Letters: male victims of domestic abuse also need protection

https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2017/jan/01/male-victims-of-abuse-need-protection

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Although I support Barbara Ellen’s criticism of Philip Davies’s filibustering (“Brevity is the soul of wit, Mr Davies, so put a sock in it”; Comment), I believe it pales into insignificance against the underlying subject of supporting male victims of domestic abuse.

Quite rightly, the last 30 years have seen improvements in support and resources for female victims of domestic abuse, but those for males have lagged far behind, verging on the non-existent, beyond a helpline. Ellen says that amendments to the bill could be made later. The Council of Europe states that “parties to the Convention are encouraged to apply the protective framework it creates to men who are exposed to violence”. Such nebulous options are far less likely to be pursued and a mandatory agenda needs to be laid down.Dr John Trounce Hove, East Sussex

No justification for child labour

With regard to the article, “UN’s ban on child labour is a ‘damaging mistake’” (News), I was aware of this line of thought in academic and activist work, advocating greater flexibility of – or even elimination of – child labour regulations, on the grounds of the socioeconomic and cultural specificity of the settings where children end up in work environments.

Authors resort to arguments relating to children’s rights, cultural relativism, social constructions of childhood and empirical evidence of the benefits of child work. Yet the strength of such arguments is generally overestimated and deeply questionable and, in many respects, they can be similarly used to justify the prohibition of child labour.

As I have argued extensively elsewhere, it is essential to retain a restrictive approach to child work. This is particularly the case in the European context, on the basis of legal, social, economic and cultural factors, especially since the socioeconomic crisis that began in 2008, and both the European Union and the UK have a clear role to play. The same can be argued in relation to other regions.

Some interventions by international agencies and foreign aid donors have had negative side-effects for not taking into consideration the local context and failing to implement a more appropriate range of supportive measures. That should not be used to question the appropriateness of the prohibition of child work of a certain type and until a certain age. Complexity cannot foster complacency. Although the proponents of relaxing the rules on child labour may not wish to do so, they may be favouring irresponsible deregulation and excessive neoliberal economic practices.Nuno FerreiraProfessor of law, University of Sussex

A way to save a town hall

Chris Currer is absolutely right when he says of the disposal of Hornsey town hall that “Haringey council’s choice seems to hinge mostly on the money” (“Cities paying the price of austerity”, News).

The tragedy is that there is a workable and sustainable alternative that this doctrinaire-driven cabinet refuses to discuss – a community asset transfer to a trust. This would allow full restoration of this wonderful building, the provision of social and affordable housing, community use and an arts centre, as well as relieving the council of its cost. Instead, it has gone for the luxury housing and boutique hotel model that will impress their developer chums but cut no ice with the thousands of homeless families in Haringey who will be spending the holiday season in temporary accommodation.David WinskillHornsey Town Hall Appreciation Society and CIC, London N8

Pointlessness of privatisation

Thank you to David Mitchell for expressing so well his opinions on the energy fiasco (“Change my power supplier? I haven’t got the energy”; New Review). Surely there couldn’t be a better example of how wildly inaccurate were the Tory claims in the 1980s of the advantages of privatisation of the energy industry. The assertion that it would lead to more competition, more choice and the forcing down of prices, can clearly be seen as a lot of hot air.David WilliamsLondon SE8

Woes of the privileged

Vanessa Thorpe wrote an article about the changing of the guard and how it will affect the arts in Britain (In Focus), but all the institutions she wrote about are in central London. The cuts in local authority funding affect the other 50 million people in the UK. You are reporting on people playing musical chairs on the top deck, while the boat is slowly sinking.Simon Marlow-RidleyHinckley, Leicestershire

When silence was golden

In your feature “Films that make comedians laugh” (New Review), it was striking that only one of the standups – Tim Key, who chose Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last! – cited a silent movie. Standup comedy today is all about production-line delivery of verbal humour, but the fact that the silent films of comic geniuses such as Chaplin and Keaton (whose The General would get my vote) don’t tickle the funny bone of most current “comedians” suggests that they need to go back to laughter school.David HeadNavenby, Lincolnshire