Critics Claim Act Curbing Violence Against Women
Leaves Men Unprotected
By
Jim Brown and Bill Fancher
A men's issues columnist says many civil rights violations are
occurring as a result of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Under
that legislation and a later modification passed in 1996, police
officers or military personnel that have a restraining order against
them are not allowed to possess a firearm.
VAWA's restraining order provision creates a problem for individuals
working in a job or military occupation that requires them to use a
weapon in the course of performing their duties. And according to
columnist Glenn Sacks, the evidence standard for restraining orders is
so low that they are often issued without any allegation of violence.
"Many times a police officer's wife or ex-girlfriend will get a
restraining order against him," Sacks says, noting that "a lot of times
[restraining orders are] used as custody tactics in divorces." So when
this happens, he explains, "The officer loses his right to carry a
weapon, and then he loses his job and loses his career."
The men's issues advocate feels Congress should repeal the Domestic
Violence Offender Gun Ban of 1996 and allow soldiers and police officers
who are under a restraining order to continue using their
military-issued or department-issued firearms for the purpose of their
jobs. This way, he says, "if you have a restraining order against you --
okay, so you can't have your hunting rifle or your other guns. But at
least you can have your department-issued gun so you can still work and
you can still have your career."
On the other hand, Sacks adds, "If you're convicted of domestic
violence, or if there's an Internal Affairs investigation and they find
that you in fact have committed domestic violence, or you have beaten
your wife, or whatever -- then I think, in those cases, those police
officers should be removed from the police force."
As the law is currently written, Sacks contends that highly decorated
police and armed forces personnel are losing their livelihoods because
of the VAWA. He believes the evidence standard for the issuance of
restraining orders must be raised in order to better protect men in the
line of duty.
Dr. Steven Baskerville, an advocate for fathers' rights, agrees that
the VAWA needs revision. "Most of the provisions funded in the Act are
used rampantly in divorce courts and custody battles to get custody of
children," he notes. "But what's even more serious is that the act
allows us to bypass due process of law."
While the VAWA may seem good on the surface, Baskerville believes the
legislation is being manipulated in U.S. courts. "It politicizes crime
so that crimes are not defined by due process, by criminality, or by
one's acts," he avers. "They come to be defined by what group one
belongs to, or the relationship between the parties."
Baskerville says the Violence Against Women Act, while designed to
protect women from abuse, has actually been used to destroy families and
undermine fathers' rights. Like Sacks, he wants to see major changes in
the legislation so that men as well as women are protected.
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