RADAR ALERT: DV Awareness Month: Nighty-Night to DV Fairy Tales!

Submitted by Matt on Mon, 2007-10-01 16:20

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and this year RADAR and many members of the VAWA Reform Coalition are sponsoring activities designed to counteract the fairy tales the DV industry delights in spreading around.

This year RADAR has selected the theme, "It's Time to Tell the Truth about Domestic Violence." Throughout the month, RADAR will be releasing reports that highlight how the DV myths often preclude effective approaches to reducing partner abuse, and sometimes make the situation worse!

RADAR strongly encourages you to attend at least one Domestic Violence Awareness Month event held in your area. To find a listing of local events:

  1. Go to http://www.usdoj.gov/ovw/statedomestic.htm.
  2. Identify the domestic violence coordinating council for your state.
  3. At the coordinating council's website, look for activities listed under the Calendar of Events

Always be sure to present yourself in a polite manner. And if you really want to have fun, why not show up at the event early, dressed up as a storybook character:

  • The Wicked Witch who tricked Snow White into eating a poisonous apple.
  • Pinocchio, whose nose grew an inch every time he told a lie.
  • The Sly Old Fox, who misled the Gingerbread Men by saying he wouldn't eat them if they let him carry them across the river.

Pass out copies of the flyer (.pdf file) that RADAR designed specially for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Try to take pictures. If you come up with any good shots, post them on a website like http://flickr.com/, http://imageshack.us, or http://divshare.com/, and send the URLs for your best shots to info-at-mediaradar.org.

Finally, RADAR will be issuing several press releases throughout the month. This week's press release focuses on the many inaccuracies on the U.S. Department of Justice website, asking that federal agency to "Tell the Truth about Partner Abuse." The release is posted here on the RADAR website.

So we invite you to join the festivities! This week, send a friendly message to the DoJ Attorney General and highlight the many fairy tales on the DoJ website, urging him to "Tell the Truth about Domestic Violence.".

Send your e-mail to: AskDOJ-at-usdoj.gov or call the Office of the Attorney General Comment Line: 202-353-1555.

The truth is our greatest weapon. This month, we're going to make the most of it – and have a lot of fun in the process!

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Date of RADAR Release: October 1, 2007

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R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's approach to solving domestic violence. http://www.mediaradar.org/.

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Comments

Typically, "sponsoring" activities and events means organizing, promoting, subsidizing, getting media coverage, lining up speakers, catering, etc.

Other than recommending that "RADAR strongly encourages you to attend at least one Domestic Violence Awareness Month event held in your area...." (and dress up like a Disney advertisement)...

What specific sponsored RADAR events are planned?

Could we request a calendar with dates, times, and locations?

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Submitted by Roy on Mon, 2007-10-01 23:53

I don't know whether "sponsoring" is the best term. But RADAR has organized a number of lobbying efforts in which a team gets together in Congress and spends the whole day knocking on doors, talking to staff, handing out information, etc. to shed light on domestic violence and resist the misandry found in VAWA and its related legislation. RADAR has also organized a large coalition of different organizations nationwide in support of this effort. Those are two very important things RADAR has done (in addition to news releases and other media work, reports, etc.). To my knowledge RADAR is the only group in DC working very hard on this year round. Some others have done fantastic work in DC on a more seasonal and occasional basis, and sometimes more successfully than RADAR. But having RADAR there and doing what it's doing is very important. I don't agree with every method RADAR uses but I support and thank them for all their hard work and sacrifice and efforts. We need more of this and need more people supporting and participating in these types of efforts.

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Submitted by Marc A. on Tue, 2007-10-02 00:05