PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Rebecca Stewart

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Email: info@EndToDV.org

Lacking Proof of Law’s Effectiveness, Abuse Coalition Calls on Lawmakers to Remove Gender Ideology from VAWA Bill

WASHINGTON / June 29, 2021 – Numerous persons say that programs funded under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) lack evidence of effectiveness. Experts cite the law’s reliance on ideological assumptions that do not account for the root causes of partner violence. The Coalition to End Domestic Violence is calling on lawmakers to re-examine VAWA to assure the law is based on science, not ideology.

Many persons have criticized VAWA for its failure to reduce rates of domestic violence. These are three of many examples (1):

  1. “Between 2000 and 2010, rates of domestic violence actually fell less than the drop in the overall crime rate – at a time when VAWA was pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the criminal system.” — Leigh Goodmark, Professor, University of Maryland Law School
  2. “Many women’s advocates have come to question whether VAWA’s approach—which relies heavily on law enforcement to reduce the incidence of sexual assault and domestic violence—could be having adverse effects.” — Rebecca Burns, Award-winning investigative reporter
  3. “We have no evidence to date that VAWA has led to a decrease in the overall levels of violence against women.” — Angela Moore Parmley, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice

Since its passage in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act has been based on three ideological claims:

  1. Claim #1: A pervasive power differential exists between men and women. Fact: It is not possible to draw a simple conclusion about such a complicated issue. In some respects, men have more power, and in other areas, women have more power (2). For example, only 17% of custodial parents are fathers, according to the Bureau of the Census (3).
  2. Claim #2: Domestic violence is caused by this power differential. Fact: A meta-analysis by Dr. Sandra Smith found the following factors are linked to domestic violence: marital satisfaction, illicit drug use, emotional abuse, forcing a partner to have sex, and attitudes condoning violence. Abusers’ need for “power and control” was not found to be a causal factor (4).
  3. Claim #3: Domestic violence against men is a negligible problem. Fact: According to the Centers for Disease Control, each year there are 4.2 million male victims of domestic violence, compared to 3.5 million female victims (5).

These claims are implicit in phrases such as “gender violence” and “domestic violence is all about power and control.” These beliefs have precluded VAWA from addressing the causes of domestic violence. Accordingly, the words “substance abuse,” “mental health services,” “couples counseling,” and similar terms do not appear in the text of VAWA.

Ironically, these ideological assumptions end up shortchanging women. Female abusers don’t get the help they need. And domestic violence in same-sex lesbian couples, which is much higher than among heterosexual couples (6), remains obscured.

The Coalition to End Domestic Violence urges lawmakers to rework the Violence Against Women Act so it is based on scientific fact, not gender ideology.

Citations:

  1. https://www.saveservices.org/2021/03/women-say-vawa-programs-lack-effectiveness/
  2. https://www.zurinstitute.com/power-in-therapy/
  3. https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/P60-255.pdf
  4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1359178903000557
  5. National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2015 Data Brief – Updated Release. 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/2015data-brief508.pdf  Tables 9 and 11.
  6. NISVS: 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/cdc_nisvs_victimization_final-a.pdf Tables 6 and 7.