The sturdy snowball of the feminist driven domestic violence industry is accumulating more and more layers of funding. What a crying shame it’s heading in the wrong direction.

The NSW Government announced $25 million for Start Safely in the 2017/18 Budget. On Thursday it was announced that the program for those escaping domestic violence is being expanded. Rent Choice Start Safety, a scheme that helps women secure private rental accommodation when leaving violent situations, will include those earning moderate incomes rather than only those eligible for social housing.

NSW minister for the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault Pru Goward announced the expansion.

“Stable housing is a key part of ensuring women leaving domestic violence stay safe and can rebuild their lives and break the cycle of violence,” she said. “Start Safely is just one of the programs the NSW Government is providing that allows victims of domestic violence to transition towards safe and stable living arrangement.”

It’s very interesting that she refers to the “cycle of violence”.

Delving into research in this area, the Australian Institute of Criminology report, Young Australians and Domestic Violence, makes interesting reading.

The report found “Indigenous youth were significantly more likely to have experienced physical domestic violence amongst their parents or parents’ partners” compared to non-indigenous youth in Australia.

The report states 42 per cent of indigenous youth had witnessed male to female violence, 33 per cent had witnessed female to male violence.

It would also be interesting to pursue an update on the government’s National Research on Young People’s Attitudes to and Experiences of Domestic Violence 2001, funded by Partnerships Against Domestic Violence, which presented findings from a survey of 5,000 young people.

Many people contributed to the research and writing, including staff of Crime Research Centre and NCS Australasia. The percentage of young people aware of physical domestic violence against their carer was 23.4 per cent male to female violence, 22.1 per cent female to male violence. Most common causes of domestic violence selected by young people were “having grown up in a violent household” and “being drunk”. The report states: “Thus young people’s attitudes in general endorse the ‘cycle of violence’ theory and the triggering effects of alcohol.”

You want to talk about the ‘cycle of violence’?

Politicians, please wake up.

The fierce feminist anti-men narrative should never, ever have wrapped itself around the vitally important domestic violence discussion.

Conversations about the ‘cycle of violence’ firstly need to include both genders. No one (except polished, blinkered politicians purely interested in collecting their pay cheques it seems) is falling for the fraudulent gender narrative. Real life and actual evident news headlines show it’s simply not true.

So, before we keep pouring millions into faulty programs and expanding rental solutions for “women leaving domestic violence”, can we please have a reality check on the need to start having genuine conversations about the causes of domestic violence? Your gender strategy is not and never will be effective.

Meanwhile men fleeing violent homes are sleeping on park benches, in cars or on friend’s sofas. Have you not noticed the soaring male suicide rate? Where is the funding to address that – or does the government only care about victims who are women? And, of course, living in shiny NSW.

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