RADAR ALERT:
Economic Stimulus Bill Funds Ineffective DV Programs. Call The Senate Now!

Did you know that the Economic Stimulus plan under debate in the Senate allocates 400 million dollars to fund ineffective domestic violence programs?¹

The Senate may vote on the Economic Stimulus plan at any moment. So stop whatever you're doing and take a few minutes to call these three key Senators on the stimulus bill right now:

Tell the Senators:

1. The $400 million for ineffective domestic violence programs ($300 million for VAWA and $100 million dollars for VOCA) should be removed from the economic stimulus bill.

   None of the VAWA or the VOCA funding have any place in a bill whose purpose is to get the economy moving again. The proposed 50% cuts to the VAWA and VOCA funding² would still allocate $200 million to these items that have nothing to do with stimulating the economy.

   Existing federally-funded domestic violence programs:

   • have led to the deaths of women and children³,
   • have wrought havoc on African-American families⁴,
   • have created incentives to make false accusations while lowering the bar for proof so that it becomes nearly impossible to exonerate innocent defendants⁵

2. Too many lives are at stake to allow the grafting of this funding onto the Economic Stimulus plan to thwart legitimate debate on how to create domestic violence programs that help, rather than harm, domestic violence victims.

3. The Economic Stimulus bill should contain items that will stimulate the economy. It should not contain close to half-a-billion dollars for domestic violence programs whose only reason for being in this bill is to prevent a legitimate inquiry into their ineffectiveness.

As always, remember to express your concerns to the Senators' staffmembers in a polite and respectful manner.

Date of RADAR Release: February 6, 2009

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