Sir, – Jacky Jones (Second Opinion, "Moyes attracted more headlines than a treaty protecting women", Health, May 13th) suggests that if men and the media devoted half the time they spent on sport to solving the problem of violence against women, there would no longer be a problem. However, Dr Jones made no reference to gender-neutral studies, such as Men and Domestic Violence, What Research Tells Us, by McKeown and Kidd (2002), and commissioned by the Department of Health and Children, which stated "studies also show that men and women are about equally likely to initiate domestic violence and seem to give broadly similar reasons for doing so. However it needs to be emphasised that the outcomes of domestic violence in terms of physical and psychological injuries tend to be considerably more negative for women victims than for men victims. In addition, the studies show that sexual violence is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men against women".
While men have a lot to reflect on, fair play demands that women and groups such as the National Women’s Council refer to the reality and stigma of intimate-partner violence against men. – Yours, etc,
FRANK BROWNE,
Ballyroan Park,
Templeogue,
Dublin 16.