Earl Silverman's Suicide

Earl was a persistent force over the years in lobbying governments at all levels to obtain funding for male victims of DV. He ran into brick walls from each level of government who are, to this day, in denial the problem even exists. Part of this denial is from entrenched feminists working for these governments or those who receive government funding, otherwise they would not be able to find jobs based on their Wymen's Studies degrees. One of the fears of feminists is if male DV victimization is recognized they believe their cause will be diminished.

One of the sad components of Earl's efforts is the stats are on his side.

Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2009.

"Of the nearly 19 million Canadians who had a current or former spouse in 2009, 6.2% or 1.2 million reported they had been victimized physically or sexually by their partner or spouse during the five years prior to the survey. This proportion was stable from 2004 (6.6%), the last time the victimization survey was conducted, and down from 1999 (7.4%).

A similar proportion of men and women reported experiencing spousal violence during the five years prior to the survey. Among men, 6.0% or about 585,000, encountered spousal violence during this period, compared with 6.4% or 601,000 women."

The Daily summary:

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/110127/dq110127a-eng.htm

There are over 550 DV shelters for women in Canada with 10's of millions of tax dollars to support them. Given the statistical evidence it is pretty clear governments are overlooking big problems with DV as well as Family Law in general which favour females. Moms get over 90% of sole physical custody marginalizing dads.

An average of 8 men kill themselves every day of the year in Canada. If this were the flu it would be considered a pandemic. Many of these deaths are related directly to the marginalization of men who are supposedly able to overcome these obstacles all by themselves. Men are strong but not super heroes. Many can be broken by a variety of factors including having to live in your vehicle because most of the income goes to your ex for spousal and child support.

RIP Earl, we had our own differences but in the passionate realm of human rights there was always respect for the importance of different battles within the movement. I have a passion for equal parenting, allowing children to love and be with both parents, yours was males victimized by both DV and a system who wouldn't believe it is a problem.