With special guests:
- Joshua Key and
- Mary Cleary.
Joshua Key is the subject of the book The Deserter’s Tale: The Story of an Ordinary Soldier Who Walked Away from the War in Iraq. Key, a young husband and father from Oklahoma, enlisted in the US Army in 2002 to lift his family out of poverty. Key tells of the human rights abuses he witnessed in Iraq: civilians beaten and shot, killed or maimed after little or no provocation. After seven months in Iraq, Key went home and knew he could no longer serve his country.
Mary Cleary, is the founder of the Domestic Violence against Men support group, Amen, (Abused Men), based in Navan in the Republic of Ireland. For more information on this important subject visit www.amen.ie.
Mary spoke to Peter van de Voorde when he visited Europe, the UK and Ireland recently. This insightful interview should not be missed, as it deals with, what many refer to as, a gross attack on the fundamental Human rights of men in the Western Democracies today.
A world leader in the fight for recognition of abuse against men, Mary Cleary and her group Amen have been in the forefront of this fight and she speaks candidly to Peter, of her experiences of helping these often desperate men.
Amen is a voluntary group, founded by Mary Cleary in December 1997, which provides a confidential helpline, a support and information service for male victims of domestic abuse. Thousands of men and supportive members of their families have contacted the helpline since it was set up 10 years ago. The incidence of domestic violence against men, can be found in every social, cultural and economic group in our society. Male victims are often stressed, become depressed, feel suicidal and become unable to function in the workplace.
Amen has encountered much denial of the existence and the experiences of male victims. However their research draws attention to recent research carried out for the Marriage and Relationship Counselling Service (MRCS), which found that women are more likely than men to perpetrate domestic violence. This report, based on a survey of 530 clients of MRCS, found that, where domestic violence occurs, mutual violence accounts for 33% of cases, female perpetrated violence accounts for 41% and male perpetrated violence for 26%.
Mary Cleary, together with Roy Sheppard, has co- authored a new book “That Bitch”. It is a must read if you want information on how a modern 21st century male needs to protect himself against the calculated advances of a percentage of female predators, who will take advantage of your gullibility and have the ability to destroy your life, and that of your children.
Amen celebrates their 10th anniversary on the 10th December 2007 and invites any Australian visiting Ireland at that time, to join them at their anniversary conference to be held at the Clarion Hotel, Liffey Valley, Dublin. The theme of the conference is “Much Done, More To Do”
There will be many interesting speakers at this conference and the hospitality will be first class Irish.