For 17 years the Violence against Women’s Act (VAWA) has allocated billions of dollars of taxpayer money towards helping female victims of domestic violence. Those writing and passing that bill have claimed that male victims do not exist in any significant numbers and should therefore not be included in most funded grants or programs. The proponents of VAWA also claim that the numbers of violent women are insignificant and therefore essentially none of the funds should go towards helping reduce violence committed by women.  This country needs to work cohesively to bring about a reduction in domestic violence for ALL victims. The VAWA bill is being reauthorized and these biased and discriminatory assumptions and stereotypes must be removed. This will benefit men, women and children.

Please call your senators and ask that they do not endorse the reauthorized VAWA bill as is.  Phone #s: http://www.theorator.com/senate.html      And then also:

Please sign this petition and share it with others in order to tell our Senators, Congressmen and President, that no bill passed in this great country of ours should ever be filled with so much bias and discrimination. Both women and men will benefit greatly with these changes and the violence perpetrated towards one another will decrease. Domestic violence is not a gender issue and changing the name to Partner Violence Reduction Act needs to be the first step.  (http://www.saveservices.org/pvra/overview/) ;                                           Below there is more info on why this bill needs to be rejected as is. Please read:

 There are hundreds of scientific studies that conclude that women initiate violence at the same or higher rates than men do.  Many of these can be documented  in Martin S. Feibert's bibliography.  (http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm) ; The just released CDC study also supports this: In the year preceding this study, equal numbers of men and women were victims of domestic violence.  These studies support the direct observations of violent women at women's shelters by domestic violence expert Erin Pizzy. Furthermore, the CDC has done scientific studies which concludes that teenage males experience higher rates of dating violence than females do and that 8% of boys and 9% of girls have been to the emergency room for a dating partner injury.  Denying that women can be violent to their partners also hurts women since these women will not get the help that they truly need.  Also, a study by Dr. Deborah Capaldi shows that women who initiate violence when both partners are violent, end up with the most serious injuries.

The following statement comes from a survey of abused men: "Hammers, knives, electric irons, ashtrays, scissors and screwdrivers were all cited by the men as weapons used by their female partners. 22% were left with lasting scars". Countless men have suffered abuse like this and have been threatened with being killed or being turned in as the aggressor thus having their home and children taken away. http://www.amen.ie/Downloads/26007.pdf  This survey was done in Navan, Ireland but similar results can be seen in the US.  This study proves that men suffer not only from their abusers but from the system and lack of attention and believability from police and the courts and society itself. Women have places to go and a legal system that protects them.  Men do not. Men have been denied help by VAWA funded shelters. Like Navan, our legal system here abuses men further. VAWA's past biases has led to society acceptance of female violence towards men. This is unacceptable.

Proponents of VAWA deny that false accusations are prevalent. This has led to countless innocent men being imprisoned or having their lives destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of false allegations per year are estimated. VAWA's presumption of guilt and erosion of due process of the law has led to the inability to defend oneself against accusations of abuse and violence. Those that advocate a presumption of guilt cite a low 2% false accusation rate on domestic violence and sexual crimes. This statistic is attributed to a survey of a single rape center in NYC in 1975.  This rate is unsubstantiated and research by Edward Greer to trace this statistic to an actual scientific study has shown no such study exists. Greer's work should be used to render the Dear Colleague Letter (lowering burden of proof) null and void.  What are true false accusation rates?  Studies have shown rates from 25% to 60%  No matter which rate is used, guilt by accusation alone must no longer be acceptable.  (http://www.falserape.net/falserapeafa.htm) (http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume6/j6_2_4.htm) (http://www.mediaradar.org/press_release_20070129.php) (http://www.anandaanswers.com/pages/naaFalse.html)

VAWA makes presumption of guilt. This presumption of guilt can be seen by the prevalence of the word “victim” throughout the bill. This should be corrected to "accuser". Another area where presumption of guilt appears is in the encouragement and funding for states that require mandatory arrest at the mere accusation of domestic violence. Even when there is no current evidence or prior history of  violence, the accused is immediately subject to arrest, removed from his or her home and separated from his or her children, sometimes permanently. The destruction of a life and family should never be based solely on accusation alone. Also victims may be reluctant to call to stop a violent act because they prefer their partner not be arrested and thus endure worse injuries.   In Coffin vs. United States (1895), it is stated: “The principle that there is a presumption of innocence in favor of the accused is the undoubted law and its enforcement lies at the foundation of the administration of our criminal law.”  VAWA must embrace this basic building block of this country’s legal system.

"Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."  This phrase is part of the 14th amendment. VAWA's presumption of guilt is a violation of due process of law. VAWA also does not provide equal protection of the laws as only the accuser is able to receive taxpayer funded or volunteer legal assistance, but the accused has no such access. This puts the accused at a great disadvantage. Also, the ability of the accuser to appeal should a college faculty find the accused innocent is tantamount to double jeopardy (5th amendment right) and should also be removed from the college section of the bill.

The actual definition of domestic violence must be narrowly defined in this bill in order to be sure the funds are reaching those that need it the most. Many jurisdictions have definitions of domestic violence that are so broad that almost anyone can claim to be a victim. Taxpayer money is being wasted by the millions on trivial or minor offenses instead of being appropriated towards victims that are in real danger. By narrowing this definition, many shelters that are now unable to accommodate victims in true need would be able to do so.

There must be closer scrutiny and additional audits of all VAWA funds and it's grantees. "Of 22 grantees, 21 were found to have some form of violation of grant requirements. There are too many victims out there that do not have access to necessary services for the Justice Department to continue to provide funding to entities that play fast and loose with taxpayer dollars.", says Ranking Member Chuck Grassley of Iowa U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

Judge Richard Russell at a restraining-order training seminar: "Throw him out on the street, give him the clothes on his back and tell him, 'See ya around.'...The woman needs this protection because the statute granted her that protection...They have declared domestic violence to be an evil in our society. So we don't have to worry about the rights. Grant every order. That is the safest thing to do."   VAWA helps in educating various segments of our society.  However, as the above quote shows, most of the teachings are biased and discriminatory in that they give the premise that only men are violent and abusive and women are only victims.  These courses are given in schools and also to judges and law officials.  The result has been disastrous. Male victims are never believed and are also turned into criminals by false accusations. Violence instigated by women is surging. Future teachings must remove these biases. Judges and students need to be re-educated. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/violent-incidents-involving-female-students-surge-on-campuses-in-schools/2011/11/11/gIQAOsMJJN_story.html)