Four Corners Program

“CHANGING MEN” – 4 CORNERS, MONDAY 25th FEBRUARY

How do we stop violent men hurting women? Must women flee to be safe? Four Corners follows three men over six months to see if voluntary programs can change their behaviour - and save their marriages…

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“You sort of go to hell in fractions of an inch” – Alex on his descent into violence

“You can’t do this to me, you can’t throw things at me, you can’t push me, you can’t hit me, you can’t drive the car off the road and threaten to kill me any more” – Krissy stands her ground

One in five Australian women – perhaps your workmate, or your neighbour or your friend – knows the humiliation and terror of domestic violence.

And every five days, on average, a woman is killed by her partner.

Jailing the man is the only response to the most vicious cases. Frequently a woman’s only option is to remove herself and her children from the abuser.

But is there another way to tackle domestic violence? Is it possible for violent men to unlearn their behaviour?

Across Australia hundreds of men are now fronting new voluntary programs which are claiming modest success in changing their ways. The men are challenged to own up to their violence and its dire impact on their families, then to find better ways to communicate and modify their controlling behaviour.

Four Corners films three men – each at a different stage on the scale of abuse – over six months as they enter voluntary programs in a bid to remake themselves and save their relationships…

- Father of two Andrew had never hit his wife Roxanne but it was just a matter of time. He obsessively controlled the minutiae of her life – who she saw, what she wore, what she spent. “He wouldn’t let me out of the house and it got really scary,” says Roxanne, who never quite managed to leave. But it was trouble at work, not at home, that finally spurred him to seek help.

- Adam joined the same men’s group as Andrew. He is a successful businessman with a long history of physical violence, especially against partner Krissy. It started with his emotional control and her growing isolation. He punched and kicked her and threw things at her, knocking her unconscious. He flew into a frenzy of rage, trying to choke her after he found a leftover chip packet on the couch.

- Alex is a 120-kilogram former blacksmith with a mind as intimidating as his physique. When his wife Margaret was eight and a half months pregnant he hit her with a winch handle. He doesn’t remember giving her a black eye to take to her father’s funeral. Eventually she left with their young son. Alex now wants to change himself - and win them back.

As Four Corners discovers, the three men fare very differently after they sign up to their behaviour change programs.

While these voluntary programs generally claim to help men who really want to change themselves, surprisingly no one has bothered to measure their efficacy as a weapon against the scourge of domestic violence.

“Changing Men”, Janine Cohen’s exploration of the power trips and pathology of domestic violence, airs on Four Corners at 8.30 pm Monday 25 February 2008 (repeated about 11.35 pm Tuesday 26 February; also on ABC2 at 7 am Tuesday).

After Wednesday 20th a video preview will be available on the Four Corners website.
Four Corners web address: www.abc.net.au/4corners

Violence and Alcohol Availability

Study links violence increase with increased liquor stores

AM - Friday, 15 February , 2008 08:25:00
Reporter: David Weber
TONY EASTLEY: New research shows a strong correlation between an increase in liquor outlets and alcohol-related violence, but the surprising finding is that most of that violence is happening in peoples’ homes, and not in pubs and clubs.The National Drug Research Institute says it’s developed a new model to predict the social impacts of any new liquor outlets, anywhere. David Weber reports from Perth.
DAVID WEBER: Dr Tanya Chikritzhs says the fact that most alcohol-related violence is happening in homes was not surprising to her, but the magnitude was.
TANYA CHIKRITZHS: Whether it’s purchased at a hotel or a tavern and drunk at the time, and the person goes home drunk or whether it’s takeaways bought from the liquor store, the majority of the violence is actually occurring in domestic settings. What’s probably more disturbing than that really is that the data we’re talking about are just stuff that comes to police attention, stuff that’s reported to officials.You know, if you consider that that’s the minority, maybe one in 10 of all domestic violence incidents that occur that might involve alcohol, we’re talking about the tip of the iceberg here.
DAVID WEBER: The study found that if there were to be another hotel in metropolitan Perth, the number of domestic violence assaults would go up by 17 a year. The study says that if a new liquor store started up in the Wheatbelt region, domestic assaults would increase by 29 each year. Dr Chikritzhs:
TANYA CHIKRITZHS: It does seem to be a greater, a stronger relationship between availability of alcohol and problems, particularly in relation to assault in non-metropolitan areas. The Wheatbelt is an area that really stands out for us in WA. You know, compared to say, the metropolitan area.
DAVID WEBER: With alcohol-related violence, a lot of the studies tend to show up that Indigenous people are affected. Are the results in this study skewed because of that?
TANYA CHIKRITZHS: Well, I mean it’s a very good question because it’s quite a well-known problem among Indigenous communities, harmful use of alcohol. What this study has done has accepted that that is a reality and taken that on board as part of the model-building process.But just like to make the point that alcohol-related harm is not only an Indigenous problem. You know, for just in the Northern Territory for instance, if you took all Indigenous drinking out of the Northern Territory, the levels of problems in the Territory would still be 50 per cent higher than the national average.
DAVID WEBER: In an attempt to combat the perception that Perth is a boring city, the West Australian Government has been encouraging the establishment of wine bars.But in Victoria, deregulation of liquor licensing has coincided with a drastic increase in the rate of alcohol-related harm. The rate’s increasing at three-times the national average.Dr Tanya Chikritzhs says WA needs to take care when pushing for more wine bars.
TANYA CHIKRITZHS: If a wine bar is a restaurant that doesn’t have to sell food, it’s nothing … not much more than a hotel or a tavern. So that’s what we could be seeing is the proliferation, essentially, of small hotels and taverns. You can’t get around the fact that increased alcohol availability leads to increased consumption, leads to increased alcohol-related harm, and that’s the bottom line.
TONY EASTLEY: Dr Tanya Chikritzhs of the National Drug Research Institute, speaking with our reporter, David Weber, in Perth.

History of White Ribbon Day

The following is taken from "Victims of abuse: When enough is enough" by Sarah Winton (www.helium.com)

"The Montreal Massacre of 6 December 1989 lasted only twenty minutes but the gunman, Marc Lepine took the lives of 14 women and wounded 13 other students of both genders. The killer's reasoning? His rampage was born out of anti-feminist beliefs. He intended his killing spree to be a political statement that would resound around the world; he also wanted women to be scared back into their traditional roles in the hearth and home.

"In 1999 a handful of Canadian men decided to create the White Ribbon Campaign (WRC), the "largest effort in the world of men working to end men's violence against women." These few Canadian men decided that we have a responsibility to urge men to speak out against violence against women. The wearing of the white ribbon is a symbol of male opposition to male violence against women. "Wearing a white ribbon is a pledge neer to commit, condone nor remain silent about violence against women." (www.whiteribbon.ca)

"The white ribbon is worn for one or two weeks starting on 25 November, the International Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women". The goals of the WRC are to encourage discussion that leads to personal and collective action among men in the fight against violence against women."

Coordinating NSW Government Action Against Domestic and Family Violence

On Friday 1 February 2008, the NSW Government released the final report of the review of the strategy for prevention of violence against women. The report is called "Co-ordinating NSW Government Action Against Domestic and Family Violence" and can be found on the Department of Premier and Cabinet website - www.dpc.nsw.gov.au.

In short, the NSW Government remains firmly committed to addressing violence against women. While the strategy as we know it to date has changed, the priority given to the issue by placing a co-ordination unit with in the Department of Premier and Cabinet has been viewed as a very positive step.