Women and domestic violence

Letter to the Boston Globe Editor
November 15, 2002

Cathy Young calls for change in how we approach domestic violence but offers nothing to guide the way (''Recognizing men abused by women,'' op ed, Nov. 11). Instead, she seems out to discredit 30 years of groundbreaking theoretical and practical work by battered women's advocates and researchers.

Contrary to Young's assertions, research overwhelmingly indicates that women are more often the victims of intimate partner abuse than men. Studies funded by multiple federal agencies consistently find that women suffer three to six times the rate of violence from intimate partners. According to the US Department of Justice, one-fourth of women in this country are physically abused by their husbands or men with whom they are in an intimate relationship, and in Massachusetts, male partners have been found to be the group most responsible for murders of adult women.

It is time to respond to domestic violence for what it is: a violation of fundamental human rights that governments have an obligation to end and prevent regardless of the sex, race, sexual orientation, or other characteristics of the perpetrator or victim. That said, the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women recognizes that ''violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women'' and calls on governments to adopt a policy of eliminating it.

Carrie Cuthbert, Wellesley Centers for Women

This story ran on page A18 of the Boston Globe on 11/15/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.

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