Madam, - John Waters (Opinion, July 18th) and Mary T. Cleary (July 19th), while liberally quoting statistics from the National Crime Council, astoundingly fail to acknowledge the difference between domestic violence and nasty behaviour/conflict resolution in relationships.
The report goes to great lengths to differentiate between the two by describing domestic violence as a pattern of physical, emotional, and sexual behaviours, the causes or risks causing significant negative consequences for the person affected, as opposed to one-off incidents which have no impact. One can only assume that either they did not read this part of the research or they are deliberately trying to mislead readers.
Failure to understand the difference between domestic violence and nasty behaviour does indeed create symmetry, as both Mr Waters and Ms Cleary outline, but it is symmetry in terms of men's and women's capacity to be mean to each other, not domestic violence.
While nobody would condone such one-off behaviours within relationships, it is also clearly not domestic violence. To call it such does a grave disservice to those who live terrified and traumatised by domestic violence, as well as being deeply unhelpful in terms of provision of services, policy development, etc.
In the interests of truth, I will outline some of the actual findings of the research. Women are almost three times more likely to be severely abused than men (one in six women compared with one in 16 men). They are twice as likely as men to be injured as a result of domestic violence.
They are more likely to experience serious injuries than men (eg broken bones, loss of consciousness). And the impact in terms of fear, distress, health effects, is more significant for women than men.
These are the facts. - Yours, etc,
MARGARET MARTIN, Director, Women's Aid, Old Cabra Road, Dublin 7.
Madam, - With reference to the current debate in your paper surrounding gender-based violence, I would like to add an additional international perspective.
Concern, other Irish NGOs, Development Cooperation Ireland and Amnesty International are currently working as a consortium to look at the whole issue of gender-based violence and how agencies working overseas can more effectively address the issue in our programmes, particularly in complex conflict environments.
We do know that gender-based violence is endemic, that it has been an integral part of armed conflict throughout history and continues to be an increasing feature of almost all recent conflicts eg Rwanda, Darfur, Afghanistan/Pakistan, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Congo. Rape is very frequently used as a weapon of war. the United Nations Development Programme estimates that up to 75 per cent of women in Liberia were raped; in Rwanda it is estimated that between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped, while ten years on, 67 per cent of survivors are HIV positive.
The abuse of power and gender inequality is at the core of gender-based violence. Women and girls are primarily the victims but gender-based violence also affects men and boys, child soldiers.
Gender-based violence includes such things as domestic violence, early and forced marriage, rape and female genital mutilation to mention but a few. As in Ireland, reporting is very low because of the fear of repercussion and stigma.
In many countries, a culture of impunity exists with very little hope of perpetrators ever being brought to justice. Those directly responsible are frequently in positions of power and trust - police forces, army, teachers, etc.
There is much description and analysis of the problem worldwide but sadly little action to address it systematically.
Let us not get over anxious about whether men and women are equally affected by this issue. The evidence is overwhelming: it is a massive problem worldwide and gender inequality is at its roots. - Is mise,
ANGELA O'NEILL DE GUILIO, Regional Director - Horn of Africa, Concern Worldwide, Camden Street, Dublin 2.