I AM heartened to see the issue of domestic violence addressed on a regular basis in your paper.

The 2,000-plus victims you mentioned in the Warrington Midweek are only the' tip of the iceberg'.

On top of the thousands of victims who report physical attacks, there are hundreds more who endure emotional and mental abuse in their own homes and who feel unable to bring their plight into the open for fear of reprisals or of being disbelieved. Should the perpetrators of such abuse not be placed on a register similar to that of sex offenders so that the public, or namely women, know who to be wary of?

Would you send your child to a school where a person in senior management was known to have committed domestic abuse? I would think twice about it and so I guess would many other mothers, and fathers too.

Yet here in Warrington that scenario exists to the knowledge of the education authority and the Church of England and has done so for a number of years. The authorities can, at present, choose to keep the public in the dark over issues they would rather them not be aware of, and we might consider if this is in our best interests.

I hope most wholeheartedly that the Guardian continues to keep its readers aware of those organisations campaigning to help women trapped in abusive relationships. Believe it, they need all the help they can get.

CULCHETH RESIDENT Name and address supplied