Church document on domestic violence criticised

The AMEN group, which represents male victims of domestic violence, has said the domestic violence document issued by the Catholic Church last weekend sets back the cause of men who are victims of domestic violence.

Ms Mary Cleary, national co-ordinator of AMEN, said since its publication "the AMEN helpline has been inundated with phone calls from men who are deeply hurt and offended by the biased anti-man nature of the document. "We see the document as a step backwards as it perpetuates the stereotype of women as victims and men as perpetrators," she said.

The organisation has requested meetings with Bishops Willie Walsh and Laurence Ryan.

Dr Walsh is president of the Bishops' Pastoral Commission and Dr Ryan is president of their Justice and Peace Commission, both of which prepared the document.

Ms Cleary said men who suffered domestic violence found the document "extremely offensive" and said it created further barriers preventing men in abusive relationships from speaking out and seeking help. She said it was "counter-productive to our efforts to have the issue dealt with as a social community and family issue rather than as a divisive gender issue".

Ms Cleary accepted that in the foreword both bishops acknowledged that men could also be victims. But it dealt with domestic violence "as if men were exclusively the perpetrators and women exclusively the victims. On a number of occasions the document refers to the fact that most reported cases of domestic violence are by men against women. However, reported cases do not necessarily reflect the reality of the situation," she said.

It was also clear from the acknowledgements that, while a number of women's groups had input to it, groups such as AMEN had been once again excluded, she said.

Mr Jerome Connolly, executive secretary of the Commission for Justice and Peace, said they would be meeting Ms Cleary soon to discuss her observations.