RADAR ALERT:
VAWA Appropriations Hearings on April 5th – Call Senators ASAP

Next Wednesday, April 5^th, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee will hold hearings concerning funding for the Violence Against Women Act. And for the first time since VAWA was initially passed, the 2005 reauthorization bill includes language explicitly stating that VAWA-funded benefits and services are to be available to male as well as female victims.

Although Senators Hatch and Biden have publicly stated that this was always the intent of Congress, the majority of organizations in the Federal grants pipeline that are destined to receive VAWA funds remain firmly convinced that domestic violence is caused by sexism and the power and control of men over women in our society. This ideologically held belief renders these organizations unable or unwilling to recognize male victimization.

The majority of domestic violence organization websites clearly document that those organizations ignore empirical studies in favor of ideology, and they willingly and purposely ignore male victimization.

Furthermore, restraining order abuse is rampant, as documented in RADAR's recent report “Without Restraint: The Use and Abuse of Domestic Restraining Orders” (http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/VAWA-Restraining-Orders.pdf) Contrary to the original intent of restraining orders – to provide protection to spouses who are in danger of being beaten and battered – these orders are now granted for minor family disputes. And according to a recent article in the Illinois Bar Journal, restraining orders have become "part of the gamesmanship of divorce." Each year, half a million restraining orders are issued without any allegation of violence.

The temporary restraining order recently issued by New Mexico Judge Daniel Sanchez is only unusual because the target happened to be a celebrity who could defend himself. Sanchez, for those who don't remember, is the judge who issued an order against David Letterman, based on the claim that Letterman had used code words, gestures and "eye expressions" on the air to respond to a woman who said she'd been communicating with him telepathically.

The issuance of millions of unfounded orders each year trivializes and minimizes their effectiveness for those in real need of services and assistance. And an increasing number of studies by the National Institute of Justice and National Academy of Science document that mandatory arrest and no drop prosecution policies create as many problems as they solve.

The new RADAR report: “VAWA Programs Discriminate Against Male Victims”, also documents many of the contemporary problems and presents some solutions. (See http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/VAWA-Discriminates-Against-Males.pdf)

This week, it's extremely important to contact the following members of the Appropriations Subcommittee before their April 5^th hearings.

Senator	Voice phone	FAX
Thad Cochran	202-224-5054	202-224-9450
Richard Shelby	202-224-5744	202-224-3416

When you call or fax them, ask them to get substantive answers to the following questions during their hearings:

1. How does the Violence Against Women Office plan to protect the civil rights of innocent Americans falsely accused of domestic violence?
2. How does the Violence Against Women Office propose to monitor compliance with Section 40002(b)(8) of VAWA 2005, whose purpose is to prohibit discrimination against male victims?

As always, be polite and respectful in all your communications with the Senators' offices.

Date of RADAR Release: April 2, 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