Dear Sir:
I write in response to a letter by Marc E. Angelucci, President, Los Angeles Chapter, National Coalition of Free Men, in response to an article by the Founding Director of The Change Centre, Mary Spooner, Ph.D - Domestic violence is not women's fault 4/30/07 – published on the website of the Caribbean Net News.
I believe that Mr Angelucci is entitled to his opinion regarding domestic violence or whatever topic he seeks to advocate for on behalf of free men. However, I also believe that Mr Angelucci, before critiquing Dr Spooner’s commentary, should have been careful to understand the context in which Dr Spooner wrote - the English-speaking Caribbean context – and the issue that was being addressed, i.e., the use of small business as a way of empowering women against domestic violence. I believe his comment about men being afraid of arrest, for example, rides rough shod over the point that in the English-speaking Caribbean context, implementation of the laws that allow arrest in cases of domestic violence are less effective than in the United States.
Further, Mr Angelucci should consider that the references he cites relate to research in the developed world, a region that is vastly different in cultural context than the English-speaking Caribbean. In researching the global coalition of peer reviewed domestic violence experts which he claims is formed to support a research-based approach to domestic violence, the following describes the work of the group, lifted from the group’s website:
“What We Do: We offer specific information regarding the need for improvements in the current approach to family violence throughout the United States and Canada. We have, and will continue to generate samples of model legislation and regulation reform that can be directly applied in many states and provinces and at the Federal government level, and provide commentary and suggested improvements to pending legislation and regulations. …”
Mr Angelucci should also realize that situational couple violence, intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and mutual violent control exist everywhere and he should seek to understand the difference between them. (http://www.personal.psu.edu/mpj/2006%20VAW.pdf). If his comments do nothing else, they highlight the problems that arise when one assumes that a problem can be treated the same in every context. I believe that Mr Angelucci has sought to enter a discourse in a cultural context wherein he is out of his depth with little experience and knowledge. Mr Angelucci would be best advised to leave topics in this discourse to experts like Dr Spooner who have studied and understand the context of domestic violence in the English-speaking Caribbean states.
Salome James
Executive Director
The Change Centre
Charlestown
Nevis
West Indies |
