PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard

Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

SAVE Launches National Campaign to Reform Abuse Laws

Washington, DC/ Oct. 12, 2011 — Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is launching its national Campaign 2012 to advocate for the strengthening and reform of U.S. domestic violence (DV) laws. The organization is calling on persons around the country to seize the opportunity afforded by debates, rallies, and town halls to put DV “front and center on the political radar screen.”

SAVE spokesperson, Philip W. Cook notes, “All victims of DV are harmed by a legal system which does not afford certain victims equal protection of the laws, and which contains perverse incentives that encourage false claims by disgruntled partners. SAVE is hopeful that increasing attention will be paid to these injustices by candidates and lawmakers in 2012.”

SAVE is an advocate for all true victims of DV in an environment that tends to marginalize victims who are male or lesbian. The organization fights misinformation with true statistics—pointing out, for instance, that men are as likely to be victims of DV as women are—and also calls attention to homosexual victims of partner violence, who are often ignored.

SAVE’s Campaign 2012 is focusing on eight vulnerabilities of existing DV law:

• The ease of making false allegations, which end up harming true victims
• Priority for true victims, so that they are not re-victimized by the legal system
• Families and children who are hurt by laws that don’t recognize the truth about DV
• Mandatory arrest, a weapon a spiteful spouse can use against a partner
• Discriminatory practices that ignore half of DV’s victims
• Immigration laws, which provide incentives for candidates to falsely allege DV
• Mismanagement and fraud, which are widespread in billion-dollar federal DV programs
• False information disseminated by DV groups

SAVE is encouraging the public to join its Campaign 2012 grassroots volunteers at town halls and events across the country as electoral races heat up. The organization has made available at its website (http://www.saveservices.org/campaign-2012 ) flyers that highlight the reforms Congress needs to make. Concerned citizens are encouraged to ask candidates about their willingness to strengthen and reform DV laws.

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to partner violence: www.saveservices.org .