News & Commentary: Critiquing VAWA

Article here. Excerpt:

'Obviously, no sane person is "for" violence against women. But VAWA, originally passed in 1994, has always been about more than preventing violence and helping victims. Sponsored by then-Sen. Joseph Biden, the law was crafted largely by feminist groups and activists who viewed domestic violence and sexual assault as a male "war against women," an instrument for enforcing patriarchal oppression. While these activists are no doubt sincerely concerned with the welfare of women, this is a blinkered ideology that often creates more problems than solutions. Most research finds that substance abuse, mental illness and dysfunctional family dynamics are major factors in domestic violence—far more so than male dominance or sexist attitudes. Abuse is no less common among same-sex couples than among heterosexual ones.

Moreover, abusive relationships are often characterized by mutual violence, and in male-female relationships women are sole or primary aggressors much more often than is commonly believed.
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VAWA-funded training for police and prosecutors encourages the presumption that the man is always the sole or primary aggressor in domestic violence cases. Among past recipients of federal grants for such training are psychologists Dee Graham and Edna Rawlings of the University of Cincinnati, authors of a 1994 book, Loving to Survive, which argues that women's relationships with men are akin to the "Stockholm syndrome" in which hostages bond with their terrorist captors.
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The VAWA model of feminism is not one of equality; rather, it is a mix of gender polarization and paternalism that treats violence against women as more worthy of concern. The best solution would be to replace the law with gender-neutral family violence and sexual assault legislation and the current Justice Department programs with ones based on diverse perspectives on domestic violence. Perhaps someone will find the political courage to champion such reforms the next time the law comes up for renewal.'