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The Violence Against Women Act Should Outrage Decent People

The law victimizes both women and men while building a feminist power structure

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I'd be interested to know where Ms. Crouse got any of this information. There are essentially no citations here. 6.4% versus 6.3%? Where in the world did that come from?

The BJS says that the nonfatal intimate partner victimizations percentages look more like 22% for women versus 4% for men.

In regards to homicide, IPV homicides affected 30% of females and 5% of males.

Susan of TX 3:01PM April 19, 2012

I'd be interested to know who Ms. Crouse is quoting as a Family Violence Expert.

Rickey of PA 8:51AM April 09, 2012

VAWA has worked very well as a tool women use to remove fathers from their children, get the upper hand in divorce cases, engage in property seizure in lieu of division, get custody without the need to litigate, dispense with the need to consider childrens right to have two parents, obtain child support and more.

VAWA has criminalized arguments inherent in relationships and minor disputes where counseling and mediation are better remedies than mandatory, no discretion arrest policies now in place.

VAWA has damaged what little remained of the nuclear family here in Brooklyn NY. In Brooklyn NY women use VAWA to obtain all kinds of public assistance benefits, including free housing and immigration benefits. Legal, social and financial benefits are bestowed by VAWA thru the use of false allegations made by a disgruntled woman to fit the facts necessary to obtain such benefits under VAWA.

In Brooklyn NY it is more common for women not to be married, to have multiple children from multiple fathers and use VAWA to acquire support in lieu of the traditional family structure along with morals and religious ties.

VAWA has undermined our social fabric and denigrated our traditional culture of family.

This is not opinion. This is based on my every day experience working as a lawyer in the criminal justice system in nyc.

VAWA needs to be changed from an Unconstitutional policy driven benefits program for feminists, socialists and communists to one where Counseling, family planning, parenting coordination and discretionary law enforcement decisions become the priority and tools employed.

But, with goverment intervention at an all time high, VAWA is a perfect fit for those seeking to control asset and wealth re-distribution. VAWA's consequences to my innocent clients have included the loss of jobs, assets, wealth, freedom, emotional destruction and several suicides.

I believe men and women should be equals in every respect. VAWA has created great inequality under the law. Do not reauthorize this harmful statute. Our children are suffering because of it.

Laslty, assault has always been a crime. Here, VAWA now criminalizes petty disputes under the guise of ending domestic violence. A huge industry has grown and now benefits from VAWA.

I hope there are some brave, ethical politicians who can describe VAWA for what it is, a failure. End VAWA now.

Stuof NY8:01PM March

stu3 of NY 8:11PM March 28, 2012

You know, some citations might be nice. This article is rife with claims but lacking in facts. Who is this "family violence expert" who you quote? Specifically which "government programs that are riddled with financial irregularities" are you referring to? Where are the studies to prove your "long history of failure" of the VAWA?

Heather of CA 4:18PM March 25, 2012

Again Graybear uses the tactic of personal attack rather than offering alternative ideas or showing errors. The tactic of avoiding the issue and trying to be inflammatory is losing its power and those who use it, like Graybear, are easily seen as disruptive rather than constructive.

Agnes of MD 8:15PM March 24, 2012

About the men who experience a women beating them.

Christina Ostil of CA 1:24PM March 24, 2012

Any woman who is a member of the Beverly LaHaye Institute, the radical right-wing agency that spreads sexism, racism, militarism, and general facist fundamentalist Christian propaganda, should be laughed off the stage anywhere she speaks. This should be especially true when it comes to VAWA. Crouse, stop spreading information to please your Bob Jones funding sources. For heaven's sake, read the New Testament and become an actual Christian, won't you?

graybear of CT 2:18PM March 23, 2012

As a man working as a fundraiser as a domestic violence shelter I have to agree with the author that VAWA is highly flawed. Obviously women should be subjected to violence and intimidation, but neither should men and VAWA creates tools for women to intimidate innocent men. Here are some other injustices in our current laws on the issue:

1. Shelters are more legally obligated to help a women absuing their services than they are abused men or women who have teenage boys. BTW, 1 in 6 men are victims of domstic violence.

2. Men seeking to become Certified Domestic Violence Counselors often cannot because they are required to volunteer in a direct service environment. There are little to no direct services for men and it is acceptable to deny their participation in services to women.

Nick of IL 10:54AM March 23, 2012

Re-authorizing VAWA ought to be an easy non-partisan undertaking. VAWA's provisions? They are pretty darned mainstream. The idea that domestic violence should be recognized as a crime (rather than a "family matter") by law enforcement and the courts is hardly a radical idea. Ditto for the idea that violence undermines rather than strengthens families. Sorry, but you're way off on this one.

jeanne of NY 7:34AM March 23, 2012

It should be made equal to also include all the men who are abused severly by the women in their lives. Its not just womem who deal with domestic violence.

Cheri of IL 10:23PM March 22, 2012

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