

I can see why Mr Montgomery and his handlers are reluctant to respond to the calls for a retraction or correction. It would embarrass the APS. Perhaps the attempted coverup is a better reason for embarrassing the APS than the sexist and discriminatory press release?