In response to Mandy’s column [Echo, April 20] about the website that is teaching men how to rape their wives,
I too was appalled, but I still ended up in some argy-bargy with a lady on social media, when I stepped up to defend the rest of us men.
The story about that site (which I have not visited – if that needs to be said) is not about 62 million men. It’s about 62 million visits.
So I divided 62 million by 5,000 (representing 5,000 individuals) which gives you 12,400 ‘visits’ per person.
Still a lot.
But over 30 days, that comes down to 413 daily visits per person. 5,000 guys obsessing over the site for 30 days would give you 62 million registered ‘visits’.
In all the reporting on this story I haven’t yet seen an estimation of the actual number of men using the site. Only this figure of 62 million ‘visits’. I guess that’s what you call tabloid journalism.
Does that in any way excuse those sick bastards who want to rape their wives? Absolutely not.
But it changes the perception – from a tidal wave to a manageable bunch of scumbags, who could be outed. 5,000 men is still shocking, but it’s not 62 million. 62 million would be an entire nation of predators – more than twice the size of the Australian population. We really have to take care how we read stories these days; we are being endlessly emotionally manipulated by the media, and by trolls who stir things up for ‘views’.
I agree with Mandy that it’s ‘clearly a lot of men’.
But it’s not 62 million. So maybe it’s a bit easier to say ‘not all men’. It is ‘just the perps’. And don’t worry about the rest of us stepping up.
We’re looking down the same barrel as you if they come within our sights. We’re not with them, we’re with you.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
