Domestic violence affects men too
In 2000, I spoke as a UCLA student before the Clothesline
Project about my friend who was battered by his wife for years. She
even used knives and broken glass. The children witnessed
everything.
There were no shelters that would help him except Valley Oasis
in Lancaster, which was too far away.
I asked the Clothesline Project to expand its outreach to
include all victims of domestic abuse and to add honest statistics
on battered men ““ gay and straight ““ in their
materials. I now write to encourage male victims, or their loved
ones, to attend the Clothesline Project at UCLA between May 16 and
19 to design a shirt.
Male victims of domestic violence are a huge hidden class that
face severe public neglect. They need to know that they’re
not alone.
More than 800,000 men are victims of intimate partner violence
or rape yearly in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
In a Los Angeles Times column by Dana Parsons, Cal State
University Professor Martin Fiebert states that women are as likely
as men to strike their partner ““ although women are more
likely to be injured ““ and that 38 percent of men are
seriously injured in cases where “extreme violence” is
used.
There is also an equal percentage of violence in lesbian, gay
and heterosexual relationships.
Domestic violence is a human problem, not a gender problem. Help
every victim count by designing a shirt at the upcoming Clothesline
Project.
Marc E. Angelucci
UCLA School of Law alumnus; president of the National
Coalition of Free Men,
Los Angeles Chapter