We’ve all heard about the physical abuse some men inflict upon their women. Usually, we are suitably appalled by the occasional newspaper accounts and annual statistics that tally the injuries and recount the sordid histories of physical abuse.

Then there are the true tragedies, the ones that end in death for the female.

In every reported instance, almost always involving people we don’t know, we are quietly ashamed. We as human beings have not yet evolved enough to weed out such loathsome behaviors among the males of our species. What low subhumans among us, we ask, would coldly use brute force to inflict pain and suffering upon weaker females, their own companions and mates?

But there are even worse things than hearing about anonymous and unknown female victims of abuse.

What really disturbs is hearing from women we know. As a man and someone who counts you among his friends, I was both shocked and saddened to learn of your past suffering at the hands of someone you loved. Your candor and forthrightness in recounting your own experiences make otherwise routine abuse even more loathsome and disturbing. If it could happen to someone like you, whom I know, then I have to acknowledge it could happen to any woman.

I doubt there is an easy path to eradicating this vicious way some men behave. Perhaps an immediate remedy would be to stiffen society’s penalties for inflicting physical abuse on females. Perhaps more awareness and calling attention to this lingering malady among susceptible males might improve the annual statistics. More than that, maybe encouraging every woman to be firmly on guard against physical abuse, ready to fight it with immediate and punishing legal means, would be the most effective way of protecting more women in coming years.

Thank you for giving this alarming subject the attention it deserves. And for candidly and vividly offering your own personal experiences, bravely personifying for each of us the true human impact of these intolerable crimes against defenseless women.

With sincere admiration and appreciation,

Jack Bethune