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Domestic Violence Press Release Violence Violence Against Women Act

PR: $1.2 Million in Anti-Violence Funds Embezzled, Missing, or Misused: Fraud is Widespread, SAVE Charges

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

$1.2 Million in Anti-Violence Funds Embezzled, Missing, or Misused: Fraud is Widespread, SAVE Charges

Washington, DC/April 4, 2012 – Following release of three reports by the Department of Justice, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is charging that many grants made under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) are plagued by fraud and waste. Such malfeasance shortchanges the vulnerable victims of partner abuse.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued three reports in March highlighting the problem:

1. A March 28 press release announced the sentencing of Julie and Andrea Matau for embezzlement of funds from a VAWA grant. From 2005 to 2007, the mother and daughter pair stole $159,763 in federal money from their American Samoa legal services corporation, which had received $1.2 million in VAWA-related grants. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/March/12-crm-386.html

2. A DOJ audit of the Virgin Islands Law Enforcement Planning Commission reported that $847,553 in funds awarded by the Office of Violence Against Women were found to be questionable. Of this amount, $372,434 of expenditures had no records to document how the money had been spent. http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/2012/g4012001.pdf

3. An audit of VAWA grants to the Coeur d’Alene Native American tribe’s domestic violence program revealed $240,431 had been improperly spent, including $171,000 in salary for an unapproved position. http://www.justice.gov/oig/grants/2012/g6012008.pdf

Each year VAWA awards $500 million in grants to abuse-reduction organizations, but fiscal management practices have been found to be sub-standard. A SAVE report documents long-standing problems of fraud and abuse. http://saveservices.org/pdf/SAVE-Accountability-and-Oversight.pdf

The SAVE report points out that the Office of Violence Against Women has not conducted comprehensive self-evaluations, in disregard of directives from the Government Accountability Office and Office of Management and Budget.

Says SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook: “Victims of domestic violence are ill-served by fraud and waste, especially on such a broad scale. Congress must assure the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act contains strong accountability measures that deny funding to rogue grantees that misuse taxpayer money.”

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

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Bills Media Press Release Violence Violence Against Women Act

PR: SAVE Chides Media for ‘Sound-Bite’ Coverage of Abuse Bill

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

SAVE Chides Media for ‘Sound-Bite’ Coverage of Abuse Bill

Washington, DC/March 21, 2012 – Media accounts of the Violence Against Women Act bill, currently being debated in the U.S. Senate, are focusing largely on the political horse-race, charges victim-advocacy group Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE). This “sound-bite” coverage of the abuse issue glosses over the substantive problems and does a disservice to victims, SAVE alleges.

For example, a March 15 CNN story consisted of a point-for-point recitation of Senators’ talking points, providing little context for understanding the debate (1).

An article published in the Washington Post (2) failed to address any of the substantive concerns identified by Women Against VAWA Excess, including evidence that aggressive law-enforcement policies can escalate violence and place women at risk (3).

A recent letter by Concerned Women for America cited a statement by Angela Moore Parmley, Ph.D. that “We have no evidence to date that VAWA has led to a decrease in the overall levels of violence against women.” (4) But media accounts have largely ignored questions of program effectiveness.

Leading civil rights advocate Wendy Kaminer recently published an article in The Atlantic titled “What’s Wrong with the Violence Against Women Act?” (5) Kaminer criticizes VAWA for becoming a “prescription for false convictions.” But media coverage has skirted discussion of VAWA’s impact on the civil liberties of the accused.

In contrast, a March 14 article in the New York Times provided substantive and thoughtful coverage of the issues surrounding the VAWA reauthorization bill (6).

Media coverage has generally ignored the problem of violence against men, even though a recent Centers for Disease Control report found women were more likely to initiate partner violence than men.

“Domestic violence is too important an issue to concede the debate only to the politicians. In some parts of the country, victims have to wait three months to get into an abuse shelter,” reveals SAVE director Philip Cook. “Have elected officials considered how overly-broad definitions of abuse are contributing to the problem? We think not, and that’s why the media needs to do its homework in covering the issue.”

SAVE has developed a number of Special Reports that analyze and document a number of shortcomings with the present law: http://www.saveservices.org/reports

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

  1. CNN. Accusations Fly in Senate over Violence Against Women Act. http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/15/politics/senate-vawa-accusations/index.html
  2. Female Senators Push to Reauthorize Violence Against Women Act. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/female-senators-push-to-reauthorize-violence-against-women-act/2012/03/15/gIQAHuOYES_blog.html
  3. WAVE. Is the Violence Against Women Act Really Pro-Woman? http://womenagainstvawa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Flyer-VAWA-Pro-Woman.pdf
  4. Concerned Women for America. Letter to Senators. Feb. 1, 2012. http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/CWA-VAWALtr.2.1.2012.pdf
  5. Kaminer W. What’s Wrong with the Violence Against Women Act? The Atlantic. March 2012.
  6. Women Figure Anew in Senate’s Latest Battle. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/us/politics/violence-against-women-act-divides-senate.html
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Bills Civil Rights Domestic Violence Press Release Victims Violence Violence Against Women Act

PR: Violence Against Women Act Poses Threat to Civil Rights, Group Charges

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

Violence Against Women Act Poses Threat to Civil Rights, Group Charges

Washington, DC/March 19, 2012 – A recently issued report highlights a broad range of civil rights abuses that arise from policies endorsed by the federal Violence Against Women Act: http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/SAVE-Assault-Civil-Rights.pdf. The report, from Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), reveals the number of citizens whose rights have been impaired by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reaches about 30 million persons.

Last month, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) proposed a reauthorization of VAWA, which passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee to the Senate floor. But for the first time in VAWA’s history, the bill encountered strong opposition. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), aware of VAWA’s many flaws, offered an alternative bill, but that bill did not pass out of committee.

SAVE’s report documents 10 fundamental rights and protections that are being harmed by the Violence Against Women Act:

  1. Protection against libel and slander
  2. Freedom of speech
  3. Protection against governmental intrusion
  4. Right to due process of law
  5. Freedom to marry and the right to privacy in family matters
  6. Right to parent one’s own children
  7. Right to keep and bear arms
  8. Equal protection of the laws
  9. Right to be secure in one’s person
  10. Right to a fair trial

“Indiscriminate restraining orders, unconstitutional standards of evidence, and arrests without probable cause have been ravaging this country since VAWA’s passage in 1994,” SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook notes. “The civil rights of African-Americans and other minorities have been especially hard-hit by strong-arm domestic violence policies.”

The abridgement of men’s rights has also been allowed to flourish under the VAWA, the report documents. Family law attorney Lisa Scott has warned, “Don’t call 911 unless you are bleeding and she still has a weapon in her hand.”

SAVE, an advocate for all victims of domestic violence, is working to reform federal domestic violence statutes so they both protect victims and affirm the civil rights of the accused.

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

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Accusing U. Campus Press Release Sexual Assault

PR: Accusing U. Campaign Targets Dept. of Education Sex Directive

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

Accusing U. Campaign Targets Dept. of Education Sex Directive

Washington, DC/February 17, 2012 – Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is set to launch Accusing U., a national campaign designed to educate college students about the Department of Education’s new Sexual Assault Directive. SAVE says the Directive subverts fundamental due process rights on college campuses.

The Accusing U. campaign will be unveiled at a panel presentation to be held Saturday, February 18 at 10:00am at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington DC. The panel will highlight DED’s alleged anti-civil rights agenda, which affects students and professors alike.

The American Association of University Professors, National Association of Scholars, and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education have all come out against the Directive (1). Over 30 editorials have criticized the mandate on civil rights grounds (2).

The erosion of civil rights of persons accused of sexual assault was highlighted in a recent Yale University case. Yale quarterback Patrick Witt, a promising candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship, saw his application blow up when The New York Times revealed he had been accused on scant evidence of sexual assault.

Because of the DED Directive, which removes the presumption of innocence, Witt was treated like a proven rapist. SAVE believes, as soon as an accusation was made, Yale felt compelled to consider him an offender.

The Education Department’s Directive requires universities to use the 51% preponderance-of-evidence standard in sexual assault claims, instead of the traditional clear-and-convincing basis to establish guilt. In the case of Patrick Witt, a single New York Times article had the effect of convicting him in the court of public opinion, according to a Wall Street Journal critique (3).

The DED has expanded the definition of rape to the point that if a woman drinks a single beer – even at her initiative – and then engages in sex, the Directive classifies the liaison as rape.

“The DED sex mandate is opening the floodgates to a tide wave of false allegations of rape. So what will happen to the credibility of real rape victims? Will they stop coming forward?” … asks SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook.

More information about the Accusing U. campaign can be seen here: www.accusingu.org

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

1. http://www.saveservices.org/falsely-accused/sex-assault/complaints
2. http://www.saveservices.org/camp/ded-directive/ded-editorials
3. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204652904577195270818190282.html

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Domestic Violence Press Release Victims Violence Violence Against Women Act

PR: NY Times Anti-Violence Editorial Shortchanges Victims, SAVE Says

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard,

Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

NY Times Anti-Violence Editorial Shortchanges Victims, SAVE Says

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 — A recent New York Times editorial on the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act offers its readers a superficial and misinformed perspective on a bill currently being considered in the Senate (1). The controversy centers on the lack of effectiveness of many of its provisions, according to Stop Abusive and Violent Environments.

Sen. Leahy’s VAWA proposal, S. 1925, recently was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 10-8 party line vote.

Domestic violence is caused by a range of emotional and social factors such as substance abuse, depression, and marital instability, according to the Centers for Disease Control (2). It follows that the key to solving partner violence would consist of alcohol treatment, therapy, and partner counseling.

But Sen. Leahy’s VAWA bill ignores the role of these factors. Instead, VAWA funds the use of restraining orders, mandatory arrest, and prosecution of cases. Such law enforcement measures are ineffective, and in the case of mandatory arrest, place victims at greater homicide risk (3).

Angela Moore Parmley, PhD of the Department of Justice has acknowledged, “We have no evidence to date that VAWA has led to a decrease in the overall levels of violence against women.” (4) Concerned Women for America notes that VAWA’s elastic definitions of abuse “actually squander the resources for victims of actual violence by failing to properly prioritize and assess victims.” (5)

To address these shortcomings, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments has developed the Partner Violence Reduction Act, which amends and strengthens the current Violence Against Women Act (6).

“The New York Times editorial calls on Republican lawmakers to ‘explain to voters why they refuse to get behind the federal fight against domestic violence and sexual assaults.’ But victims of domestic violence are demanding that Times editorialists go beyond partisan posturing, and ask why so many VAWA programs aren’t meeting basic expectations of accountability and effectiveness,” according to SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook.

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

  1. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/opinion/republicans-retreat-on-domestic-violence.html
  2. http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/intimatepartnerviolence/riskprotectivefactors.html
  3. http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/Why-DV-Programs-Fail-to-Stop-Abuse
  4. Violence Against Women, Vol. 10, No. 12, 2004, p. 1424.
  5. http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/CWA-VAWALtr.2.1.2012.pdf
  6. http://www.saveservices.org/pvra
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Press Release Sexual Assault

PR: Centers for Disease Control Should Remove Flawed Rape Survey, Says Washington Post Editorial

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard

Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

Centers for Disease Control Should Remove Flawed Rape Survey,

Says Washington Post Editorial

Washington, DC/January 31, 2012 — A growing number of commentators are questioning the legitimacy of the CDC’s claims about rape and sexual assault. An op/ed published in the Washington Post exposes the scientific flaws in the study and calls outright for its retraction: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/cdc-study-on-sexual-violence-in-the-us-overstates-the-problem/2012/01/25/gIQAHRKPWQ_story.html

Columnist Christina Hoff Sommers concludes that the CDC’s findings are “wildly at odds with official crime statistics.”

Sommers does not exaggerate: The CDC reports 70 times the number of sexual crimes that the FBI’s gold-standard National Crime Victimization Survey does. Sommers makes the case that the political pressure of the domestic violence industry, whose interests are served by exaggerated statistics, is largely responsible for the CDC’s irresponsible sexual violence research.

Writing in December, Robert VerBruggen explained just how the CDC achieves its inflated statistics: “Researchers ask women about their sexual experiences, and then classify some experiences as ‘rape’ that most people, including the women themselves, do not consider to be rape.” http://www.nationalreview.com/phi-beta-cons/285936/re-sexual-assault-and-college-robert-verbruggen

Analyst Carey Roberts laid out commonplace New Years Eve scenarios in a recent column, and then explained how the CDC would have classified them all as rapes. “Rigging definitions to create bogus victims is old-hat to the abuse industry,” he said. http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/roberts/111229

The CDC’s exaggeration may be well-intended, these experts concede: the agency may believe that it is shedding light on the plight of victims. But as Sommers explains, “survivors of sexual violence would be better served by good research and sober estimates — not inflated statistics and sensationalism.”

In early January, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments sent a 12-page letter to CDC director Thomas Frieden outlining numerous concerns with the survey definitions, methods, and recommendations. Abuse prevention programs based on dubious research findings divert scarce resources away from true victims of violence, SAVE notes.

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

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Dating Violence Press Release Violence

PR: Tell the Truth about Partner Abuse: SAVE’s New Year’s Resolution

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard

Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

Tell the Truth about Partner Abuse: SAVE’s New Year’s Resolution

Washington, DC/January 3, 2012 — As persons start 2012 intending to make good on their New Year’s resolutions, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is encouraging everyone to strike a blow against domestic violence by resolving to TELL THE TRUTH about partner abuse.

Over 280 scholarly studies show men and women are equally likely to slap, hit, or shove their partners: http://csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm. But some persons continue to be abuse deniers, downplaying the problem of female-initiated abuse, SAVE notes.

In September, Vice President Joseph Biden appeared on The View to discuss dating violence. Government studies show teenage girls are more likely than boys to be the aggressors: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss5905.pdf.  But when co-host Whoopi Goldberg asked the vice president to “remind the women that the way to get a man’s attention is not to hit him,” Mr. Biden turned to his usual talking points.

In some cases, male victims of domestic violence have found themselves the butt of public ridicule.

This past July, Catherine Becker of Garden Grove, Calif. drugged her husband, lashed him to a bed, severed his penis, and threw it into a garbage disposal. Sharon Osbourne of ABC’s The Talk described the incident as “hysterical” and boasted to her national audience, “It’s quite fabulous.” “When you cross a woman, all is fair,” remarked TV personality Wendy Williams.

Lesbian and gay victims are often ignored, as well. A LGBT Domestic Violence Fact Sheet issued by the Center for American Progress concludes, “barriers to equal treatment for same-sex couples remain.”

Abuse reduction efforts that are based on untrue assumptions are destined to be biased and ineffective. Said SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook, “Our success in countering abuse misinformation this past year gives us hope for all domestic violence victims in 2012. That’s why we want to encourage persons to keep their New Year’s resolutions to tell the truth about domestic violence.”

Columnist Barbara Kay recently decried the continuing denial of mutual partner aggression: “By now there is no excuse for the failure of governments at all levels to follow through on — or at least acknowledge — the settled science of bilateral violence….Who will have the courage to bell this politically correct cat? When will revenge end and fairness begin?”

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Press Release Violence

PR: Media Criticized for Biased Coverage of CDC Violence Report

PRESS RELEASE

Contact:
Teri Stoddard
tstoddard@saveservices.org

Media Criticized for Biased Coverage of CDC Violence Report

WASHINGTON, December 18  — Men are equally likely to be victims of intimate partner aggression and are far more likely to have experienced coercive control at the hands of their girlfriends and wives. But SAVE, a victim advocacy group, is charging widespread media bias in its coverage of a recent Centers for Disease Control report.

The CDC study, known as the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, reached the following conclusions:

— 6.5% of men and 6.3% of women were victims of intimate partner aggression in the previous 12 months (http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/NISVS_Report2010-a.pdf , pages 43-44).

— Men were 50% more likely to have experienced coercive control than women (men: 15.2%; women: 10.7%) (page 46).

— 8.7% of men currently have an intimate partner who tried to get pregnant when he did not want to, or tried to stop either of them from using birth control. In comparison, only 4.8% of women currently have a partner who tried to get her pregnant when she didn’t want to (page 48).

But none of these key findings was mentioned in articles by the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, or any other major media reports reviewed to date.

Instead, media coverage focused on the survey’s finding that nearly one in five women were victims of rape or attempted rape. But media accounts sidestepped a controversial aspect of the CDC survey: the study’s inclusion of “completed alcohol/drug facilitated penetration” in its count of rape victims.

The CDC’s broad definition includes situations where the couple mutually agrees to attend a party and then engage in sexual relations. So if a husband and wife go to a New Year’s Eve party, enjoy several rounds of champagne toasts, and afterwards have sexual relations, the CDC definition would count him a rapist and his wife a rape victim.

And a couple celebrating their wedding anniversary in similar manner would be counted by the CDC as parties to a violent and abhorrent crime.

Columnist Robert VerBruggen highlighted the irony: “Researchers ask women about their sexual experiences, and then classify some experiences as ‘rape’ that most people, including the women themselves, do not consider to be rape.” (http://www.nationalreview.com/phi-beta-cons/285936/re-sexual-assault-and-college-robert-verbruggen)

“The average weather forecast provides readers with a more accurate and balanced picture than how most media outlets covered the CDC report,” explains SAVE spokesman Philip Cook. “Victims of domestic violence and sexual assault deserve better than one-sided headlines, inflammatory images, and fawning editorials.”

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

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CAMP Domestic Violence Press Release Violence

PR: Verizon Abuse Video Sparks Controversy, Condemnation

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

Verizon Abuse Video Sparks Controversy, Condemnation

Washington, DC/December 6, 2011 — SAVE is charging the Verizon Foundation with misleading the public about domestic violence, after the corporate giant released a video filled with one-sided images and controversial claims. Titled “Monsters”, the video presents a bleak picture of home life in America: fathers as abusers, wives and daughters as victims, and sons as future batterers (1).

Research shows levels of partner aggression are the same among males and females (2), an observation highlighted by the recent TV clip of starlet Kim Kardashian punching her husband Kris with a closed fist. A recent Washington Post article documents growing levels of aggressive behavior among women on campuses and in schools (3).

The provocative Verizon video has stirred controversy and invited condemnation.

One editorialist deplored the video’s “misandric boy bashing” and charged the information “has the potential for spreading harm and hate.” (4) The pro-feminist blog Jezebel has described the video as “disturbing” (5). Deploring the overt biases in the video, a blogger at RoarforFreedom wrote, “My mother still tries to convince all of her adult children–as well as the grandchildren, what an idiot and monster my father is” (6).

The Monsters video is not the only source of false information from the Verizon Foundation.

The Verizon website makes the claim, “Domestic violence is the single greatest cause of injury to women ages 15 to 44 in the U.S. – more than muggings, car accidents and rapes combined.” (7).

But leading family researcher Richard Gelles counters, “as good a sound bite as it is, the statement is simply not true.” (8) The overwhelming leading causes of injury to women in this age group are accidental falls and automobile accidents.

The Verizon website claims, “One in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.” But a balanced statement would indicate that one in four men also experience domestic violence in their lifetimes.

By focusing on aid only for female victims, Verizon ignores half of the population in need of help and perpetuates inappropriate stereotypes.

“Verizon’s video smears fathers as the only potential abusers in a household, when in fact women are as likely to abuse their partners, and more likely to physically abuse children,” explains SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook. “This scary animated video labels all fathers as potential ‘monsters,’ and frightens impressionable children.”

Misinformation and false stereotypes are widespread and undermine legitimate abuse-reduction efforts: http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/SAVE-DV-Educational-Programs.

(1)   http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52044-verizon-foundation-national-domestic-hotline-video-launch-monsters

(2)   http://csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm

(3)   http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/violent-incidents-involving-female-students-surge-on-campuses-in-schools/2011/11/11/gIQAOsMJJN_story.html

(4)   http://ncfm.org/2011/12/action/the-verizon-foundation-and-the-national-domestic-violence-hotline-team-up-to-promote-hate/

(5)   http://jezebel.com/5865167/domestic-violence-ad-implies-only-men-are-abusers?autoplay

(6)   http://www.roarforfreedom.com/comment-on-domestic-violence-psa-boycott-verizon-for-portraying-all-men-as-abusive-monsters-and-all-boys-as-potential-abusive-monsters-by-thegirlinside/

(7)   http://foundation.verizon.com/core/domestic.shtml

(8)   Gelles R. The politics of research: The use, abuse, and misuse of social science data. Family Court Review Vol. 45, 2007, page 45.

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

Categories
CAMP Domestic Violence Press Release Victims Violence

PR: Verizon Video Teaches Children to Fear Fathers, SAVE Charges

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard

Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

Verizon Video Teaches Children to Fear Fathers, SAVE Charges

Washington, DC/November 29, 2011 — A domestic violence video produced by the Verizon Foundation distorts the facts, plays on emotions, and serves to alarm and frighten young children. Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), an advocate for domestic violence victims, has communicated with Verizon executives about the numerous factual errors, but the company refuses to correct its dangerous misinformation.

Titled “Monsters,” the video revels in powerful yet destructive stereotypes: fathers as abusers, wives as victims, and young boys as future abusers. “The child who lives with domestic violence… is afraid of the monster just down the hall,” a girl’s voiceover intones, while frightening images of a hunchbacked monster-dad flit across the screen: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52044-verizon-foundation-national-domestic-hotline-video-launch-monsters.

Verizon’s aim in making the video — to help victims caught in abusive relationships — was noble. But the corporation is condoning the cycle of violence, since half of all partner abuse is mutual. An exhaustive California State University review of scholarship determined that levels of partner aggression are the same, if not higher, among females: http://csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm.

This past Sunday a Philadelphia woman struck her boyfriend with her car when he attempted to escape the vehicle. The man was crushed by the impact and pronounced dead at the scene: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/angry_girlfriend_kills_beau_with_xRacWhxDNQjqDrY4fVQMHL#ixzz1f3B7TotP.

And a recent Washington Post article documented growing levels of aggressive behavior among women on campuses and in schools: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/violent-incidents-involving-female-students-surge-on-campuses-in-schools/2011/11/11/gIQAOsMJJN_story.html.

The compelling — but unfounded — stereotype of an abuser population of men may prevent half of domestic violence victims from reporting their abuse, and half its perpetrators from receiving the intervention they need.

“This video is particularly disturbing since the use of animation makes it appealing to children. It smears adult men as the only abusers in a household, when the fact is women are as likely to abuse their partners as men,” explains SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook. “This video is dangerously harmful to children and to families.”

SAVE has documented that domestic violence misinformation is widespread and undermines the credibility and effectiveness of legitimate abuse-reduction programs: http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/SAVE-DV-Educational-Programs.