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.
Lisa Scott is a Bellevue, Washington attorney practicing in the areas
of family law, divorce and domestic violence. She is also a founding
member of TABS, Taking Action against Bias in the System,
www.tabs.org
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