Dear Sir:

Mary Spooner's commentary on domestic violence was extremely one-sided and misleading, in that it ignored female perpetrators and left male victims and their children invisible. ("Domestic violence is not women's fault" 4/30/07.)

A recent 32-nation study by the University of New Hampshire found women initiate partner violence as often as men and that controlling behavior is found equally in the perpetrators of both sexes. http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/ID41E2.pdf

In fact, virtually all sociological research shows women initiate domestic violence as often as men, that women use weapons more than men, and that 38% of injured victims are men, as this California State University bibliography shows. Many male victims are disabled or elderly. May refuse to hit back or are afraid of arrest or losing child custody if they do. Many just "take it" while their children continue to be damaged by the exposure to the violence.

We cannot break this intergenerational cycle by ignoring half of it. That is why a global coalition of peer-reviewed domestic violence experts recently formed to support a research-based, inclusive approach to domestic violence and their website has solid data showing women initiate the violence as often as men.

Marc E. Angelucci
President
Los Angeles chapter
National Coalition of Free Men