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Way to go, Scott. Might I suggest you write a letter to the editor now, clarifying your point about the sociology studies? It's not rude. Sources do it all the time.
In all likelihood, Sean's story was cut to fit a certain space, and I'm sure some clarity was lost with those cuts.
Write a simple 200-words or so letter to them further explaining the sociology studies, and mention that you appreciate the article. I'm betting you'll see it in print.
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Great idea, Nightmist. I sent my letter in yesterday. I'll announce it on this site if it gets printed.
Scott
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Update: Foster's called me today to confirm my letter to the Editor. I was told it should appear in the next few days, but probably not tomorrow's edition.
Scott
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Fantastic, Scott!
Note that newspapers reserve the right to edit letters to the editor for length and grammar, but, hopefully, they won't change yours.
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I also wrote to them. Here's my letter (long):
The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys have one category for "fight, brawl, rape". Therefore, it is not possible to know how many were raped and how many had engaged in a mutual brawl. The yearly average victim rate, 1992-95, is 270,000 (1.7%) for females and 387,000 (1.9%) for males. "Unspecified Motor Vehicle Traffic": female 1,400,000 (8.6%), male 1,320,000 (6.4%); "Other Motor Vehicle Accidents Involving Collision with Another Motor Vehicle": female: 309,000 (1.9%), male 280,000 (1.4%). Missing cause for female 2,044,000 (12.6%), male 2,110,000 (10.3%)
The following interpretation of these data is found in the Special Report called "Violence-Related Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments" by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. August 1997, NCJ-156921 Revised 7/9/98 Michael R. Rand BJS Statistician: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/vrithed.txt
"Among the estimated 1.4 million hospital emergency department (ED) patients treated in 1994 for nonfatal injuries sustained in intentional or possibly intentional violence -- 94% were injured during an assault; 2%, during a robbery; 5%, by an offender in a rape or sexual assault. Males were three-fifths of all persons treated in ED's for injuries sustained in violence. Of all persons treated for violence related injuries -- 7% had been injured by a spouse or ex-spouse; 10%, by a current or former boyfriend or girlfriend; 8%, by a parent, child, sibling, or other relative; 23%, by a friend or acquaintance; 23%, by strangers. -- Females accounted for 39% of the hospital emergency department visits for violence-related injuries in 1994 but 84% of the persons treated for injuries inflicted by intimates. -- Among those treated for violence-related injuries and with a known relationship to the offender, about 50% of the women and 8% of the men had been injured by an intimate. In almost 30% of all cases in the study, the relationship of the person inflicting the injury to the patient was not recorded for the study. Because the patient-offender relationship was unknown in about a third of all injuries of males, compared to a fifth of injuries of females, this finding should be regarded with some caution ... For female victims of violence, strangers and friends or acquaintances rather than intimates were responsible for the highest rates of crime.
Let’s have a close look at the data in the report.
The first statement is a contradiction in itself. In the first part it issues a certain definitive number, in the second part it states that though the figure is definitive, it is based on speculation. It is not possible to estimate the numbers of women or men treated for injuries inflicted by intimates as the figures given are of known relationship to the offender. It is acknowledged that in one third of the cases where the victim is a man and in one fifth where the victim is a woman the relationship is not known. Further, these are imputed figures.
Further in the report: "Women injured by intimates accounted for about 1 in 5 visits to hospital emergency departments for injuries arising from intentional violence."
Note the definitive assertion in the last claim: "women ... accounted".
The number of total victims is: female 513,721, male 814,005. All considered, the maximum number of women who are victims of intimate violence would be 300,785, men 362,191, or males would be 1.20 times more likely to be victimized by an intimate than females. If we allow that 50% of the unreported relationships for both men and women are actually intimates, the corresponding figures would be: women 252,558, men 182,574.5, or females would be 1.38 times more likely than males to be victimized by an intimate. That still is a far cry from the unqualified "5 to 8 times more" as is stated in the report.
The report gives perpetrator data in table 5 in gender specific terms: male: 763,400; female: 144,300; not known: 509,800.
Even the researchers themselves have begun to caution us about the validity of their own research findings:
"Women experience more intimate partner violence than do men. The NVAW survey found that report being victims of intimate partner violence whether it is rape, physical assault, or stalking and whether the time-frame is the person's lifetime or the previous 12 months. These findings support data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Crime Victimization Survey, which consistently show women are ["report" changed to "are"] at significantly greater risk of intimate partner violence than are men. However, they contradict data from the National Family Violence Survey, which consistently show [that] men and women are equally likely to be physically assaulted by an intimate partner. Studies are needed to determine how different survey methodologies affect women's and men's responses to questions about intimate partner violence." [In: Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey Patricia Tjaden and Nancy Thoennes July 2000 NCJ 181867 National Institute of Justice Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Julie E. Samuels Acting Director, National Institute of Justice Stephen B. Thacker Acting Director, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control This research was sponsored jointly by the National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under NIJ Grant # 93-IJ-CX-0012.] http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles1/nij/181867.txt
Though in the U.S.A. "October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month", here in Canada I no longer find the phrase. All the formerly feminist sites, such as the federal ministry called "Status of Women Canada" and the Province of Ontario Government Ministry "Ontario Women's Directorate" now talk about "Women's History Month".
Do we here in the north of the border know something that you in the south don't yet acknowledge, though you know it?
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