VAWA 2005: PROGRESS TO DATE AND CHALLENGES THAT REMAIN

Over the last nine months, efforts to stop domestic violence bias against men have logged four major accomplishments.

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Over the last nine months, efforts to stop domestic violence bias against men have logged four major accomplishments:

1. Thanks to thousands of letters, phone calls, and emails, we have largely succeeded in stopping the blood-and-guts articles that routinely depicted men as the aggressors and women as the victims of domestic violence. In particular, the Washington Post, which strongly backed VAWA 2000, has not run a single article on DV since the VAWA legislation was introduced by Sen. Joe Biden.
2. In June a powerful coalition to reform VAWA was formed. These groups represent the concerns of fathers, women, and others. This coalition sent a letter to all members of Congress and ran a full-page advertisement in the Washington Times. [http://www.mediaradar.org/ACFC_OpenLetterToCongress.pdf] Members of this coalition are lobbying Congress on a daily basis.
3. We have succeeded in getting many hard-hitting editorials published in both the internet and print media. The latest example is “Amnesty International Promotes Violence by Women” by David Usher.
4. In July RADAR launched a Shock and Awe campaign designed to make the Violence Against Women Act male-inclusive. As a result, the House of Representatives removed language from the bill that referred to DV as a problem that only affects women, and added language designed to make the law gender-neutral. Although the wording contains some ambiguity, this represents a major victory for us.

But the disturbing fact is, the Senate version of VAWA – S. 1197 – does not contain male-inclusive language. The last thing we want is for the Senate bill to be passed as is, leaving the issue of male inclusion to be resolved behind closed doors in a House-Senate Conference Committee.

On Tuesday September 6 the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin its hearings on Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. No one knows how long it will take the Judiciary Committee to deliberate on the nomination, but it is unlikely the Committee will make any changes to VAWA until after it has voted on Judge Roberts.

Some battles hinge mostly on the matter of strategy and tactics, and other battles are won on the basis of firepower alone. At this point, getting the Senate Judiciary Committee to make VAWA male-inclusive will depend mostly on firepower.

Requiring VAWA to serve male victims will require an overwhelming number of phone calls and faxes to their Senators. It’s fine to send repeated messages to your elected officials, as long as your communications are RESPECTFUL and COURTEOUS. And the shorter your letter, the better.

VAWA represents a major violation of men’s civil and human rights, and we will not accept legislation that is discriminatory against men.

Despite all of our hard work over the past nine months, it now comes down to what we do in the next few short weeks. Look for RADAR’s weekly Alerts, visit RADAR’s website frequently at http://www.mediaradar.org/, and above all, expect success.

Let’s roll.

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