Stopping Violence Services Only Interested In Empire Building

"Stopping Violence Services is clearly more interested in empire building than in dealing with the realities of family violence, FARE spokesperson Darryl Ward said today.

"Stopping Violence Services spokesperson Paul Prestridge (July 12th) says that the Family Court in particular has recently been subject to 'ill informed attacks' that he claims have 'mainly been made by a small but vocal group men that have restricted access to their children because of their violence.

"If he bothered to talk to any of the tens of thousands of New Zealand fathers who have become disenfranchised parents as a result of our destructive family law system, he would know better. Many of these men are forced to be his clients but clearly Prestridge cannot relate to their issues.

"FARE deals with huge numbers of men who are desperate to have more contact with their children, but who are prevented. Most of these fathers have never even been accused of violence.

"Mr Prestridge obviously has no idea that men and women are equally responsible for family violence. Violence is a human issue, and not a gender one. He also remains in denial of the pandemic of false accusations of family violence that are used to gain 'protection orders' for the sole purpose of alienating one parent. Yes, some such orders are indeed justified, but not to anything near the extent that Mr Prestridge would have us believe.

"Given that his organisation is understood to receive around $1,000 from the taxpayer for every 'violent man' referred to his 'services', it is understandable that he would prefer to hide from reality.

"The sad truth is that it is innocent children who are suffering the most from the abuse industry's extremely lucrative gravy train", Ward concluded.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>