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Protect Our Children, Tell Congress to Hold VAWA Hearings Now
In 85% of divorces, custody is awarded to the mother, thus
depriving the children of contact from their father.
That means each year, false claims of domestic violence contribute
to over 200,000 children losing daily contact with their father. That's
about 550 children each and every day. And that's a huge tragedy
for our children and for our nation.
This spring, 25 organizations from across the country banded
together and signed on to a Resolution to counter the negative impact
of VAWA. The Resolution
is shown at the end of this Alert.
We are requesting that Congress hold hearings on the massive civil
rights violations that are happening each and every day, as a direct
result of VAWA-funded programs.
This Alert is the last call for our VAWA Spring Campaign.
This is it. Please contact your Representative and two Senators with
this very simple message:
WE WANT CONGRESS TO CONDUCT HEARINGS ON THE MASSIVE CIVIL
RIGHTS ABUSES OF VAWA. AND WE WANT THE HEARINGS NOW.
Please make a telephone call to the Legislative Aide who deals with
judicial or family issues. Or better yet, fax a copy a copy of the
Resolution to your elected official.
Please do it now, for a better future, for our children.
RESOLUTION
Regarding the Violence Against Women Act
- Whereas, in 2000 Senator Orrin Hatch directed the
executive branch to “ensure that men who have been victimized by
domestic violence and sexual assault will receive benefits and services
under the Act” 1
- Whereas, despite that statement of Congressional
intent, male victims continue to be turned away from VAWA-funded
shelters. 2
- Whereas, the language of the 2005 Violence Against
Women Act now recognizes that male victims of domestic violence are in
need of treatment and protection, and requires VAWA-funded programs to
provide them with such services. 3
- Whereas, VAWA funds judicial education programs that
instruct judges to disregard constitutionally-protected due process
provisions, 4
- Whereas, judges often issue restraining orders
without any direct threat of harm, 5,
6
and restraining orders are widely used as “part of the gamesmanship of
divorce.” 7,
8
- Whereas, the Massachusetts Trial Court found that
less than half of all restraining orders issued in that state involved
even an allegation of physical violence, 9
- Whereas, it has been estimated that each year one
million protective orders are issued in the United States, and about
500,000 of such orders represent a direct violation of due process
protections, 10,
11
- Whereas, 15% of such protective orders are issued
against women and 85% against men. 12
- Whereas, research shows that most instances of
partner aggression are minor in nature, 13
and such cases require counseling, not legal intervention,
- Whereas, VAWA-funded programs and policies often
discourage couple counseling and partner reconciliation, and
- Whereas, various VAWA incentives serve to promote
family break-up, 14
which results in children losing daily contact with one of their
parents. 15
Therefore, the undersigned organizations request that:
- The VAWA appropriation bill for FY2007 include report language
directing the DoJ Violence Against Women Office to provide Congress, no
later than December 30, 2007, with client utilization statistics of
VAWA-funded programs and services, in compliance with the
male-inclusive requirements of Section 40002(b)(8) of the 2005 Violence
Against Women Act.
- The Senate and House Appropriations Committees support and
approve President Bush’s budget request to fund the Violence Against
Women Act at the $347 million level in FY2007.
- The United States Congress establish a panel to investigate the
claims that the Violence Against Women Act promotes the excessive
issuance of restraining orders, which often leads to family break-up
and inappropriate loss of parent involvement.
Signed:
Michael J. Geanoulis
RADAR: Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting |
Mike East
FATHERS: Fathers Asking to Have Equal Rights |
Gary Gagnon
National Congress of Fathers and Children – New Hampshire |
David R. Usher
ACFC – Missouri Coalition |
Dan Hogan
Fathers and Families |
Pastor Kenneth Deemer
Shattered Men |
Alan Rusmisel
Alabama Coalition of Fathers and Children |
D'Arcy L. McGreer
Fathers for Virginia |
Lee Newman
Stop Abuse for Everyone, NH Chapter |
Michael McCormick
American Coalition for Fathers and Children |
Jamil Jabr
Fathers-4-Justice |
Philip Cook
Stop Abuse for Everyone |
Tom Smith
American Union for Men |
Richar’ Farr
Krights Radio |
Lisa Scott
TABS: Taking Action Against Bias in the System |
James Hays
Coalition of Fathers and Families NY, Inc. |
Harry Crouch
Men’s Advocacy Network |
Terri Lynn Tersak
True-Equality.org |
Paul Clements
Dads Against Divorce Discrimination-NH |
Jeffrey W. Dick
MensCustodyShelterNetwork.com |
Gregory Romeo
Tulsa Area Fathers Rights Association |
James Semerad
Dads and Moms of Michigan |
Marc Snider
NHCustody.org |
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Michael Burns
Dialogue on Sustainable Community |
Marc Angelucci
National Coalition of Free Men, Los Angeles Chapter |
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1
Congressional Record, October 11, 2000, pp. S10191-92.
2
RADAR. VAWA Programs discriminate against male victims. Rockville, MD:
Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting, 2006. www.mediaradar.org
3
Violence Against Women Act, Section 40002(b)(8).
4
Bleemer R: N.J. judges told to ignore rights in abuse TROs. New
Jersey Law Journal April 24, 1995.
5
David Heleniak. The new Star Chamber: The New Jersey family court and
the prevention of Domestic Violence Act. Rutgers Law Review
, Spring 2005.
6
Wendy McElroy. Abuse of temporary restraining orders endangers real
victims. FoxNews.com , December 27, 2005.
7
Thomas Kasper. Obtaining and defending against an order of protection.
Illinois Bar Journal June 2005.
8
Thomas Kiernan. Re: False Claims. New Jersey Law Journal ,
April 21, 1988 Vol. 121 p. 6.
9
Office of the Commissioner of Probation, Massachusetts Trial Court: The
tragedies of domestic violence: A qualitative analysis of civil
restraining orders. October 12, 1995.
10
Dorothy Carl Quinn. Ex parte protection orders: Is due process locked
out? Temple Law Quarterly Vol. 58, Winter 1985.
11
RADAR. VAWA: Threat to families, children, men, and women. Rockville,
MD: Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting, 2006. www.mediaradar.org .
12
Cathy Young. Domestic violence: An in-depth analysis. Washington, DC:
Independent Women’s Forum, 2005.
13
Linda Kelly. Disabusing the definition of domestic abuse. Florida
State University Law Review Vol. 30, 2003.
14
Phyllis Schlafly. Federal incentives make children fatherless,
Human Events Online , May 11, 2005.
15
Stephen Baskerville. Violence against families: Fathers fall victim to
domestic-abuse laws. American Conservative , August 29,
2005, pp. 23-25.
Date of RADAR Release: April 21, 2006
R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic
Abuse Reporting – is a network of concerned
men and women working to assure that the problem of
domestic violence is treated in a balanced and
effective manner. http://www.mediaradar.org/.
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Each year the parents of 1 million American children get a divorce.