What do you get when you mix equal parts of gender myth, a casual
disregard of Constitutional protections, and old fashioned political
pork? VAWA - the Violence Against Women Act -- that's what.
For the past decade, Americans have been subjected to the relentless
message, There's no excuse for domestic violence against a woman.
OK, but what about Piper Rountree who was convicted six weeks ago for
the ambush-slaying of her former husband, University of Richmond
professor Frederic Jablin? Are cases of female-on-male violence so rare
as to be an amusing oddity in the newspaper obituary columns?
Here's the shocker: Women are just as likely as men to commit domestic
violence against their intimate partners.
Chances are you've been heard the urban legend that follows the
predictable line, male = abuser, female = victim. So I'm going to repeat
my statement, this time with emphasis: Research shows that women are
equally likely to commit partner aggression against their boyfriends,
husbands, and ex-husbands.
We're not talking about a handful of studies. Over 100 research reports
have shown this to be true -- you can see for yourself by visiting
this
website.
Here's how attorney Linda Kelly
recently
put it: "men and women commit
violence at similar rates."
Psychologist John Archer reached an even stronger conclusion in
his
article in the Psychological Bulletin: "Women were slightly more likely
than men to use one or more acts of physical aggression."
It's not a casual toss of a pillow or a playful jab at the chops.
According to Dr. Archer, 38% of all persons who suffer domestic violence
injuries are male.
So why don't we read about these cases of female-on-male violence more
often in the newspapers? Because men are far less likely to report the
incident to the police - nine times less likely, according to
one
landmark study.
To understand the DV urban legend, we need to go back to 1991, when
senator Joe Biden of Delaware
introduced
VAWA for the first time. But many
in Congress were opposed to Biden's bill because it ignored key
provisions of the United States Constitution.
First, the proposed law flaunted the intent of the Equal Protection
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Knowing that men are equally likely to
be victims of domestic violence, how could anyone in good conscience
propose a law that would confer greater protections and services, but
only for women?
Second, Biden's proposed bill violated the principle of federalism
enshrined in the Tenth Amendment, and thus infringed on state
sovereignty.
Not surprisingly, Biden's bill was soon relegated to the legislative
deep-freeze. That didn't please the rad-fems. So someone came up with
the idea of a publicity stunt.
In January 1993, a daring group of women called a press conference in
Pasadena, California. Sheila Kuhn of the California Women's Law Center
made the statement that would provide the boost the feminists were
desperately looking for: Super Bowl Sunday was the "biggest day of the
year for violence against women."
That stunning claim quickly appeared on Good Morning America, in the
Boston Globe, and elsewhere. The Oakland Tribune would report the Super
Bowl causes men to "explode like mad linemen, leaving girlfriends,
wives, and children beaten."
How's that for dispassionate news reporting?
Some remained unconvinced, however, including reporter Ken Ringle of the
Washington Post. In his article "Debunking the 'Day of Dread' for
Women," Ringle showed the feminist claim was a
preposterous
fraud. But Ringle's exposé
came too late -- the genie was out of the bottle.
The Super Bowl Hoax, as it was later dubbed, no doubt will become a
classic in the propaganda textbooks. And it clearly did succeed in
triggering a surge of letters and phone calls to Congress. The following
year the Violence Against Women Act was signed into law by President
Clinton.
Less than five months from now on September 30, VAWA is set to expire.
That means the Sisterhood's billion-dollar-a-year gravy-train will dry
up. Renewal legislation has not yet been introduced, apparently because
the Republican majority hasn't warmed up to the idea of dishing out
mega-bucks to the GOP's avowed political foes.
As the clock ticks down to September 30, the rad-fems are beginning to
panic. Armageddon-Day strategy memos are circulating on the Internet.
Decisive action soon will be needed to galvanize public support.
Get ready for a reprise of the Super Bowl Hoax.
