It’s Time to Tell the
Truth
About Domestic Violence
Partner Violence: An Equal
Opportunity Problem
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The month is designed to increase
awareness how to make our homes safe from
partner violence.
So what is the truth about intimate
partner aggression?
Nearly 200 scientific studies point to
this simple conclusion:
Women
are at least as likely as men to engage in partner aggression.
This is what leading researchers say:
“Research indicates that women can be just as violent as their partners.”
– Irene Hanson Frieze, Psychology of
Women’s Quarterly, 2005
“Recent evidence from the best designed studies indicates that intimate
partner violence is committed by both genders with often equal
consequences.” –
Donald Dutton, Aggression and Violent
Behavior, 2006
“Differences were observed in the rates of male and female partner
violence, with female violence occurring more frequently.”
– Renee McDonald, Journal of Family
Psychology, 2006
What Does the Latest Research Say?
- A
2007 survey sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control of young
adults found that 71% of the instigators in nonreciprocal partner violence
were women.
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/42/15/31-a
- A
national survey of married and co-habiting partners found that 8% of women
engaged in severe partner violence, while only 4% of men were involved in
severe violence.
Renee McDonald, Journal of Family
Psychology, March 2006.
www.smu.edu/experts/study-documents/familyviolence-study-may2006.pdf
Men often suffer injuries from their
wives or girlfriends.
According to a 2000 analysis by John
Archer, PhD, men suffer 38% of all injuries arising from partner
aggression. But men often endure their pain in silence and don’t report
the incident.
As a result, the media and others
often present a one-sided and distorted view of the problem.
What’s Wrong with Making False Claims?
Domestic violence industry advocates often make claims such as “95% of DV
victims are women”.
These
false statements only make the problem worse because:
•
Abusive women can’t get the help they need.
•
Male victims are denied services.
•
False allegations of abuse escalate partner conflict and families are
harmed.
•
Aggressive domestic violence laws short-circuit due process protections
and create a presumption of guilt-until-proven-innocent.
Warren Moon was the first Black
quarterback to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One evening
Warren Moon got into a fight with his wife. The police were called and
Mr. Moon was arrested. Against Mrs. Moon’s wishes, the case went to
trial. Placed on the witness stand, Mrs. Moon admitted that she was the
one who had started the fight by throwing a candlestick, and that her
husband had only acted in self-defense. Warren Moon was acquitted.
Domestic violence is not a gender-specific problem.
RADAR is spearheading the VAWA Reform
Coalition, a group of organizations around the country that is working to
educate the public about domestic violence:
www.mediaradar.org/docs/VAWA-Reform-Coalition-Declaration.pdf
For more information, contact:
RADAR: Respecting Accuracy in Domestic
Abuse Reporting
P.O. Box 1404,
Rockville, MD 20849
Internet:
www.mediaradar.org
E-mail:
info@mediaradar.org
Source:
http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/RADARflyer-Time-to-Tell-the-Truth.pdf