DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ?

There is no such thing as domestic violence. You cannot domesticate violence. A fist in the face hurts just as much in the kitchen as it does in the street. Violence is violence is violence - and should be treated as such, whether the perpetrator is male or female. Calling it ‘domestic’ creates a separate category: a type of violence which is somehow not quite so bad: an almost cosy sort of violence - a traditional feature of hearth and home.

We realise that men can be victims of family violence: We are all too familiar with the excesses of Lizzie Borden! We are also aware of emotional violence (practised by both male and female), where the scars don’t show, but often last longer. This will be the subject of a separate article.


Remorse

She took a flat-iron
To Brian –
Destroyed his good looks,
No denyin’ -
Then she parted his hair
With the leg of a chair –
When the police came, she started cryin’.