RADAR ALERT:
North Carolina Program Shortchanges Abusive Women

The Winston-Salem Journal recently reported on a domestic violence mentoring program for boys. (See http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&cid=1031783035517 If it's a good thing to teach boys that violence against women is unacceptable, one would think it should also be a good thing to teach girls that violence against men is unacceptable. Surely something is needed to counter the images Hollywood bombards us with showing women self-righteously hitting men, sometimes for a slight insult, sometimes for no reason at all.

The Winston-Salem Journal story tells us the city of Winston-Salem, N.C., Wachovia Corp., and Sara Lee Corp. all think that only boys need to be taught this lesson. Yet it's certainly a lesson that both sexes need to learn. The U.S. Dept. of Justice reports that 36% of those physically assaulted by an intimate partner are men. Clearly the women who physically attack these men were never taught that violence against men is unacceptable.

Girls who learn to think of violence as "empowering" never learn to control their anger, and when they grow up it's not just their husbands and boyfriends who pay the price. Their children suffer as well. The fact that we don't think girls need to learn to control their anger helps explain the fact that mothers are more than twice as likely as fathers to be sole perpetrators of child abuse, according to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.

If Wachovia and Sara Lee were truly public-spirited corporations, they would arrange to have mentors teaching girls as well as boys to keep their inclination toward violence under control.

The Winston-Salem Journal chose to applaud this one-sided program as something that "targets men in a positive way". They could have instead helped open people's eyes by pointing out the bias inherent in the programs, and suggested that Wachovia, Sara Lee, and the city of Winston-Salem should stop shortchanging girls with abusive tendencies.

Since they were too blind to see the bias, we're asking you to write the Winston-Salem Journal, and help open their eyes. Tell them:

1. Girls need to be taught that violence is unacceptable every bit as much as boys need to be taught that lesson.
2. The U.S. Dept. of Justice reports that 36% of physical assaults on intimate partners are perpetrated by wives or girlfriends ( http://ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/183781.pdf ).
3. The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services reports that "40.8 percent of child victims were maltreated by their mothers acting alone" whereas only "18.8 percent were maltreated by their fathers acting alone" ( http://faq.acf.hhs.gov/cgi-bin/acfrightnow.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=70 ^URL CHANGED )

Here’s the contact information:

Author of the story:	Patrick Wilson	336-727-7286	< pwilson@wsjournal.com >
Executive Editor:	Carl Crothers	336-727-7277	< ccrothers@wsjournal.com >
Managing Editor:	Jim Laughrun	336-727-7287	< jlaughrun@wsjournal.com >
State/National Editor:	Scott Sexton	336-727-7304	< ssexton@wsjournal.com >

When you write, be sure to include your name, address, and daytime telephone number.

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&cid=1031783035517

Campaign will focus on domestic violence (City, companies will start mentoring program)
Winston-Salem Journal
By Patrick Wilson
Wednesday, June 1, 2005

The city of Winston-Salem, Wachovia and Sara Lee are participating in a campaign to prevent domestic violence by encouraging male employees to mentor younger men.

The program is called Founding Fathers and was created by the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Mayor Allen Joines said while announcing the program yesterday at City Hall. The public is also encouraged to participate.

Joines said he has long felt that domestic violence is a problem in Forsyth County. There were more than 4,000 domestic-violence cases reported in the county last year, he said.

"This program targets men in a positive way," he said.

The Family Violence Prevention Fund is a national organization in San Francisco. Family Services Inc., the Center for Community Safety and local law-enforcement agencies and prosecutors also are part of the effort, Joines said.

Men will be encouraged to become "Founding Fathers" by signing a declaration that they will treat others with decency and respect and teach boys that violence does not equal strength.

The public is invited to attend an opening celebration for Founding Fathers from noon to 2 p.m. June 17 at Corpening Plaza in downtown Winston-Salem.

Skip Pros-ser, the coach of the men's basketball team at Wake Forest University, will attend along with elected officials.

In addition to signing the declaration, men who become Founding Fathers will be urged to mentor boys.

Wachovia is providing money for the local Founding Fathers program.

Among the officials at the news conference were District Attorney Tom Keith; Sheriff Bill Schatzman; Sylvia Oberle, the director of the Center for Community Safety; and Al Renna, the president of Family Services in Forsyth County.

Renna said he hopes that the program will encourage men to teach boys that violence against women is not acceptable.

"We learn lots of things in our families ... and unfortunately in some families we learn how to be violent," he said. "As we know, men can become tremendous models for their children."

A study done for the Center for Community Safety, which is affiliated with Winston-Salem State University, showed that 80 percent of domestic-violence victims in Forsyth County court cases were female.

Defendants had an average of eight prior charges and five prior convictions for offenses other than minor traffic violations.

More than 70 percent of the defendants had at least one prior domestic-violence charge, the study showed.

More information is available online at www.endabuse.org.

Date of RADAR Release: June 7, 2005

Want to improve the chance that they'll pay attention to your letter? Click here.

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