Summary: We feature highlights from the Intimate Partner Abuse of Men Workshop held on Wednesday 16 June 2010 in Perth, Western Australia. The workshop was aimed at service providers plus anyone who works with victims and perpetrators of family and domestic violence, and considered the implications for service providers of the Edith Cowan University (ECU) Intimate Partner Abuse of Men research. In this, the seventh and final part of the workshop, we listen to a Question and Answer session between the audience and the presenters, Professor Rob Donovan and Richard Wolterman. Listen now (MP3) Q: Yeah, thank you. My name’s Ian Lockyer from the Midwest CP Network in Geraldton. Just a comment and an observation, I guess, rather than a question, but it’s in relation to men seeking help. And I work in three GP practices and I work in Jurien Bay and Kadathinni and Three Springs. And it’s really interesting. I hadn’t thought of it until I’d started – I’m a psychologist - I hadn’t started to think about it until I had started to work in the area of general practice, but it seems to me that I sort of see every day young boys almost being indoctrinated into a, almost a form of learned helplessness, and the design of the general practice as being not being not men-friendly. And it’s of interest in that I rarely see a father bringing a son into a general practice to see the doctor. And I think what we have to do is one step back from encouraging men to seek help, is to encourage fathers to encourage their sons to take responsibility for their health. Now particularly encouraging fathers to take responsibility for the health of their sons because, almost on a daily basis, I see mothers bringing babies, two-year olds, three-year-olds, four-years-old, 17-year old boys in to see the doctor. When they get to the doctor there’s a receptionist at the desk, who is a female, if there’s a blood sample that needs to be taken, there’s a [female] nurse that takes it. If the kids want to sit down and read a book it’s a Woman’s Day, it’s a New Idea - women’s books. So, by the time the kids decide that they need – they’ve grown up and they go to the doctor themselves, the doctor’s is really a women’s place. And I think that probably almost applies to any other organisation that looks at providing support services to the community. So I think as fathers, we’ve got a really heavy responsibility to make sure that we do take over the role of father in terms of the health of our sons and take some of the burden off of the mums, who, you know, are still carrying the can. And I think that, in terms of the implications for men seeking health is a huge issue. Probably a good research project for somebody, I’m not going to take it on just right now, but I think there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done there. MC: Thank you, there’s a well-made point. Any other questions or comments? Q: Hi, my name’s Rob and I’m a men’s group facilitator specialising in domestic violence. And, yeah, I’m really grateful to be here today. I have found myself really moved by your presentation, Richard, in terms of feeling – I’ve been working in this area for three years and for those three years I’ve felt like my hands were tied in terms of working with the men and men bringing experiences of victimisation or their own struggles, and working with a framework, or a format specifically like the Duluth or Stosny or invitations to responsibility, where you basically, you know, part of me is acknowledging this person is in pain and they’re struggling and they’re reaching out, and my response is limited to “this”. Whereas, you know, I think you really hit the nail on the head for me in terms of the structure is just kind of a delivery vehicle, it’s more about
