You should hear the stories of people getting raped while witnesses just walk by and do nothing about it. It really sickens me how much your average person doesn't care about your average person. They're a bit scared that they're going to get choked next.
With the staff of light, arcane necklaces, freezing spells, healing spells, poison spells, cheap equipment, tome of frost, I think magic PvP is fairly balanced. Magic in PvM, however, is very unbalanced.
Try using a super set with a slayer helm/black mask. If they're still hitting too much, use infinity boots, any shield with good mage def, and a god cape.