Sir, - Your paper recently carried two letters responding to an article by John Waters on the recent bishops' document on domestic violence. John McGettrick (September 11th) questions the existence of independent studies which show that domestic violence is roughly a 50-50 phenomenon.
A list of almost 100 two-sex studies which all show that men and women abuse each other in roughly equal numbers can be found on our website (www.amen.ie).
The British Home Office published crime statistics in 1999 which showed that exactly 4.2 per cent of men and 4.2 per cent of women reported that they were abused by their partners in the previous year.
In July this year the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics released a comprehensive statistical profile on family violence covering a five-year period up to 1999. This survey found that the rate of violence was similar for women (8 per cent) and men (7 percent). It also found that during the period 37 per cent of female victims and 15 per cent of male victims reported to the police.
In making his point about court records, police statistics and practitioners' experience Mr McGettrick ignores the many barriers preventing men from reporting. While the latest Garda statistics available (1998) show that 11 per cent of domestic violence reports were made by men, this undoubtedly understates the level of violence against men by their partners. The barriers preventing men from reporting include fear of ridicule, and not being taken seriously and not being supported by gardai, healthcare professionals and indeed by legal practitioners. I have come across many instances of men going to solicitors only to be told: "You will never get a barring order because you are a man." Solicitors have even refused to represent men seeking protection under the domestic violence legislation.
Lia Godfrey (September 8th) refers to some of the barriers preventing abused men from admitting that they are being abused and goes on to state that "there are women who have not admitted they are living with an abusive husband, for fear of losing their homes and their children." The fear of losing homes and children are even greater for men due to the bias in the family court system as, regardless of who is at fault in any marriage or relationship breakdown, the courts invariably give homes and custody of children to women. This applies even in role-reversal situations where men are the main homemakers.
Following the issue of the document I wrote to the bishops concerned pointing out that their document lacked balance, excluded the male experience, perpetuated the stereotype of male perpetrator/female victim, was deeply offensive to male victims and as such was inimical to Amen's efforts in trying to empower male victims to speak out and seek assistance. I also pointed out that, even though I had written to all bishops in June 1999 regarding Amen and its work, our organisation, which is the only group in a position to articulate the experiences of male victims, was excluded from the consultation process leading to the publication of this document. We received a reply from Bishop Willie Walsh in which he stated that he accepted most of the criticisms I had made and apologised for the hurt caused to male victims. Arrangements are being made for a meeting between the bishops and Amen and I am confident that the bishops will then have a much better understanding of the complexities of this subject. - Yours, etc.,
Mary T. Cleary, National Co-ordinator, Amen, Navan, Co Meath.