Letters.

Domestic Violence

A letter to the editor published in the October 15 News, complained about efforts to address domestic violence as being too focused on women as victims, called such efforts a "contradiction" because the efforts apparently did not give equal billing to men, and to buttress the argument, gave as an example "[a]n October domestic violence seminar/fundraiser in Tallahassee for the Refuge House. The Refuge House, while worthwhile, does not assist battered men."

I attended the seminar and heard no such restriction. A keynote speaker explained how domestic violence can impact both men and women. Patricia Smith, assistant director of Refuge House (filling in for Kelly Otte, director), explained that Refuge House provides its services--i.e., counseling and refuge --- to both women and men. What it does not do is place men at the Refuge House facility. Men are referred to other facilities suitable for refuge, in order to avoid placing men and women victims in close physical proximity to each other. This does not mean, however, that funding for programs should, therefore, be divided equally between men and woman as victims.

I have had the privilege of being a co-chair of the Refuge House's Capital Campaign to raise money for its sorely needed new shelter. What I have learned along the way is that while both men and women can be victims of domestic violence, women represent by far the bulk of the victims. There are a number of reasons for this, including what seems to me, at least, to be the...