Violence Against Women Act Is a Totalitarian Violation of Democracy

About Laura Wood:

Laura Wood, a former staff writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer, writes about culture and society at The Thinking Housewife.

Rename it the Violence Against Democracy Act or the Violence Against America Act, but let's end the charade that the act serves the cause of justice or reduces domestic violence. The Violence Against Women Act violates the spirit of American democracy. Indeed, it is totalitarian in nature, an accusation fully justified by its frequent denial of basic civil liberties to those accused of domestic violence. Relentless feminist propaganda and the ordinary person's lack of firsthand contact with the battered women industry serve to keep the myths surrounding this bill alive.

Not only is there no evidence that the Violence Against Women Act has lessened the incidence of domestic violence, there is reason to believe it has made women less safe. Researchers have found that mandatory arrest laws and prosecution of violations of temporary restraining orders, which can be issued with no evidence of physical assault, have resulted in higher incidence of homicides of women by husbands and intimates.

Dozens of studies have found that women initiate domestic violence at equal rates to men; due to the superior strength of men women are more likely to get hurt. And yet rarely in the vast domestic violence industry is their substantial help for women to control their anger or is any shame imposed on the woman who verbally or physically assaults her spouse or who often initiates conflict.

[Read: Dems Put GOP in Political Box Over Women's Issues]

The roots of domestic violence are anger, vindictiveness, and rage. The Violence Against Women Act has fanned the flames of these psychological conditions by encouraging women to use domestic violence accusations in divorce and child custody cases, by promoting divorce, by denying men due process, by requiring accused batterers to participate in Maoist-style re-education classes under pain of contempt-of-court charges even when they have not had the benefit of criminal trials and even when no evidence has been presented of physical assault. The act is opposed to domestic harmony.

This bill is such an egregious departure from justice and common sense, it cannot be redeemed. Before the enactment of Violence Against Women in 1994, all states had laws protecting men and women against assault and serious threats of harm. The act should be scrapped altogether and save taxpayers almost $500 million a year.

Democratic lawmakers charged last week that any retreat from reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and the currently proposed expansion of its benefits to include illegal immigrants is anti-woman. This is typical feminist bullying. The truth is, many women don't support the act. Our voices are rarely heard.

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