Committee
Public Petitions Committee 22 February 2011
22 Feb 2011 · S3 · Public Petitions Committee
Item of business
Current Petitions
Male Victims of Domestic Abuse and Violence (PE1307)
I suggest that we do not close the petition. I do not think that Government action has gone far enough on the issue identified in the original petition. The original petition called for“publicly funded action ... on domestic abuse/violence ... to fully ... address the needs of male victims and their children.”What the Government has suggested and the action that it has taken to date have clearly identified some of the issues. The Government has said that it will put new information on its website along with information on domestic violence and abuse; it will clearly specify where male victims can be identified in such situations. However, in their original argument, the petitioners tried to make clear that what was required was that similar services—although not identical services—should be made available for male victims of domestic violence as are currently available for female victims of domestic violence.Information from Abused Men in Scotland shows clearly that, although the Government has moved some way in its attempts to address the issues, it has not moved fully towards ensuring that local authorities and other service providers take full cognisance of the issues that are faced by male victims of domestic violence. That is the direction that I would like the Government to take. Such victims should not be persecuted. At the moment, male victims of domestic violence can be persecuted not only by the police but by local authorities and other agencies. If a male is a victim of domestic violence, it is the male who is taken out of the domestic scenario. We have to get the Government and other agencies to fully address the issues that have been raised by the petition. I respectfully suggest that we keep the petition open.The Government has committed additional funding for the men’s advice line, but that advice line is based in England. It is not in Scotland and it can only advise male victims of domestic violence—it cannot signpost them on to other agencies. At the moment, many of those other agencies do not fully acknowledge that there are male victims of domestic violence and that their needs must be addressed as well. 14:30
In the same item of business
The Convener
Lab
The next petition, PE1307, is by Alison Waugh and Jackie Walls and is on the issue of male victims of domestic abuse and violence. What are members’ views on...
Nanette Milne
Con
The committee cannot do much more with the petition at this stage. Awareness has been raised significantly as a result of the petition. As we know, funding f...
Nigel Don
SNP
I concur with Nanette Milne. We should not pretend that everything that needs to be done has been done, but we are at the stage when we need either to close ...
Anne McLaughlin
SNP
That was what I was going to suggest. The petitioners know that there has been progress, but they are not happy about a number of things and have raised a nu...
The Convener
Lab
That seems sensible.
John Wilson
SNP
I suggest that we do not close the petition. I do not think that Government action has gone far enough on the issue identified in the original petition. The ...
Bill Butler
Lab
I am inclined to say that there is not much more that we can do. I am encouraged by the fact that there will be further educational material on domestic abus...
The Convener
Lab
The petition is one of those difficult ones. It could go on and on. I suppose that it depends on whether it is thought that there has been sufficient movemen...
Anne McLaughlin
SNP
I sound another note of caution. There are probably very few of the petitions that we are considering today that we could not do more about. I understand wha...
The Convener
Lab
The key issue is whether the committee thinks that it has a further role to play in where we see the petition going.
Nigel Don
SNP
That is my point. I take on board everything that John Wilson said and agree with it. This is not the end of the road for the matter; it should not be, and w...
Cathie Craigie
Lab
I entirely accept what John Wilson said, but I agree with Nigel Don’s assessment. We have taken this as far as we can as a committee. The issue of male victi...
The Convener
Lab
I think that the committee is moving towards deciding to close the petition. Is any member otherwise minded?
John Wilson
SNP
As the person who suggested that it be continued, I am prepared to accept the majority view that the committee has expressed. I reiterate the point that Cath...
The Convener
Lab
That is helpful. There has been a policy shift on this issue and, as you say, there is a question about maintaining the momentum.Do we agree to close the pet...