Gendered Analysis – why women only services are important Paula Hardy & Kath Morgan, Welsh WA

Gendered Analysis – why women only services are importantPaula Hardy & Kath Morgan, Welsh WA In partnership with

Gendered Analysis -Why Women Only Services Are Important

What is Gendered Analysis? At a minimum, we are referring to an analysis which recognises: • that violence is endemic and functional within human interactions and structures. There are many expressions of violence which are considered normal, legitimate and even honourable; • that violent practices and behaviours – from interpersonal to international levels, in families, communities and in wars – are gendered; • that men are statistically and overwhelmingly the main perpetrators of violence (especially severe and injurious violence) against other men and women; • but that by no means all men are violent or abusive; • that some women use violence and abuse behaviours; • that the meaning, use and consequences of violence by men and by women is not equivalent and cannot be understood in isolation, but as an expression (and sometimes subversion) of wider social factors; • that the key to understanding the differences between men’s and women’s violence lies in an examination of the contexts within which violence is perpetrated

What is Gendered Analysis? In their rationale for switching to a gender-based perspective for domestic abuse, the Scottish Government provided the following useful definition of gendered analysis: A gendered analysis argues that the social phenomenon of domestic abuse can only be properly understood by considering its history, context, meanings, impact and consequences through the lens of gender. Unless we take seriously the ways in which sex difference has been used to systematise subordination, we cannot get to grips with the normalise possibility of violence and abuse in gender relations.

Why a Gendered Analysis? • WAG accepts that the overwhelming majority of domestic abuse is perpetrated by men against women. It is therefore a gender issue, and requires a gendered analysis. However, this is entirely absent from current policy • The world in which we live and form relationships in, within which violence sometimes takes place, is not gender-neutral. • Our relationships to each other, and the violence that sometimes occurs within intimate relationships, do not take place in a vacuum, but within a wider society which is still very much based on gendered (and racial, class, age etc.) power relations.

Background • Wales’s first integrated strategy to tackle all forms of violence against women (VAW) launched in 2010 • Carl Sargeant AM stated that the Strategy will incorporate responses from the public consultation on a Strategic Action Plan to Update the Domestic Abuse Strategy and to Tackle Violence Against Women • The Minister identified three key messages to arise from the consultation, one of which was: ‘the need to provide more services for male victims of domestic abuse’

Background • Several WA groups have been under pressure to open their doors to men, or to provide mixed-service services • Men can be victims of domestic abuse, and proportional services are required • Available research and experiences of service providers - services required by men are different, including important differences in scale, incidence and effects

What are Sex & Gender? • SEX refers to the biological characteristics (genetic and anatomical) which define humans as female or male. • These characteristics are not mutually exclusive (some individuals possess both) and can be modified, but they function to differentiate humankind as female and male World Health Organisation

What are Sex & Gender? What is Gender? • GENDER refers to the array of socially constructed roles, traits, attitudes, behaviours, values, responsibilities, relative power, status and influence ascribed to male and female humans on a differential basis. • Gender identity (masculinity/femininity) is not biological, but learned. • It is changeable over time, and varies widely within and across cultures. • Gender refers not simply to women and/or men, but to the relationships between and among them. • Gender identities condition the way human beings are perceived, and how they are expected to think and act. World Health Organisation

Gender Based Violence Gender-Based Violence “Any form of violence used to establish, enforce or perpetrate gender inequalities and keep in place gendered orders. In other words gender based violence is a policing mechanism.”James Lang 2002

Gender Base Abuse GBA does not only mean abuse perpetrated by men against women Examples • FGM is largely committed by women who are policing other women to keep them pure and in their position in society as a woman • Homophobic abuse is about punishing men or women who do not conform to their gender role • Male rape - about a man making another man subordinate to him by effeminising him

Gender Base Abuse All Violence Against Women is gender based abuse in that it punishes and controls a woman’s social role

International Consensus ‘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 the prevention of the full advancement of women; and that violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men’ UN General Assembly, 1993

DA is Gender Base Abuse Welsh Women's Aid maintains that domestic abuse is the result of the continued inequality between men and women in society. Therefore, society tends to condone aggressive acts from men in the long term and boys are raised to assume control over women in all areas of work, home and relationships.

DA is Gender Base Abuse To say that domestic abuse is gender-based is simply to recognise that the socially attributed norms, roles and expectations of masculinity and femininity which affect intimate relationships and family structures are integral to the use and experience of violence and abuse, whether perpetrated by men or women. (Lesley Orr, 2007)

Exercise What are the socially attributed norms, roles and expectations of masculinity and femininity? How might these be used by a perpetrator against a victim?

DA is Gender Base Abuse • Domestic abuse perpetrated by a man against a woman is framed by society’s expectations of how a woman should behave and what her role is in relation to men, and in particular, her male partner. • It involves notions of male privilege and entitlement e.g. sexual availability / ownership, domestic chores, mother-child relationship, gender-related insults and emotional abuse (slag, bitch, fat, bad mother etc.) • Domestic abuse perpetrated by a woman against a man would involve attacks on his masculinity

Gendered Analysis Questions such as: • the difference in experiences of DA • impacts of DA on women and men • roles and responsibilities • who does what • who has what Will lead to an understanding of ‘who needs what’

Gendered Analysis in Action • Equality means everyone having equal levels of access and opportunities regardless of their individual differences, which involves treating people differently • Equality Duty: Equality has mistakenly been taken to mean similar treatment and gender neutrality – but there are substantive inequalities and differences between women and men – different services are needed to provide the same outcome for each gender • Different needs must be met by different services

Why Women Only Services? • Services which have been created with women’s needs in mind are not a perfect ‘fit’ for male victims • Assumptions that single-sex domestic abuse services can become mixed-sex, fail to take into account men’s and women’s specific, and often different, needs • Gender-neutral approaches are not helpful (and can be dangerous) for either male or female victims

Different Level of Need 2009/10 BCS & Police Recorded Crime Figs. • Women were victims in nearly three-quarters (73%) of reported domestic violence incidents • Men were identified as perpetrators in 79% • 54% of female homicide victims aged 16 or over were killed by a current or former partner – compared with 5% of male victims being killed by a current or former partner CPS figs. • 94% of defendants were men in 2009/10 • 85% of victims were women in 2009/10

Different Nature of Abuse Research by Prof Marianne Hester ‘Who Does What to Whom’ (2009) • Women experience a greater amount, and more severe abuse from male partners • Physical and emotional impacts on female victims were significantly greater than on male victims • Women’s use of violence has been found in a number of studies to be defensive or retaliatory rather than initiating • Looking at 96 samples of equal numbers of male perp, female perp, and dual perp cases over a period of 6 years to establish ‘who does what to whom’

Different Nature of Abuse • Men significantly more likely to be repeat perpetrators (83% - highest number of incidents was 52), whereas women were more likely to be one-off (62%, and highest number of repeat incidents was 8) • Men significantly more likely to use physical violence, threats and harassment • Cases involving men as sole perp’s were those most likely to result in intense fear and control of their partners • Only one of the women recorded as the sole perpetrator was similarly described by the police as creating a context of fear and control of the male victim. In this instance the woman was very ill. • Police more likely to question whether or not they had correctly identified the perpetrator in instances involving a woman • When looking at cases where at different points both the woman and man had been recorded as a perpetrator: 45% female perpetrators had only one incident recorded compared to 13% of men

Different Level of Need WDAH figs. • In 2009/10, 97% of callers to the gender-neutral Wales Domestic Abuse Helpline who were experiencing DA were from women and 3% were from men MARAC Figures: • Between June 2009 to June 2010, only 3.25% of referrals across England and Wales were for male victims

Different Services Required Gender neutral Approach does not support WAG’s commitment to citizen centred services UN Committee’s recommendations to UK Government in report to CEDAW: ‘The application of a “neutral” policy can have the outcome of disadvantaging women’

Different Services Required Men’s Advice Line Signposts in 2009 • 28% to legal advice centre • 16% to Police and/or Community Safety Unit • 9% to housing advice agency for housing matters other than emergency housing (refuge) • 8% for individual counselling • 3% (47 callers) for refuge (of the WDAH callers – 20% of callers, a total of 5,203 women required refuge)

Need to Assess Men The Dyn Project Of a sample of 171 males, Dyn found that 46% were heterosexual men with a known history of abusive or violent incidents (33% were heterosexual men with no known history of abuse) Men’s Advice Line • 79 callers initially presented as male victims of female perpetrators – workers identified 36 as perpetrators by the end of the call. • 11.4% of those who presented as victims accepted by end of the call that it was their own behaviour that was abusive • Historically, Men’s Advice Line have found that one third of men who present as victims are identified as perpetrators

Need to Assess Men • This one third take up significant time and effort from workers – making it more difficult for the other two thirds to access the service • Very different to experiences of service providers who work with women, where vast bulk of time spent delivering services • Failing to screen may result in collusion with perpetrator • Given high number of men presenting as victims who are perpetrators – mixed sex services may put women and children at risk

Single Sex Services • Over 90% of women support a woman’s right to access women-only services • Male victims have also been reported to feel ‘uncomfortable’ in a service geared towards women and children • Services for men should be tailored towards men in their own right • Single-sex services should work within a multi-agency framework: ‘a heterosexual men’s project will always need to be linked to a service for women… because the boundary between victim and perpetrator is often blurred for these men, a close coordination between these services is vital’ (The Dyn Project)

Do Men Require Refuge? • Assumption from non-specialists that male victims require same service as women • Current need for male refuge spaces substantially less than that for women ‘the need for bed spaces for men is not of the same order or magnitude as for women’ (Home Office Select Affairs Committee)

Do Men Require Refuge? ‘The issue of men’s refuges has been somewhat misrepresented by some for political reasons that have more to do with misogyny than concern for genuine individuals’. (Men’s Advice Line) Two out of the UK’s seven recognised refuges for male victims has closed due to lack of demand.

Why Wouldn’t Men Require Refuge? • Most male victims do not express the same levels of fear as women, and in particular are significantly less likely to feel fearful in their own home • Women experience a greater amount of abuse from their male partners than vice versa; man are less seriously injured • Men report women’s violence as ‘inconsequential’ and not affecting their wellbeing or safety; women report greater emotional, psychological and physical impact • Men’s violence creates a context of fear and control, which is less often the case for women’s

Why Wouldn’t Men Require Refuge? • Most men will remain in their own homes due to commitments relating to gendered roles, such as being more likely to be in f/t employment, more likely to be homeowners and more likely to be financially independent than women • Women still make up the vast majority of primary caregivers. Children are at significant risk of being abused in domestic abuse scenarios, or of witnessing abuse which has significant damaging effects. Over half of all occupants of WA refuges are children

Refuge Spaces for Men Important exception is male victims of HBV • Gemini found that 4 of their 14 male victims who they supported in refuge were fleeing HBV • The Home Office Select Affairs Committee also reported that male victims of forced marriage may need emergency housing • This client group represents a more specific set of service user needs e.g. younger, more isolated, fleeing more than one perpetrator • Strengthens argument for specialist service provision

Sexuality and Male Victims GBT male victims have different needs & experiences to heterosexual men • For genuine male victims, twice as many gay men as heterosexual men were identified as ‘high’ or ‘very high’ risk • 27% of gay male referrals were repeat referrals compared with 3% of heterosexual men • Sexual violence is often central to GBT DA (but is not common for heterosexual male victims) • The threat to ‘out’ remains a central weapon • Fears of homophobia from services and police and lack of specialist services prevents victims accessing

Sexuality and Male Victims Screening is also essential for GBT: ‘because the dynamics of the relationship may not make it possible to easily identify the role of each partner or there may be a history of counter-allegations’ The need for specialist services is even more acute in the cases of GBT victims; workers must understand the: ‘unique aspects of domestic abuse as they affect the GBT communities’ The Dyn Project

Needs of Male Victims • Target hardening and crime prevention • Housing referrals • Alternative accommodation rather then refuge • Outreach community services – including approaches which holistically address issues of masculinity • Informal but direct, non-social-work-driven contact – less likely to engage in group self-help • Helpline services • Referrals to perpetrator programmes • Appropriate risk assessment procedures

Importance of Women-Only Services • Level of need and type of needs are different • Male centred services are best for men • Women centred services are best for women and children • Women and children are disproptionately affected by DA • Due to high volume of male perpetrators presenting as victims – serious safety issues involved for women and children in services being gender-neutral

Conclusion • Safety of victims should be paramount • Women and men require different services • Both require specialist services • Separate specific services are more able to provide specialist services • Services for men are required, they should be proportionate and respond to need - and should not detract from women’s services

Paula HardyChief Executivepaulahardy@welshwomensaid.org.ukKath MorganAccreditation Project Coordinatorkathmorgan@welshwomensaid.org.uk www.welshwomensaid.org.uk t: 02920 390 874

Gendered Analysis – why women only services are important Paula Hardy & Kath Morgan, Welsh WA