RADAR ALERT: Tell Dallas Transit to Stop Putting Kids at Risk

An analysis[1] of the data in the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services "Child Maltreatment" reports from 2001-2006, shows that:

• 70.8% of children killed by one parent are killed by their mothers
• 70.6% of children abused by one parent are abused by their mothers
• 60% of the victims are boys

This week Glenn Sacks [2] and Ned Holstein [3] notified the public that for the month of October, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has plastered billboards all over its buses, promoting the falsehood that only men ever commit domestic violence.

The misandry in DART's campaign is so blatant that it distracts attention from this even more offensive fact:

Under the guise of public service, DART is running a campaign that will inevitably increase the number of child deaths by promoting the false notion that children are always safer with their mothers because men are inherently dangerous!

Considering it was just last March that a mother threw her 6 and 8 year old sons off a Dallas overpass onto I-30,[4] you would think that DART officials would be well aware of women's potential for violence.

This week we're asking you to contact the top-level staff at DART and tell them:

• 71% of children killed by one parent are killed by their mothers. [5]
• DART's publicity campaign promoting the falsehood that women are always victims, never abusers, has the effect of promoting policies that will inevitably cause more child deaths.
• Since DART's publicity campaign is already in progress, simply stopping the campaign will not undo the damage they've already done.
• The only way DART can undo the damage and save the lives of the children they've put at risk is for them to:
  1. Immediately take down all signs and billboards and stop all advertisement related to their current campaign, and
  2. Allocate a budget equal to the budget for the current campaign, and run an equally prominent campaign to inform the public: "71% of children killed by one parent are killed by their mothers, and 60% of the dead children are boys."

Send your comments to the following people. As always, be polite but firm.

Gary Thomas
President/Executive Director
Phone: 214-749-3070
Email: gthomas-at-dart.org

Sue Bauman
Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Phone: 214-749-2504
Email: sbauman-at-dart.org

Randall D. Chrisman
DART Chairman of the Board
Email the Director of Board Support: NJohnson-at-dart.org

Robert W. Strauss
Vice Chairman, DART Board of Directors
Email the Director of Board Support: NJohnson-at-dart.org

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Date of RADAR Release: November 2, 2008

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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/.