Violence against women

I found the juxtaposition of Cathy Young's commentary on the Violence Against Women Act with the editorial on "Bolstering police reforms" delightful (Inquirer, Jan. 20). Maybe Young's claims are "supported by distorted and false statistics."

The point is not that men abuse women for a variety of reasons but that they choose to act on these reasons by abusing women. That there are 2,000 cases in four years needing review in Philadelphia alone is telling.

Young's statement that most of the perpetrators don't have money to collect in a civil case continues the stereotype that these crimes are a function of class and not emotional makeup. Civil suits are not just about collecting money but also about closure and a sense of justice that can be sorely missing on the criminal prosecution side.

C.S. MacDonald
Christiana, Pa.