Men are also victims of domestic violence
When I joined Amnesty five years ago, I believed impartiality, justice and truth were its keystones.
However, when I read its 'Stop Violence Against Women' report, I was shocked by the level of sexism and bias against men. In the report, Amnesty includes several case histories which all follow the same pattern the perpetrator of the violence is always male.
Amnesty has declared it "will be challenging the culture of silence and denial, which still surrounds the issue of domestic violence".
Its report, however, does not include any case history where a woman is the perpetrator of domestic violence and a man is the victim.
It is a great pity to see Amnesty International deserting its impartiality.
Peter Benenson, one of the founding members of Amnesty, died a few weeks ago.
He gave the powerful symbol of the Amnesty candle as a gift of hope to the world, and declared: "The candle burns not for us, but for all those whom we failed to rescue from prison, who were shot on the way to prison, who were tortured, who were kidnapped, who 'disappeared.'"
There is enough light from the Amnesty candle for everyone, or at least that is what I used to believe.
Patrick McGinnity
Derrynoose
Keady
Co Armagh.
