This past Thursday
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) introduced
the Violence Against
Women Act of 2005 in the Senate.
A similar bill is expected to be
introduced in the House of Representatives
in the next few days.
The
proposed law, known as VAWA 2005,
ignores the hundreds of thousands
of men who are victims of domestic
violence. This ideologically-loaded
bill proposes to expand the previous
VAWA legislation by taking the male
= batterer, female = victim message
and carrying it to children and
youth, American Indians, and college
students around the country. By
our calculations, the bill carries
a taxpayer price tag of $842 million
a year.
Since
its formation in January 2005, RADAR
has made enormous strides in reducing
media bias about domestic violence.
But if passed in its current form,
VAWA 2005 will spawn countless media
stories that push the old domestic
violence myths.
Worse,
VAWA-induced hysteria will be used
to thwart proposed fathers rights
legislation. And the continued perception
of an "epidemic" of domestic
violence may well lead to new laws
that discriminate against men and
fathers.
At this
point, Americans face two choices:
- Simply allow the
proposed VAWA law to pass as
proposed, OR
- Become actively
involved in the legislative
process.
If you
are in the second category, please
read on.
During
the upcoming weeks and months, VAWA
2005 will undergo a number of steps
in both the Senate and House of
Representatives:
- Crime Sub-committee
- Judiciary Committee
- Vote by the full
Senate and House
- Conference committee
to reconcile differences between
the Senate and House versions
of the bill.
- Confirmatory vote
by both the Senate and House
- Approval or veto
by President Bush
Each
of these steps presents an opportunity
to influence the direction of VAWA
2005. However, it is usually easier
to influence legislation in the
early stages of the process.
At this
time, it is imperative that every
person concerned about gender fairness
to decide on your position:
A.
VAWA should be defeated, OR
B. VAWA
be modified so male victims of DV
can receive services.
To
help persons make this decision,
RADAR has posted several articles
on its website at
www.mediaradar.org, including
the following:
1. Promotional
piece by VAWA advocates (2 pages):
www.mediaradar.org/vawa_info/Two-pagerVAWA6.6.05.doc
2. VAWA
factual summary (14 pages):
www.mediaradar.org/vawa_info/VAWA
Sec 6.6.05.doc
3. VAWA
bill (266 pages):
www.mediaradar.org/vawa_info/JEN05634_LC.PDF
Also, Phyllis Schlafly's
recent article, What Have Feminists
Done to
America's
Fathers? makes
some provocative comments:
www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=7713
Next
week's Alert will ask persons to
contact their Senators and express
their views on VAWA. If you have
not already signed up to receive
the RADAR e-lerts,
visit our website at www.mediaradar.org.
VAWA
is such a far-reaching law that
if passed, every American will be
affected by its programs. So now,
for every one of us, it's a Time
of Decision.
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Date
of RADAR Release: June 13, 2005
Join
other men's and father's rights
activists at the Second National
Men's Equality Congress, July 15-16
in
Washington DC.
The first day of the Congress, July
15, will be devoted to lobbying
activities on Capitol Hill. RADAR
representatives will be there to
orient persons to the current status
of VAWA.
To receive
RADAR Alerts, press releases, and
other special announcements, sign
up for the RADAR E-lert.
You can sign up for the E-lert
on the RADAR home page at
www.mediaradar.org . Your e-mail
address will be kept confidential,
and will not be shared with any
outside organization. It's fast,
easy, and keeps you in the loop.
Respecting
Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting
(RADAR) is a coalition of men and
women working to assure media balance
and accuracy in coverage of the
domestic violence issue.
RADAR ALERT:
VAWA Violates Civil Rights;
Destroys Families; Harms Children
This week, RADAR
has released a ground-breaking report,
"VAWA: Threat to Families,
Children, Men, and Women,"
(http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/VAWA-Threat-to-Families.pdf)
that concludes that VAWA, although
well intentioned, imposes a one-size-fits-all
policy on American families. By
treating families experiencing minor
non-violent disagreements as if
one party had attacked the other
with a gun, families are ripped
apart, the innocent are penalized,
and children pay the price.
Among the points
highlighted by the RADAR report:
- Even when couple aggression
is mutual or minor, domestic
violence programs discourage
partner reconciliation and encourage
divorce.
- A National Institute for Justice
study concluded, "Restrictions
on couples therapy and individual
psychotherapy for battering
are a point of contention between
feminist-oriented batterer intervention
providers and mental health
providers in many communities."
- The total absence of safeguards
to prevent restraining orders
from being issued for false
or frivolous reasons deprives
innocent people of their civil
rights. Each year, half a million
restraining orders are issued
in cases with not even an allegation
of violence.
- When New Mexico Judge Daniel
Sanchez issued a temporary order
requiring David Letterman to
have no contact with a woman
he'd never met, who'd accused
him of harassing her telepathically
over the airwaves, that was
no aberration. It was business
as usual for the family court
system.
- Family law attorney Lisa Scott
describes restraining orders
as 'weapons of mass destruction'.
She says of family courts, "Whenever
a woman claims to be a victim,
she is automatically believed.
No proof of abuse is required.
- The result is that children
typically lose daily contact
with their father. While this
may be appropriate in the minority
of cases that are pathologically
violent, the children of those
half million orders no allegation
of violence are are two to three
times more likely to use drugs,
do badly in school, be socially
maladjusted, and engage in criminal
behavior.
This week, RADAR
is asking you to contact your legislators
by telephone, fax, or U.S. mail.
Ask that they investigate the civil
rights violations documented in
"VAWA: Threat to Families,
Children, Men, and Women" (http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/VAWA-Threat-to-Families.pdf)
Phone numbers and
mailing addresses can be found at:
Your
Representative in the House:
http://www.house.gov
Your two Senators:
http://www.senate.gov
Remember to keep
all your communications polite and
respectful.
Date
of RADAR Release: March 19, 2006
R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting
Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting
– is a network of concerned men
and women working to assure that
the problem of domestic violence
is treated in a balanced and effective
manner.
http://www.mediaradar.org.
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