RADAR ALERT:
VAWA Violates Civil Rights; Destroys Families; Harms Children

This week, RADAR has released a ground-breaking report, "VAWA: Threat to Families, Children, Men, and Women," (http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/VAWA-Threat-to-Families.pdf) that concludes that VAWA, although well intentioned, imposes a one-size-fits-all policy on American families. By treating families experiencing minor non-violent disagreements as if one party had attacked the other with a gun, families are ripped apart, the innocent are penalized, and children pay the price.

Among the points highlighted by the RADAR report:

• Even when couple aggression is mutual or minor, domestic violence programs discourage partner reconciliation and encourage divorce.
• A National Institute for Justice study concluded, "Restrictions on couples therapy and individual psychotherapy for battering are a point of contention between feminist-oriented batterer intervention providers and mental health providers in many communities."
• The total absence of safeguards to prevent restraining orders from being issued for false or frivolous reasons deprives innocent people of their civil rights. Each year, half a million restraining orders are issued in cases with not even an allegation of violence.
• When New Mexico Judge Daniel Sanchez issued a temporary order requiring David Letterman to have no contact with a woman he'd never met, who'd accused him of harassing her telepathically over the airwaves, that was no aberration. It was business as usual for the family court system.
• Family law attorney Lisa Scott describes restraining orders as 'weapons of mass destruction'. She says of family courts, "Whenever a woman claims to be a victim, she is automatically believed. No proof of abuse is required.
• The result is that children typically lose daily contact with their father. While this may be appropriate in the minority of cases that are pathologically violent, the children of those half million orders with no allegation of violence are two to three times more likely to use drugs, do badly in school, be socially maladjusted, and engage in criminal behavior.

This week, RADAR is asking you to contact your legislators by telephone, fax, or U.S. mail. Ask that they investigate the civil rights violations documented in "VAWA: Threat to Families, Children, Men, and Women" (http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/VAWA-Threat-to-Families.pdf)

Phone numbers and mailing addresses can be found at:

Your Representative in the House: http://www.house.gov
Your two Senators: http://www.senate.gov

Remember to keep all your communications polite and respectful.

Date of RADAR Release: March 19, 2006

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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