20/12/2007

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor,

The article 'Domestic violence peaks at Christmas' (12/12) said 20% of domestic violence victims in Blaenau Gwent and Caerffili were male in 2006. So then why did Kim Griffiths of Caerffili Women's Aid use sexist language that left male victims
invisible as usual, referring to victims only as 'women'? I work with men who have been stabbed, cut with glass, had their teeth knocked out with ashtrays, etc. by wives or girlfriends. They and their children deserve the same dignity as female
victims.

A recent 32-nation study by the University of New Hampshire, which included the U.K., found women are as violent and controlling as men in relationships worldwide. ( http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2006/may/em_060519male.cfm?type=n http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/ID41E2.pdf )

Men are less likely to report it, which makes crime data unreliable; but sociological research consistently shows women initiate domestic violence at least as often as men and that men suffer one-third of injuries, as Cal State University Professor Martin Fiebert shows in his online bibliography at
http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm.

Whether their percentage in Blaenau Gwent and Caerffili is 50% or 20%, male victims don't deserve to be ignored. In fact, when they don't get help, their children suffer long-term damage by the exposure and are more likely to commit the same violence as adults. We can't end this cycle by ignoring half of it. That's why a
global coalition of concerned experts has formed to combat this politically-driven problem. Their website is at www.nfvlrc.org/.

Marc E. Angelucci, Esq.
President
Los Angeles chapter
National Coalition of Free Men
http://www.ncfmla.org