Dear Editor,
Reference is made to a letter by Mr. Vidyaratha Kissoon published in the Stabroek News on October 20, 2012 captioned `What Chris Brown did and what he should do now’.
In the letter Mr. Kissoon detailed Mr. Brown’s domestic violence behaviour on his girlfriend to highlight the “What Chris Brown did…” aspect. I now want to respond by highlighting some things the gentleman also did by quoting from an article `Chris Brown Graduates from Domestic Violence Class, Tweets Certificate’ by PopEater Staff posted Dec 21st 2010 07:55AM.
. “I have enough self respect and decency to be proud of accomplishing this DV class. Boys run from their mistakes. Men learn from them!” he wrote on Twitter.
“In November, during a regularly scheduled progress report hearing stemming from his conviction of felony assault, Brown received a glowing commendation from the judge.”
“Out of thousands of probationers, no one has done a better or more consistent job than you have, and I really want to commend you for taking responsibility and for actually working diligently to complete all the things the court has required of you,” Judge Schnegg told Brown.
Editor, in addition, please allow me to refer to a letter of mine which you were kind enough to publish on Monday, July 4, 2011 under the heading `Men are victims of domestic violence too’. Here is a quote “Additionally, it could be argued that the decks are overwhelmingly stacked against men where the public perception of domestic abuse and violence is concerned.
Many men accused of cheating on their partners or engaging in other forms of abuse face the media (sometimes with their spouses alongside) and tearfully express remorse. Yet it is often speculated that they face the music for extended periods afterwards while at home.
Others suffer domestic violence in retaliation for such lapses, but are quick to keep it under wraps by referring to the battering as a private matter, and frequently end up losing their wives anyhow, sometimes accompanied by a huge financial payout.
So men have to deal with a lot of issues which I believe should be objectively considered as part of any comprehensive response to the scourge of domestic violence.”
Yours faithfully,
Derrick Cummings
