Category: Domestic Violence

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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.

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Domestic Violence Press Release Violence Violence Against Women Act

PR: Abuse Programs Must Tell the Truth, SAVE Says

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard

tstoddard@saveservices.org

Abuse Programs Must Tell the Truth, SAVE Says

Washington, DC/October 20, 2011 – In the face of documented bias and misrepresentation, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is urging abuse reduction programs to present accurate and balanced information about partner violence. This step is essential to assure programs are effective and all victims are served.

SAVE has demonstrated that only one in 10 domestic violence programs present truthful information about partner abuse: http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/SAVE-DV-Educational-Programs .

The website of one national domestic violence organization makes the claim that “there is not a typical woman who will be battered — the risk factor is being born female.”  But 250 studies show domestic violence is an equal opportunity problem for men and women alike: http://csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm .

The website of Futures Without Violence, a prominent organization in the area, depicts teenage boys as abusers, even though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports boys are 25 percent more likely to be victims of teenage dating violence than girls: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5704a1.htm#tab11

“It’s impossible to address the problem of partner aggression if we ignore half the victims and half the abusers,” explains SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook. “All victims have a right to society’s protection, and all perpetrators of violence need intervention and access to treatment.”

The effect of these misleading portrayals is that male victims, and victims of gay or lesbian domestic violence, do not receive the aid they deserve. And female abusers do not receive the treatment and intervention they need.

Because of the need to assure valid information is presented to the public, SAVE has established an accreditation program for training, education, and public awareness (TEPA) programs that address partner abuse. In this way, SAVE ensures that educational programs are based on valid science: http://www.saveservices.org/accreditation/

Sen. Patrick Leahy will soon be introducing the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act. In a recent letter to the Senator, SAVE offered language for the bill to ensure the accuracy of informational programs: http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/Ltr.SenLeahy.pdf

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 Domestic Violence Press Release

PR: On Partner Abuse, President Obama Flubs his Facts

PRESS RELEASE

On Partner Abuse, President Obama Flubs his Facts

Washington DC (Oct. 4, 2011) – Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is calling on President Obama to correct false information in the Domestic Violence Proclamation he issued Monday. At a time when victims are demanding accuracy and accountability, the declaration features misleading statements and inaccurate facts.

The presidential proclamation, issued for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, makes the claim that “One in four women and one in 13 men will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.” But multiple studies show that men and women abuse each other at similar rates.

The Center for Disease Control’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey reveals males are being victimized at a higher rate than females: 10 percent of teenage males versus 9 percent of teenage females report dating violence. In the American Journal of Public Health, a second CDC study of young adults revealed a dramatic gap for one-way violence: in 71 percent of cases, females were the aggressors.

The Obama Proclamation also states, “Young women are among the most vulnerable, suffering the highest rates of intimate partner violence.” But the President did not mention that the most important risk factor for female victimization is a woman striking the first blow with a slap, punch, or other form of physical aggression.

This follows Vice President Biden’s recent visit to The View (ABC) where he only addressed the problem of male-on-female abuse. The Vice President also side-stepped Whoopi Goldberg’s direct question about women hitting men.
The Presidential Proclamation follows a string of high-profile media reports of women harming, or threatening to harm men:
Duke lacrosse accuser Crystal Mangum stabbed her boyfriend Reginald Daye to death in April. In July, Katherine Becker of California drugged her husband, tied him to a bed, and sliced off his penis. Later, actor Daniel Baldwin filed for a restraining order against his wife writing, “My wife has claimed over 10 times in the last two months that she will stab me, slash me or slit my throat in my sleep. I am truly fearful for my life.”

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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Domestic Violence Press Release

PRESS RELEASE: SAVE Deplores Portrayal of Domestic Violence as Glamorous

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard, tstoddard@saveservices.org

SAVE Deplores Portrayal of Domestic Violence as Glamorous

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), along with many other advocacy groups and media outlets, has condemned fashion photographs recently taken of television star Heather Morris (Brittany from “Glee”) engaged in mock domestic violence with a male model. But advocates other than SAVE have ignored the male victim in the pictures, and by focusing only on the depicted violence against Ms. Morris, they perpetuate damaging stereotypes and hide the facts about domestic violence from Americans.

A black-eyed Morris, dressed as Barbie, stares seductively into the camera, and later merrily presses a hot iron to her partner’s crotch. The photo depicts a getting-what-he-deserves storyline that reinforces serious misconceptions about domestic violence. Men are stereotyped as abusers, and Barbie supposedly strikes a blow for victims everywhere.

The truth is that men are just as likely to be the victims of domestic violence as women (although they are much less likely to report the crime) and most of the time, domestic disputes result in mutual violence. But while Barbie’s bruising is facial, “Ken” is sexually assaulted through his trousers. In this case, as in thousands of others, shame will probably cause Ken not to report the crime.

Predictably, reactions to the photos have focused only on the abuse to Barbie: her assault of Ken has been ignored, even though it is the more serious crime. Rita Smith, director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), spoke to E! news about the photos, but it was as if she had seen a different set of photos.

Still worse, nothing has been said about the photographer’s donation to an advocacy group that disregards male victims of domestic violence and portrays men as serial abusers: after the negative public reaction to the shoot, Tyler Shields told the Daily Mail that he would auction off his photos and donate the proceeds to Glamour magazine’s Tell Somebody campaign. The Tell Somebody campaign, like almost all programs, focuses exclusively on violence perpetrated against women—that is, on only half the picture.

SAVE is calling on Shields to select a different beneficiary—one that serves all victims, whether they are female or male, gay or straight—so that proceeds from the sale of a photo making light of domestic violence  victims will not go to a project that stereotypes men as the only abusers.

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Dating Violence Domestic Violence False Allegations Press Release

11% Falsely Accused of Abuse, Survey Shows

11% Falsely Accused of Abuse, Survey Shows

WASHINGTON / June 2, 2011 – A national survey of 10,000 Americans reveals 11% report they have been falsely accused of abuse. The first-ever survey of its type probed persons’ first-hand experiences with false allegations of child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual abuse. The study was commissioned by Stop Abusive and Violent Environments.

The survey results headlined a False Allegations Summit, which was held today at the Fairfax Hotel in Washington, DC.

Conducted May 2-4, 2011, the survey also found 15% of respondents personally knew someone who has been falsely accused of abuse. In 81% of the cases the falsely accused person was a male, and in 70% of cases the false alleger was a female. Twenty-six percent of the wrongful accusations were made in the context of a child custody dispute.

“This survey shows tens of millions of Americans have been falsely accused of abuse,” explains SAVE spokesperson Natasha Spivack, “These persons were stamped with the scarlet Abuser label, leaving them to wonder whatever happened to the notion of ‘innocent until proven guilty’.”

The Summit featured statements by leading stakeholder organizations, including the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Home School Legal Defense Association, American Coalition for Fathers and Children, National Coalition for Men, and Encounters International.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers statement spotlighted the “immense, often irreparable harm caused to our clients by false allegations, not only to reputation and personal relationships, but often to the accused individual’s livelihood and even heath.”

The Summit also included the emotion-wrought testimonies by four victims of false allegations of abuse.

The False Allegations Summit is being held in the wake of a recent Washington Post front-page article about Sean Lanigan, a local school teacher who was falsely accused of sexual molestation by a 12-year-old student. The article triggered editorial commentaries and citizens’ expressions of disbelief and outrage.

The full survey results can be viewed here: http://www.saveservices.org/false-allegations-awareness-month/survey-results/. The False Allegations Summit is the kick-off to False Allegations Awareness Month in June. More information on the observance can be found here: http://www.saveservices.org/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

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Domestic Violence Press Release Sexual Assault Victims Violence

NFL Must Tackle Super Bowl Abuse Myth

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

WASHINGTON / February 4, 2011 – A victim rights group is calling on the National Football League to denounce the myth that Super Bowl Sunday is a “day of dread” for victims of abuse. Stop Abusive and Violent Environments – SAVE – believes such claims foster hysteria and trivialize the problem of domestic violence.

The myth dates back to 1993 when a group of activists charged Super Bowl Sunday was “biggest day of the year for violence against women.” The myth was later refuted by the Washington Post: http://www.snopes.com/crime/statistics/superbowl.asp

Still, groups like the Crisis Control Center in Texas are using the falsehood to promote its fund-raising efforts. According to a recent Crisis Control Center statement, Super Bowl weekend has “one of the highest incidences of domestic violence and sexual assault than any other weekend during the year.”

But Christina Hoff Sommers of the American Enterprise Institute doubts that view. “Women who are at risk for domestic violence are going to be helped by state of the art research and good information. They are not going to be helped by hyperbole and manufactured data,” she explained in a recent interview with The Daily Caller.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has recently joined the 15th anniversary team of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, along with other sports figures.

“While we appreciate Commissioner Goodell’s efforts to bring attention to the issue of domestic violence, he should also refuse to allow this persistent lie to stereotype NFL players as abusers or to tarnish the family appeal of the annual Super Bowl event,” according to SAVE spokesman Philip Cook. “We call on Mr. Goodell to repudiate the Super Bowl Myth as a spurious and blatant distortion of the truth.”

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments has recently released a video, “Seven Key Facts about Domestic Violence,” that documents how partner abuse is an equal opportunity problem of men and women: http://www.saveservices.org/key-facts/ . SAVE sponsors the TEPA (Training, Education, and Public Awareness) Accreditation program, a quality-assurance initiative: http://www.saveservices.org/service-providers/ .

And SAVE will be holding a conference February 24 in Washington DC. Persons who wish to attend “Hoax: The Continuing Distortions of Domestic Abuse” should pre-register here: tstoddard@saveservices.org .

SAVE is a 501(c)3 victim advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to domestic violence: www.saveservices.org .

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Domestic Violence Press Release

Mandatory Arrest Must be Handcuffed, Group Says

PRESS RELEASE

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

WASHINGTON / January 31, 2011 –  Calling mandatory arrest “injurious” and “lethal,” Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is today calling on the Senate and House Judiciary Committees to institute a Defective Policy Recall to remove the practice of arresting persons accused of domestic violence without solid evidence or probable cause.

The SAVE letter to the Judiciary Committees cites a 2007 Harvard University study that found mandatory arrest increases partner homicides by nearly 60%. This translates into about 600 persons killed each year. According to Radha Iyengar, author of the Harvard study, the reason mandatory arrest backfires is that such policies “discourage victims from calling for help.”

An earlier study of mandatory arrest in Milwaukee concluded, “mandatory arrest prevents 2,504 acts of violence against primarily white women at the price of 5,409 acts of violence against primarily black women.”

“Although mandatory arrest makes for a good ‘get-tough-on-crime’ sound-bite, the bitter reality for victims is that it places their lives at risk,” explains Claudia Cornell, Psy.D., SAVE spokesperson. “Considering the heavy-handed practice is costing us two deaths a day, there’s no excuse to delay implementing alternatives to arrest for lower level aggression.”

Mandatory prosecution policies are also found to be harmful. According to research by Laura Dugan of the University of Maryland, such “no-drop” policies double white women’s risk of homicide. About two-thirds of prosecutors adhere to mandatory policies for allegations of domestic violence.

Each year the federal government spends $56 million under the Violence Against Women Act to promote mandatory arrest and no-drop prosecution. Even though the federal law removed its endorsement of mandatory arrest in 2005, none of the states with such laws have repealed these policies.

The over-criminalization of partner conflicts detracts from law enforcement efforts. Last November Adyan Sanchez of Bradenton, Fla. was arrested for tossing tamales at her boyfriend. In May, 73-year-old Theresa Collier of Largo, Fla. spent 24 hours in jail for slapping her foul-mouthed granddaughter on the face.

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

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Domestic Violence Press Release

TEPA Accreditation Program Promotes Evidence-Based Policy and Practice

PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Teri Stoddard, 301-801-0608, tstoddard@saveservices.org

WASHINGTON / December 28, 2010 — Our nation’s decades-long effort to curb domestic violence rests on the three-legged stool of criminal justice programs, shelter services, and training, education, and public awareness. Criminal justice programs and shelters are already monitored by a variety of regulatory and professional oversight bodies.

But how do we know that abuse information that is disseminated to police officers, judges, and the general public is accurate, unbiased, and up-to-date? Philip Cook, author of Abused Men, believes “there is more false, falsely framed, or disingenuously deceptive information about domestic violence than any other significant public and social issue.”

To address this need, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments – SAVE – has established the TEPA (Training, Education, and Public Awareness) Accreditation Program. The program provides a Good Housekeeping-type “Seal of Approval” to educational programs offered by professional and trade organizations, state domestic violence coalitions, abuse shelters, and governmental entities. SAVE expects the accreditation program will promote evidence-based policies and more effective abuse-reduction programs.

For more information about the TEPA Accreditation Program, see: http://www.saveservices.org/policymakers/

SAVE is a 501c3 organization devoted to ending domestic violence.