There was the news:
New Research Finds Nearly Three-Quarters of NH Men Are Victims of Sexual or Physical Violence– Majority of Sexual Assaults Occurred Before the Victim Turned 18
And I thought to myself, "How can we even pretend to exist as a civilized society if you take that statement and statistic at face value. For a people that claim everything to be "for the children," I find this bit of news simply astounding. Or is it? Could this be the result of several generations of the breakdown of the family coupled with a general erosion of Church-going at the same time? My guess is that this study is in fact picking up on two things. First, it IS seeing the family and religious breakdown and the results. But secondly, I figured this survey stretched the definitions of "physical violence" and "assault."
Back in the day, when students disagreed to the breaking point, it was settled "mano y mano" out in the schoolyard, with the antagonists most likely ending up as fast friends following the "blood match." That was usually it. Now, it ends with a police record. I’m not advocating violence, but… Now, everyone’s a "victim."
Anyway, the above noted story has been outed for what I suspected by our friend Paul over at Pun Salad, who says to
read the article underneath, or the (PDF) report. It turns out that, in a survey, 71% of men "reported experiencing a physical assault" at least once in their entire lifetime. And "physical assult" includes incidents where the perpetrator "threw something" or "shoved" or "pulled hair".
In comparison, the survey reported that men reported being on the receiving end of at least one sexual assault in their life at 4.9%. Which is, of course, bad. But 4.9% is pretty far away from three-quarters.
Nobody likes assault of any kind, but the headline is misleading, luridly misrepresenting reality. Does it really make sense to combine hair-pulling with sexual assault just so you can report an inflated scary statistic? They could have just as well have said:
New Research Finds Nearly Three Quarters of NH Men Are Victims of Alien Abduction, Sexual or Physical Violence
Equally true! And even more sensational!
The report comes out under the imprimatur of the "New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence" (NHCADSV.org) Of course, one of the recommendations of the report is—more money going to organizations like the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. Funny how that works.
I’m glad that I’m not the only one that noticed that aspect. With governmental funding of many parts of the social-services indusrial complex coming into question during toughening economiic times, you just knew that a survey such as this was only a matter of time. They ALWAYS crank up the PR machine whenever threatened.
