Max Baucus: Work is Not Done to Combat Domestic Violence

This reauthorization strengthens the ability of states, law enforcement, and service providers to combat violence

Reader Comments

Back to argument

The author totally ignores male victims, just as VAWA does. The Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) very recent domestic violence study that found: "More than 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and more than 1 in 4 men (28.5%) in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalk...ing by an intimate partner in their lifetime" and "About 1 in 4 women (24.3%) and 1 in 7 men (13.8%) have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner (e.g., hit with a fist or something hard, beaten, slammed against something) at some point in their lifetime." See executive summary at www.cdc.gov/​ViolencePrevention/pdf/​NISVS_Report2010-a.pdf

Would the author support a "Men's Occupational Safety & Health Act" because 92% of job deaths are male? I doubt it. She would undoubtedly call that sexist. But VAWA explicitly discriminates against American-Indian men and implicilty discriminates against all men in its title and its implementation, not to mention having no due process protections at all, and spreading misleading propaganda about DV rather than directly helping all victims and their children.

Marc A. of CA 7:01PM March 20, 2012

"and I am proud to add my name to the bipartisan bill to continue the program this year. "

Which biPartisan bill would that be, the one the left voted for and the right against, or the one the right voted for and the left against?

"And the number of individuals killed by an intimate partner has decreased by 34 percent for women and 57 percent for men."

If acknowledging women as victim had such a drastic effect on men, just image the effect on women if men were finally acknowledged as victims.

Like your other yes voters, you have failed to even acknowledge there are concerns and problems with the bill as it stands, problems that have caused the bill to go from being bipartisan to being split almost absolutely down party lines. Your failure to acknowledge, let alone address those issues, and instead try to appeal to emotion is an example of the problems within the proposal, it ignores facts in place of legislating emotion.

Mark Neil 5:56PM March 20, 2012

I think you are one hell of a white knighter at the expense of men. Act like a senator the swore an oath to the constitution and not a foolish republican politician.

greyghost of TX 5:54PM March 20, 2012

I hope wifey drops a dime on ur fag ass beotch.

Then u can experience VAWA first hand, to the steel cage where u can have all the butt sex u dream of.

After u get out maybe u will wake the eff up and stop screwing your fellow man with biased and discriminatory so-called laws.

LysanderSpooner of NY 5:05PM March 20, 2012

With Republicans like this we might as well just have all Al Franken Democrats in the Senate!! How many men are killed by women? How many are driven to bankruptcy and have their children taken from them by women manipulating the system and then commit suicide?? Is this not DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?? Why is the legislation not the "Violence Against People Act"? Because it is just a huge feminist pork project to pay off the left wing radical feminist "victim-hood" advocates. The Government is supposed to protect all people and not create special classes of victims while ignoring others. VAWA is sexist, bigoted, hateful, and unconstitutional.

Michael Parrotte of MD 4:30PM March 20, 2012

ARE U NUTZ. You are a Senator? Read the title - Bias is not legal in our Country. VIOLENCE AGAINST women's Act. What part of that can't you read that shows bias.

Rename it VIOLENCE AGAINST FAMILIES and make it gender neutral and you will get my support.

Sexism seems to run rampant in Washington, I guess the proof is in all of the skirt chasing that goes on.

Joel Johnston of WA 3:05PM March 20, 2012

"The study, published in the journal Violence and Victims, also found no independent link between an individual's use of alcohol or drugs and committing domestic violence. In addition it showed that nearly twice as many women as men said they perpetrated domestic violence in the past year, including kicking, biting or punching a partner, threatening to hit or throw something at a partner, and pushing, gr

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2007/06/27/Teen-violence-predicts-domestic-violence/UPI-99521182950915/abbing or shoving a partner, said Herrenkohl."

"The CDC’s Web site also cites data showing: “In the United States every year, about 1.5 million women and more than 800,000 men are raped or physically assaulted by an intimate partner,” and 24 percent of intimate partner homicide victims were male (‘http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/ipvfacts.htm‘)"

In addition to the CDC data, a recent 32-nation study by the University of New Hampshire found women commit half of all partner violence and are just as controlling as men (‘http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2006/may/em_060519male.cfm?type=n‘) (‘http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/ID41E2.pdf‘).

A University of Florida study recently found women are more likely than men to “stalk, attack and abuse” their partners (‘http://news.ufl.edu/2006/07/13/women-attackers/‘).

The University of Washington recently found similar results (‘http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070625111433.htm‘).

In fact, although men are less likely to report the violence – which distorts crime data, virtually all randomized sociological surveys show women initiate domestic violence as often as men and use weapons more than men, that men suffer one-third of injuries, and that self-defense explains only a small portion of domestic violence by either sex. Professor Martin Fiebert of California State University summarizes this data in an online bibliography at (‘http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm‘).

A recent study in the Journal of Family Violence found many male callers to a national hotline experienced severe violence from female partners who used violence to control them (‘http://www.springerlink.com/content/a7q0032j88817218/fulltext.pdf‘).

A University of Pennsylvania emergency room report found 13 percent of men were assaulted by a female partner in the previous 12 months, 37 percent with a weapon, and 14 percent required medical attention (‘http://www.aemj.org/cgi/content/abstract/6/8/786‘).

I doubt you will look at these facts objectively but this is why VAWA should not be reauthorized and a new law taking into account ALL forms of DV should be created.

Mike Dehart of TX 2:58PM March 20, 2012

VAWA (The CDC) states that over 1.3 million RAPES happened last year in the USA alone, which differs largely with the FBI's gold standard of 188,000. Care to explain this hysterical difference in numbers? http://tinyurl.com/6nbra5q . That's what VAWA does. That's what people like you do. They bloat the facts, then walk away without taking responsibility for what they have done. They act like the "victim" as if they have done nothing. It's despicable. It's deplorable.

Here's another example. The inspector general’s random audits of the act’s grant recipients repeatedly found irregularities and misconduct, including unauthorized and unallowable expenses in 21 of 22 grants: - http://tinyurl.com/7mk5mpd .

This is what people like you promote and do. I have no respect for that. VAWA should die a quick death, or should be cleaned up as gender driven politics have gotten out of hand. It has ruined my life. Contact me. I can explain.

John Lukas of WI 2:37PM March 20, 2012

NO! VAWA and the Domestic Violence advocacy is a one way street. There is nothing available for men thanks to VAWA. In the US our Health and Human Services Administration is trying to increase the need for their services through VAWA, it's nothing but a scam. De-fund VAWA EXPOSE the federal funding abuses. Every VAWA sponsored organization pays lobbyists to omit facts and deceive legislative bodies. Document their deceptions and use facts from un-biased reports to EXPOSE THE TRUTH. Up to 90% of domestic violence accusations are false, many victims of the systemic abuse un-knowingly consent to protective orders only to be further victimized. NO contact with children, Loss of jobs, loss of income, loss of mediation all take place when lawyers routinely toss the defense of their clients cases. This is a large scale fraud against the American people creating the need for more legal services and social services, Hitler and Stalin both used the same tactics to destroy families. Look it up if you are skeptical, the truth will set you free.

Andy Stachura of NH 1:45PM March 20, 2012

VAWA must be repealed in its present form. It encourages psychopaths and ignorant prosecutors or sociopathic prosecutors to cause as much harm as they possibly can. They along with the false accusers should be prosecuted and receive the same punishments as their victims.

Bill Ronan, LICSW of MN 12:17PM March 20, 2012

<1 2 3 4>

Add Your Thoughts
Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.
About Debate Club

A meeting of the sharpest minds on the day's most important topics, Debate Club brings in the best arguments and lets readers decide which is the most persuasive. Read the arguments, then vote. And be sure to check back often to see who has gotten the most support—and also to see what's being discussed now in the Debate Club.

Have ideas about what the Club should be debating? E-mail it to dclub@usnews.com.

You can also join the debate on Facebook or follow Debate Club on Twitter.

Advertisement
Cartoons
Thomas Jefferson Street Blog
Republicans Can't Forget the Economy During Obama Scandals

Scandals provide good fodder for the GOP, but it can't forget about fixing unemployment.

Amidst Obama Scandals, Republicans Prepare a New Debt Ceiling Hostage

Republicans are preparing to take the debt ceiling hostage…again.

Benghazi, IRS and AP Scandals Reveal a Clueless President

The recent slew of scandals reveals an administration either incompetent or malicious.

The IRS Scandal Is About Budget Cuts, Not the Tea Party

Cutting the tax collection budget hurts everyone in the long-run.

Obama 'Going Bulworth' Wouldn't Give Him Power Over Republicans

Both Congress and presidents overestimate the power of the Oval Office.

Bureaucracy Keeps Adopted Children Stuck in International Limbo

The U.S. needs to do more to ease the international adoption process.

The Real Scandal Behind the Benghazi Emails and Attacks

The GOP focuses on talking points while ignoring dangerous security budget cuts.

House Republicans Waste Time With Obamacare Repeal Vote

Why is the House bothering to repeal Obamacare yet again?

Advertisement