RADAR ALERT:
NOW vs. Rush Limbaugh on DV - Who's Right?
Last week, NOW responded to comments made by Rush Limbaugh on
domestic violence. Limbaugh stated:
"Remember when the NOW gang and all these other social
interest groups started asking women if they'd ever
been a victim of domestic violence? They didn't like
the numbers they got initially. The numbers weren't
high enough for the NOW gang. So they expanded the
definition to include a man shouting at them. A man
shouting at them equaled domestic violence. It didn't
matter if the women shouted first."
Melody Drnach, Action Vice President of NOW, responded:
"It shows that NOW and other advocacy groups are on
the right track spreading the message of domestic
violence when even Rush Limbaugh agreed that domestic
violence comes in all forms -- physical abuse, mental
abuse and verbal abuse ... When Rush Limbaugh
understands that shouting is a form of domestic
violence, then we are on the right track. Then we did
something right."
While Ms. Drnach is right that DV "comes in all forms," her
disingenuous comment about Limbaugh's understanding of DV
ignores the truth. RADAR Service's special report, "Expanding
Definitions of Domestic Violence, Vanishing Rule of Law,"
http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/RADARreport-Vanishing-Rule-of-Law.pdf
which analyzes the civil domestic violence laws in all
50 states and the District of Columbia, concludes that
statutory definitions have been widened over the past decade
to the point that in most states, almost any action can be
viewed as "violent." As Washington attorney Lisa Scott put it
in 2006,
"Domestic violence has become whatever the man does
that the woman doesn't like. Finding out she is having
an affair and demanding she stop is seen as
'abuse.' This often triggers the woman to file for
a restraining order, where no real evidence is
required. In my 18 years of family law practice, I
have seen this pattern occur over and over."
RADAR spokesman Ron Grignol would be a great guest for the
Rush Limbaugh show. Please e-mail Rush at his public e-mail
address (ElRushbo@eibnet.com), or if you're feeling ambitious,
join his website to use the member's only e-mail address:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/private.guest.html?ck=1240605527331
Ask Rush to interview Ron about the continually expanding
definition of domestic violence. Have the producer call
703-868-0535. Thanks.
Date of RADAR Release: April 28, 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
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