Picture
this: Ordinary citizens arrested in the middle
of the night, thrown in jail on false charges,
never seeing the inside of their homes again.
Show trials with predetermined outcomes.
Dissidents forced into treatment for politically
incorrect thoughts.
Does this describe Stalinist purges?
Totalitarian repression? The USA Patriot Act in
action?
No, this nightmarish scenario is our current
domestic violence system. Introduced in the
1980's with good intentions, these laws have
mutated into a system of repression, power and
control, manipulated by the domestic violence
industry and exploited by vengeful spouses
seeking advantage in divorce and child custody.
The crowning achievement for the victim industry
was the passage in 1994 of VAWA, the federal
Violence Against Women Act. VAWA codifies
gender-based myths that domestic violence (DV)
is virtually always committed by men against
women. VAWA is up for reauthorization in 2005.
VAWA was based on lies and distortions about
the true extent of intimate partner violence,
yet it continues to be funded at astounding
levels. Feminist groups, led by the domestic
violence "scream queens," tout hysterical claims
such as "the leading cause of emergency room
visits by women is domestic violence," and "95
per cent of victims of domestic violence are
women."
The government's own statistics contradict these
ubiquitous factoids, yet Congress can't help
pandering to the women's vote with a
billion-dollar gravy train. The Justice
Department's 1998 "Intimate Partner Violence"
report reveals that 1/3 of total domestic
violence murder victims are male. Further, less
than one per cent of females (and males) are
victimized each year. Hardly an epidemic
justifying a monstrous government system.
In today's domestic violence police state,
it's expected the woman is the victim. All she
has to do is call 911 and report her husband
assaulted her. In many cases she conveniently
fails to mention she slapped, punched, kicked or
pummeled him to the point that he pushed her
away. As a family law attorney for 17 years, I
have experienced the DV system personally.
Every example cited in this article has happened
to one of my clients.
The stereotype that the man is always the abuser
ensures he has no chance of being believed when
he says he is the victim. The police take him
to jail, and in many cases, he never goes home
again.
The next scene in his nightmare is getting
served with an order for protection. Originated
to immediately protect victims of severe abuse,
protection orders have become "weapons of mass
destruction" in family courts.
Drive-by protection orders (obtained ex parte,
with the accused not present) almost always
prohibit contact with his children and presence
at the family home, virtually guaranteeing full
custody to the accuser.
After 14 days living in a van down by the
river, the accused gets a hearing, an
"opportunity to be heard." In reality, it is a
show trial with a predetermined outcome.
Whenever a woman claims to be a victim, she is
automatically believed. No proof of abuse is
required.
Judges with "do-something disease," afraid of
some real victim being denied relief, hand out
protection orders like candy. In fact, the
accused is sometimes treated more harshly for
having the audacity to object. Meanwhile, real
victims must share crowded courtrooms with DV
fakers.
In many cases, the accused is sent to
"domestic violence perpetrator treatment,"
following an "assessment" with the foregone
conclusion that he needs treatment. If he
admits any abuse, it will always be used against
him. Denial of abuse is punished more severely
than actual abuse. Those who profess their
innocence are often forcibly "re-educated" for
two or even three years.
The only escape is to unconditionally surrender
to the authority of the oppressors (the court
and treatment providers), bow down and
capitulate to the accuser, then you might get
some time with your children. You still don't
get to go home.
Ten years of VAWA has resulted in the
wholesale criminalization of being a man. VAWA
didn't originate this nightmarish system, but it
legitimizes and subsidizes it. To some, the
solution is a gender-neutral law, such as
"Violence Against Persons Act." Even without
overt gender bias, federal intrusion into local
domestic violence policies is corrupting. It
nourishes a gargantuan beast and ensures a
massive stream of taxpayer dollars creating
endless constituent groups lining up to feed at
the federal trough.
We must de-fund and de-fang VAWA. We must let
police do their jobs without fear of making
politically-incorrect decisions. In the old
days they used their discretion on how to handle
domestic conflict. The parties were often
separated until things cooled down. Without
evidence of serious assault or injury, that was
the proper response.
VAWA turns every argument into a potential
murder case, and what police officer wants to
risk making a wrong decision? The easy way out
is to arrest the man.
It's time to stop systematic violence against
civil rights and recognize that even
well-intentioned laws can be used as a
bludgeon. Like the war on terrorism, the war on
domestic violence can go too far.
The laudable goal of ending domestic violence
cannot justify nullification of the fundamental
rights of an entire gender. We should all be
outraged at what is being done to innocent
people in the name of helping victims.
