Category: Press Release

Categories
Domestic Violence Press Release Violence Violence Against Women Act

PR: House Approves Violence Against Women Act: SAVE Applauds Long-Overdue Reform Measures

PRESS RELEASE

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

House Approves Violence Against Women Act:

SAVE Applauds Long-Overdue Reform Measures

WASHINGTON / May 17, 2012 – The House of Representatives has passed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act by a 222-205 margin. Responding to public discontent, H.R. 4970 contains a number of measures designed to curb widespread waste and fraud in the domestic violence field.

A recent U.S. News poll found a strong majority of persons are opposed to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in its current form: http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-the-violence-against-women-act-be-reauthorized. Many women have questioned the effectiveness and fairness of the existing VAWA law: http://womenagainstvawa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Flyer-VAWA-Pro-Woman.pdf

Reforms contained H.R. 4970 include strong accountability measures, gender-inclusive language, and provisions to stem fraudulent claims of abuse by immigrants. The current VAWA law has invited immigration fraud by not allowing the US citizen accused of abuse to submit evidence that could refute the accusation.

The White House played an active role in opposing the bill. The Obama Administration issued a Statement of Administration Policy on Tuesday stating it would veto any bill that was modeled on H.R. 4970.

During Wednesday’s floor debate, sponsor Sandy Adams (R-FL) withstood numerous challenges. When informed by John Conyers (D-MI) that numerous organizations opposed her bill, she retorted, “Shame on them!”

Following passage of the bill, a number of established domestic violence organizations have reacted with anger and implied threats. The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women called the bill “dangerous.” The National Organization for Women charged that Representatives who voted for the bill “will be judged in the public arena and at the polls in November.”

According to SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook, “H.R. 4970 certainly is not a perfect bill. Still, passage of the House measure is a victory for victims who have been refused service in the past. It removes most sex discriminatory language. It is also a victory for taxpayers who are tired of the ongoing reports of waste and fraud.”

SAVE thanks the many organizations and individuals who have supported VAWA reform efforts. SAVE will continue to work for ways to reform and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act: www.saveservices.org/pvra.

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

Categories
Bills Civil Rights Domestic Violence False Allegations Immigration Press Release Sexual Assault Violence Violence Against Women Act

PR: SAVE Calls on Lawmakers to Stand Tall for Victims and the Constitution during Upcoming VAWA Vote

PRESS RELEASE

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

SAVE Calls on Lawmakers to Stand Tall for Victims and the Constitution during Upcoming VAWA Vote

Washington, DC/May 15, 2012 – A leading victim-advocacy organization is calling on Representatives to support reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, H.R. 4970. Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) says H.R. 4970 will best help victims of partner abuse and safeguard Constitutional protections.

SAVE urges lawmakers to resist attempts to expand definitions of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault. Overly-broad definitions encourage false allegations of abuse and make it harder for true victims to be heard.

Since its passage in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has sparked controversy. The ACLU once termed VAWA’s mandatory arrest provisions “repugnant” to the Constitution, and in 2000 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a VAWA provision designed to provide a federal civil remedy for sex assault cases.

One area of particular controversy centers on VAWA’s immigration provisions, which allow a foreign national to claim to be a domestic violence victim without provision of evidence. Under current law, the accused person is deprived of key due process protections and is barred from submitting evidence of immigration fraud. One civil rights expert termed such provisions “Kafka-esque.” (http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2012/03/the_new_vawaa_threat_to_college_students.html)

Last year the Senate Judiciary Committee invited testimony from Julie Poner, who was a victim of false allegations made by her former husband from the Czech Republic. Saying she had “suffered unimaginable consequences,” Poner lamented the countless men and women “who have lost access to their children, their homes, their jobs, and in some cases their freedom because of false allegations of abuse.” (http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/pdf/11-07-13%20Poner%20Testimony.pdf)

“Our nation was founded on due process protections such as the right of the accused to be advised of the charges, to confront his accuser, and to be afforded the opportunity to refute the accusations,” notes SAVE spokesman Philip Cook. “But under the existing VAWA, the accused is stripped of these Constitutional protections, affording more rights to the accuser than to the American citizen. This is a slap in the face to notions of justice and fairness.”

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

Categories
False Allegations Law Enforcement Press Release Violence Violence Against Women Act

PR: VAWA Must Stop Funding Lethal Mandatory Arrest Policies

PRESS RELEASE

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

VAWA Must Stop Funding Lethal Mandatory Arrest Policies

Washington, DC/May 8, 2012 — States that enacted mandatory arrest policies saw a 60 percent increase in intimate partner homicides, according to a Harvard U. study. Now, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is calling on lawmakers involved in the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to halt funding for such lethal policies.

Beginning in 1994, VAWA pushed states to change their domestic violence arrest standards from probable cause to the more aggressive mandatory arrest policy. Under mandatory arrest, the accused person is taken away in handcuffs if the police are called, even in the absence of evidence of physical violence.

VAWA’s 2005 reauthorization did away with the mandatory arrest language, but states continued to enforce these harmful policies. SAVE insists that the House of Representatives insert language in its version of VAWA that would stop taxpayer funding of arrest without probable cause.

Victims usually just want an officer’s help to defuse the situation, and are less likely to call for help if it will mean an arrest. So police aren’t there when they are needed most. Harvard researcher Dr. Radha Iyengar explains, “victims don’t want to call the police after the laws are implemented.”

SAVE’s report further details how the spike in homicides—more than 600 intimate partner murders a year—can be attributed to the mandatory arrest policies. http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/Justice-Denied-DV-Arrest-Policies

Besides loss of life, VAWA’s mandatory arrest policies have resulted in a civil rights fiasco by compromising the due process rights of the accused. Nearly 70 percent of those arrested are never convicted of the alleged offense—a sign that Fourth Amendment probable cause protections often are not met.

Said SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook: “The needless loss of 600 lives each year is a stinging indictment of mandatory arrest. Amazingly, Congress continues to dole out $30 million in taxpayer money each year to support this blinkered policy.”

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

Categories
Bills Press Release Research Training Victims Violence Against Women Act

PR: Battering the Truth: SAVE Report Reveals Many Abuse Statistics are One-Sided or False

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

Battering the Truth: SAVE Report Reveals Many Abuse Statistics are One-Sided or False

Washington, DC/April 11, 2012 — The federal government spends $76 million a year for domestic violence education programs, but 90 percent of the claims made in these programs are one-sided, misleading, or completely untrue, according to a new report from Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE). The report, “Most DV Educational Programs Lack Accuracy, Balance, and Truthfulness,” compares validated scientific research with the claims made by leading abuse-reduction groups: http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/SAVE-DV-Educational-Programs

The SAVE report highlights three offenders:

  1. The American Bar Association frames its discussion of domestic violence with the broad claim that “2 to 4 million American women are battered every year.” But the dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Work derides that statistic as a “factoid from nowhere.”
  2. The National Network to End Domestic Violence, an umbrella organization for state domestic violence advocates, has developed a fact sheet on “Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Fact Sheet.” Only five of the 30 statements contained in the NNEDV fact sheet are accurate and truthful representations of the social science.
  3. Judicial benchbooks, used by judges as summaries of current law and key information on a subject, are similarly skewed. Various states’ manuals present the statistic that 95 percent of spouse-abuse victims are women. In fact, men are equally as likely as women to be victims of intimate partner aggression: http://www.saveservices.org/pdf/Seven-Facts-Every-American-Should-Know-About-DV.pdf.

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which funds many of these educational efforts, has been criticized for having inadequate safeguards against waste and fraud: http://saveservices.org/pdf/SAVE-Accountability-and-Oversight.pdf.

SAVE has declared that such false claims are doing harm to victims of domestic violence. By imprinting a false picture of domestic violence on Americans’ understanding of the issue, the domestic violence establishment hampers outreach to male, LGBT, and other underserved victims.

Spokesman Philip W. Cook says of the report’s findings: “VAWA must not be reauthorized without a remedy for the damage this misinformation is doing to domestic violence victims and to our system of justice. The biases we are talking about are systematic, widespread, and doggedly resistant to correction.”

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

Categories
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.

Categories
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
Categories
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

Categories
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

Categories
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
Categories
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