RADAR ALERT:
Contra Costa Times' Claim is Wildly Different Than CDC Research Results

On May 17th, the Contra Costa Times published their editorial entitled “Teen Dating Violence” (See http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/editorial/14599106.htm), in which they repeat the long-debunked claim that 95% of domestic violence victims in male-female relationships are female.

Last Friday's issue of the CDC's “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” reports that 8.9% of U.S. high school boys have been physically attacked by their girlfriends, a rate nearly identical to the 8.8% of high school girls who have been physically attacked by their boyfriends. (See http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5519a3.htm

And the most comprehensive research into dating violence worldwide, the University of New Hampshire's Family Research Laboratory's ongoing International Dating Violence study, covering 19 countries, finds that the median rate of female-on-male dating violence (29.2%) is actually higher than the rate of male-on-female dating violence (24.7%). Even when limited their investigation to severe violence, female perpetrators predominated at 9.4% as compared to 9.0% male perpetrators. (http://www.nh.gov/csm/dv_straus.html)

On Monday, May 22, RADAR will issue a press release entitled “Males Equally at Risk of Partner Violence, But Media Bias Persists”. (See http://www.mediaradar.org/press_release_20060522.php)

It's traditional for newspapers that learn they've disseminated false information to print a retraction. So this week we're asking you to contact the Contra Costa Times. Be respectful in your communications with them, and the facts will speak for themselves. Tell them:

1. The CDC just reported that the rate of dating violence is the same for boys as for girls.
2. The UNH Family Research Laboratory, the first and most respected such research institute in the world, has studied dating violence in 19 different countries and found that the rate of dating violence perpetrated by girls against boys is actually higher than the rate of violence against girls.
3. In their May 17th article “Teen Dating Violence”, the Contra Costa Times made the demonstrably false statement, “In male-female relationships, 95 percent of the victims are the girls.”
4. In light of this, journalistic ethics requires that the Contra Costa Times print a retraction.

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Date of RADAR Release: May 21, 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