The Government is Not a Sugar Daddy: NNEDV Issues Controversial Demands with a $3.7 Billion Price Tag

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Rebecca Stewart

Telephone: 513-479-3335

The Government is Not a Sugar Daddy: NNEDV Issues Controversial Demands with a $3.7 Billion Price Tag

WASHINGTON / December 7, 2020 – The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) has just issued a series of detailed demands to congressional lawmakers (1). The demands are controversial for a variety of reasons: Over-criminalization, interagency task forces, male victims, due process rights, COVID confusion, lack of effectiveness, and waste, fraud, and abuse. The NNEDV demand for $3.7 billion is irresponsible in light of the ballooning federal deficit.

Over-Criminalization: Last summer, 46 state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions endorsed a milestone “Moment of Truth” statement calling for an end to VAWA’s long-standing focus on “increased policing, prosecution, and imprisonment as the primary solution to gender-based violence.” (2) But the NNEDV downplays the calls of its own members to end the problem of over-criminalization of domestic violence.
Interagency Task Forces: The NNEDV calls for the creation of several interagency task forces, such as “an interagency housing program for survivors that weaves together funding from HUD, HHS, and DOJ” (page 8). Such proposals reveal a lack of understanding how federal agencies actually operate. Federal departments are known to be very reluctant to “weave together” their scarce funding with other agencies.
Male Victims: The Centers for Disease Control reports that each year, there are 4.2 million male victims and 3.5 million female victims of domestic violence (3). But the NNEDV claims the opposite, insisting that males commit the “overwhelming majority of domestic violence,” without providing any evidence for the claim (page 11).
Due Process Rights: One of the provisions of the Violence Against Women Act denies American citizens the right to defend themselves against claims of domestic violence made by a foreign national. The NNEDV not only ignores this legal mistreatment, it calls for a strengthening of the “immigration protections for survivors of gender-based violence.” (page 4)
COVID Confusion: NNEDV claims that the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with “an increase in domestic violence.” (page 11). Such assertions are contradicted by reports from police departments across the country (4).
Lack of Effectiveness: The NNEDV does not address the lingering concern that there is no evidence that current domestic violence programs are effective in reducing domestic violence (5).
Waste, Fraud, and Abuse: The NNEDV statement ignores the documented waste, fraud, and abuse among domestic violence groups (6). Earlier this year, it was revealed that the former director of the Florida Coalition to End Domestic Violence, Tiffany Carr, was paid at least $7.5 million over a three-year period. Carr currently is the focus of at least a half-dozen lawsuits surrounding her compensation (7).

The greatest problem with the NNEDV proposal, however, is its demand for $3.7 billion to fund a variety of domestic violence programs, including $200 million for “bonus” funds for homeless assistance (page 7). Such a demand is unprecedented and irresponsible. The request is irresponsible in light of the fact that the FY 2020 federal deficit totaled a record $3.1 trillion arising from the COVID relief bills. The $3.1 trillion is more than triple the shortfall recorded in FY 2019, according to the Congressional Budget Office (8).

The Coalition to End Domestic Violence calls on lawmakers to recognize the extreme nature of the NNEDV demands. The Coalition urges Congress to support domestic violence programs and policies that are based on science, fairness, and common-sense.

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