Month: July 2012

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False Allegations Press Release Violence Violence Against Women Act

PRESS RELEASE: Most Support Reform of Violence Against Women Act, SAVE Survey Shows

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

Most Support Reform of Violence Against Women Act, SAVE Survey Shows

Washington, DC/July 17, 2012 — A strong majority of registered voters participating in a national survey support reforming the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). These persons support measures currently being debated in Congress that are designed to curb the waste, discrimination, and false allegations which are occurring under the current VAWA law.

Commissioned by Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), a victim advocacy organization, the survey shows strong support for reform among key voting blocs including women, young people, and domestic violence victims themselves.

Nearly 7 in 10 respondents – 69.5% — support changing the existing law to curb waste and fraud. SAVE has previously documented the lack of fiscal oversight of federally-funded domestic violence programs: http://saveservices.org/pdf/SAVE-Accountability-and-Oversight.pdf

Strong majorities also support reforming VAWA to stem false allegations – 63.5% of persons surveyed — and discriminatory practices – 65.9% of respondents — that the law has allowed.

About 7 in 10 persons who are a victim of domestic violence or who personally know an abuse victim support the proposed changes. Notable among the survey’s results are the demographics that support VAWA reform:

  • Women participating in the survey are more likely than men to support reform of the Violence Against Women Act.
  • Individuals under the age of 50 are more likely to support VAWA reform than those who are older.
  • Republicans are more likely than Democrats to support reforms to reduce fraud, discrimination, and false allegations.

Survey respondents are not necessarily representative of all registered voters. The survey methods and detailed findings can be seen here: http://www.saveservices.org/campaign-2012/national-survey-on-vawa-reform/

“Even though we have begun the process of reform, America has a long way to go before true victims of domestic violence get priority and damaging false allegations come to an end,” says SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook. “No one knows this better than the victims of domestic violence themselves.”

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

Categories
Domestic Violence False Allegations Law Enforcement Press Release Violence

PR: SAVE Applauds Justice Dept. Probe into Wrongful Convictions

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Phone: 301-801-0608
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

SAVE Applauds Justice Dept. Probe into Wrongful Convictions

WASHINGTON / July 12, 2012 — Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) welcomes the recent announcement that the Department of Justice and FBI are launching a probe of thousands of criminal cases to determine whether defendants were wrongly convicted. The news was highlighted in a recent Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/justice-dept-fbi-to-review-use-of-forensic-evidence-in-thousands-of-cases/2012/07/10/gJQAT6DlbW_story.html

Each year millions of dollars in prosecutorial resources are squandered on trivial and false cases of domestic violence, thus shortchanging real victims who deserve priority from the criminal justice system, SAVE believes.

One survey found that about two-thirds of prosecutors’ offices around the country have implemented so-called “no-drop” policies for domestic violence: http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/Unequal-Justice-in-the-Criminal-Justice-System. Such policies obviate the requirement of probable cause, and have resulted in innocent citizens being needlessly charged and wrongfully convicted.

In a recent high-profile case, high school athlete Brian Banks, wrongfully accused of rape, accepted a 5-year plea bargain, rather than face the uncertainties of a trial. Banks’ conviction was overturned in May after his accuser admitted on tape that the accusation was false.

Earlier this week, former Hofstra University student Rondell Bedward settled his lawsuit against false rape accuser Damnell Ndonye. Despite the existence of a video showing the sex was consensual, prosecutors had forced Bedward and 4 other accused men to be detained.

In 2011, SAVE filed a Grievance Complaint against Maine prosecutor Mary N. Kellett for multiple instances of prosecutorial misconduct: http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/COMPLA1.pdf. Kellett’s case will be heard August 30-31.

SAVE says the Violence Against Women Act, currently up for reauthorization in Congress, needs to add provisions that require prosecutors receiving VAWA funding to eliminate no-drop policies and enforce laws that ban perjury and false swearing.

SAVE is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to domestic violence: www.saveservices.org

Categories
False Allegations Press Release

PR: After Fake-Rape Video Goes Viral, SAVE Hosts False Allegations Summit

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org
Phone: 301-801-0608

After Fake-Rape Video Goes Viral, SAVE Hosts False Allegations Summit

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2012  — Three weeks after release of a video of Wanetta Gibson confessing to a false claim of rape, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is hosting a conference in Washington DC devoted to the problem of false allegations. The widely-viewed video was first aired during an NBC-affiliate news broadcast and then featured in a June 8 LA Times article: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/06/brian-banks-accuser-money-wanetta-gibson.html

The video features Gibson making the admission, “No, he did not rape me.” She also stated to Brian Banks, the man she had falsely accused, “I will go through with helping you, but it’s like at the same time all that money they gave us, I mean gave me, I don’t want to have to pay it back.”

The False Allegations Summit, to be held on June 30, will feature presentations and workshops on how to survive and prevent false allegations of abuse. Presenters include persons who have been wrongfully accused of abuse.

A recent report from the Urban Institute estimates that as many as 15% of people found guilty in sexual assault cases in Virginia had been wrongfully convicted: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/state-news/2012/jun/19/tdmain01-study-up-to-15-percent-of-va-sex-assault-ar-1997082.

“Almost daily we get reports of women who make false allegations, of men who are wrongfully arrested or expelled from college, and of persons who are exonerated after serving years in prison,” notes SAVE spokesman Philip Cook. “Alarm bells should be ringing, lawmakers should be holding hearings, and bar associations should be ordering ethics probes.”

Rape is No Joke, a victim advocacy group, has charged that “Enormous damages are done by making a false allegation of rape.” New York Post Andrea Peyser columnist laments that false accusations represent a “huge problem for future rape victims.” And Justice Enriques has decried that “False complaints of rape necessarily impact upon the minds of jurors trying rape cases.”

The conference location and schedule can be viewed here: http://www.saveservices.org/dvlp/annual-conference-2012/june-30-dvlp-meeting. Presenters will be available for interviews.

One in 10 persons has been falsely accused of sexual assault, domestic violence, or child abuse: http://www.saveservices.org/falsely-accused/survey. June is False Allegations Awareness Month.

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