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The Guardian
02-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
One in three Australian men say they have committed intimate partner violence, world-first research finds
One in three Australian men has reported committing domestic violence, world-first research has found – and the same research has identified new ways to tackle it. The Australian Institute of Family Studies found fostering affectionate relationships between sons and fathers (or father figures) was associated with reducing the risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) by as much as 48%. The AIFS Ten To Men Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health is the largest of its kind. It started tracking about 16,000 boys and men in 2013-14, and in 2023-24 added another 10,000 men to the database. Having good social supports is another protective factor, according to the AIFS report based on the study's robust data up to 2022. Men who reported high levels of social support all the time in 2013-14 were 26% less likely to report committing IPV by 2022. Mental health issues such as depression can increase the incidence of violence. Men with moderate or severe depressive symptoms in 2013-14 were 62% more likely to report committing IPV by 2022, while those with mild depressive symptoms were 32% more likely. Those who had experienced suicidal thoughts, plans or attempts were 47% more likely. The report said it was 'essential to acknowledge that only a minority of men experiencing depressive symptoms will later use [IPV]'. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Ten to Men respondents were surveyed about 'their use of, and experience of' IPV, and invited to provide yes/no answers to questions including: Have you ever behaved in a manner that has made a partner feel frightened or anxious? (emotional-type abuse) Have you ever hit, slapped, kicked or otherwise physically hurt a partner when you were angry? (physical violence) Among respondents by 2022, 32% reported committing emotional abuse, while about 9% reported physically abusing their partner. By 2022, about 25% of men had committed and experienced IPV, compared with 10% reporting only committing it. The study focused on mental health and social and familial support as factors in IPV, and did not look at other known factors – for example, masculine norms and alcohol and drug use were noted as 'important' but not within the study's scope. While the report noted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men have been identified as a priority group within the National Men's Health Strategy 2020–2030, they were not analysed as a separate group in the report, because of small sample sizes. Ten to Men program lead Dr Sean Martin said focusing on men's mental health was good in itself, but he said the research also suggested a broader benefit for their families and communities. He said, overall, a 'really complex mix of factors' influenced the chances someone would become a perpetrator. 'It really is this Gordian knot of individual relationships, society, cultural, and attitudinal factors,' he said. He said the study aimed for 'a detailed look at some key factors', as well as providing estimates. 'For us, that was things like mental health and suicide. 'It was also protective factors: we were particularly looking at social connection and paternal affection, because a lot of previous work has been on parental affection but that usually meant maternal.' Micaela Cronin, Australia's domestic, family and sexual violence commissioner, said the findings should help inform evidence-based policies. 'If we are going to end gender-based violence we need to understand more about pathways in to violence, what are protective factors, and what are pathways out,' she said. Cronin said it was 'powerful' to see the results about 'affectionate, close relationships with fathers and father figures' and young boys. 'But we need to unpack that and understand it more,' she said. 'What are the elements of it that really lead to strong role models?' In 2013-14, about one in four men aged 18 to 57 (24%) in the study had reported committing a form of IPV, according to the report. By 2022, that had risen to one in three. When that data is extrapolated to Australia's population, it suggests each year, on average, about 120,000 men are committing IPV for the first time. AIFS director, Liz Neville, said that showed clearly the 'devastating consequences' of delays in effective interventions. 'Each act of violence harms individuals, families and communities. We hope these disturbing numbers provide the impetus for further action by governments at all levels, underpinned by evidence,' she said. The federal government pledged in 2022 to end family and domestic violence in one generation. Australia's National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 has been criticised by some people for its emphasis on gender equality as a primary prevention method, over intervention on specific risk factors. After an uptick in alleged intimate partner homicide, the government convened a panel of experts last year to do a 'rapid review' of prevention approaches. In response to that, and a review of legal assistance, Anthony Albanese announced a $4.7bn, five-year plan to deal with what he has called the 'national crisis' in domestic violence. The new social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the AIFS findings were 'concerning, but sadly not surprising'. 'It's critical that we look at the factors that might lead to violence so we can make sure we're funding programs that stop it at the start,' Plibersek said. 'To end domestic and family violence we need to invest in the frontline services that help people and keep them safe, but we also need to stop the behaviours that lead to it.' The study's findings will be used in briefings to governments and policymakers. 'I will be raising it in every forum I can to ensure attention is paid to it,' Cronin said. Martin said there were 'a lot of things we can do now', but he said also that 'the broader cultural shifts will take time'. In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978. The national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732.
Wall Street Journal
28-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The Estate Tax Wrecks U.S. Farms
Jolene Riessen's children may lose the farm if Congress doesn't extend the Trump tax cuts. Ms. Riessen, 64, is a widow. She plans to leave her Northwest Iowa farm to her two sons, who are in their 30s. Ms. Riessen estimates the value of her farmland and equipment—including four tractors, two combines and a planter—at $14 million to $19 million. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act raised the federal estate-tax exemption from about $5.5 million to $11 million, and inflation adjustments have brought it up to nearly $14 million. But the increase was temporary and, unless it's renewed, will revert next January to the pre-2017 level indexed to inflation, or about $7 million. The tax bill passed by the House would set the exemption at $15 million—permanently and with annual adjustments for inflation.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
My husband's death plunged me into terrifying psychosis. Then the cocktail of drugs doctors gave me almost cost me my sons
My husband's death plunged me into terrifying psychosis. But it was the cocktail of drugs doctors dosed me with that almost cost me my sons. The first indication that something was wrong came when I turned on my phone at lunchtime, after a three-hour work meeting, to find six missed calls from numbers I didn't recognise.
Mail & Guardian
14-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Mail & Guardian
Through interlaced fingers: Reading Medusa as a Father
A fortnight ago, I submitted a literary critique to the hallowed pages of the Mail & Guardian which I kicked off with an explanation of how difficult it was for me to handle the subject matter involved. Well, Gentle Reader, I present myself to you here today to let you know that this review was even more difficult. Some background before I explain myself. I got married in 2011 and became a father for the first time in March 2013. I was blessed with a second child in June 2016. Becoming a father to two rambunctious sons is, without question, the single best thing that has happened in my life. But parenthood is not without its challenges. In my more sardonic moments, I have to remind myself to refer to my boys as 'my bundles of joy' instead of the more truthful and accurate 'my endless sources of worry and expense'. I love my sons very much and have often joked with my colleagues that, if terrorists took them hostage and demanded that I kill everyone at my place of work as a condition of their release, those mofos that I work with would be dead meat. (I would send a text warning them not to come into the office that day to the people I really like, though.) But having kids means you're always worrying if they're okay or if you're doing a good enough job as a parent, or if this, that, the next thing and a bag of chips. The worry never stops. I think most parents crave release from this worry. But there is no release — not if you take being a parent seriously. My marriage failed as 2022 gave way to 2023, and my now ex-wife and I separated. We began a joint custody arrangement in June 2023 and I have had my sons living with me on alternate weeks since then. And so, I get to experience what it's like to not be a full-time parent for two weeks a month, after having been an involved, hands-on dad for a decade. Many people thought that I would live the so-called 'Lamborghini Lifestyle' when my sons weren't with me. But man, let me tell you, if you're a bookish introvert in his 47th year of life, 'Lamborghini Lifestyle' means you eat a slab of chocolate that your kids never found and fall asleep at 9:30pm in front of your seventh lifetime re-watch of the third season of The Sopranos. But even then, your kids are on your mind. They never leave you, because they are your lifeblood. Biologically and spiritually, they are your reason for being and, without them, you often find your life listless and lacking. And it is with this mindset I tackled the latest English translation of a Rudie van Rensburg novel, Medusa . Medusa has been in print in Afrikaans since 2019, so I'm not talking out of school if I mention larger plot points without spoiling the details. So, put bluntly, and this is something I don't feel bad about mentioning since it is in the blurb, and is made apparent from the opening paragraphs — Medusa is about child trafficking. This is, inadvertently, a topical read on my part, given the recent headlines devoted to the tragedy of Joshlin Smith's disappearance and the subsequent trial. But it remains a difficult topic to tackle, nevertheless. Since the birth of my oldest child, fiction has taken on a new slant for me. I simply cannot do stories that contain children in peril anymore. I stopped watching Game of Thrones because of the horrendous shit that happens to children in that show. I gave up on an episode of Breaking Bad for the same reason. I have abandoned books, graphic novels and comic book series mid-read because I could not stand to bear witness to what was happening to children in the story. It's too easy for my hyperactive imagination to place my children in that imaginary situation, see, and then I just crumble like a Johannesburg municipal road. I am unable to endure the emotional duress of a child in peril, in summary. And this book has positive boatloads of children in peril. As a result, this was very, very rough going for me. I braved the text on your behalf, Dear Reader, and I can confirm that the destination was worth the journey, but wow … I honestly skipped large chunks of the text because I didn't want to experience, even secondhand, what some of the child characters were going through — the literary equivalent of watching a tense movie by peeking through interlaced fingers. I'm not certain the read was worth my personal emotional duress but I can confirm that the book is a very good read if you are able to disassociate in a way that I am not. Rudie Van Rensburg is a stalwart of the South African crime fiction scene. I wouldn't be able to tell you if the book loses something in translation from Afrikaans to English but I can tell you that Van Rensburg takes us on a harrowing emotional ride throughout its pages. There are elements of the story that are standard police procedural tosh but, for the most part, it's a gripping tale, relentlessly propulsive, and containing a few twists and turns that, while not completely unexpected, were executed well without excessive reliance on tropes and stereotypes. In particular, what stood out for me was Van Rensburg's ability to generate pathos for his antagonists. They are monsters, to be sure, but monsters aren't born, they're made, and his examination of how a normal person can descend into true abomination actually caused me to question my sanity as I felt sympathy for the in summary — though it is harrowing, and downright emotionally distressful at times, Medusa is a gripping, well-told story that is worth the read.
