During Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Legal Victories Bring Light to Battered Men Again
LOS ANGELES/October 9, 2009 — October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and the National Coalition For Men (NCFM) anticipates two successful high profile legal rulings this year and last year in West Virginia and California, respectively, will bring needed attention to the hidden, overlooked side of partner abuse – male victims.
On October 2, 2009, a West Virginia judge struck down state rules for regulating domestic violence shelters because they operate “on the premise that only men can be batterers and only women can be victims” and “exclude adult and adolescent males from their statutory right to safety and security free from domestic violence” based only on their gender.”
One year ago on October 14, 2008, NCFM won a landmark appellate victory in California, which held that state laws violated men’s equal protection rights by excluded male victims from state-funded domestic violence services. The court found ”domestic violence is a serious problem for both women and men” and that “men experience significant levels of domestic violence as victims.” The court also found 15% of state-funded programs deny men services, but NCFM believes it is higher, as programs often “help” by only giving referrals.
More attention is needed for male victims and their children, as both are overlooked in state-funded outreach and services. And, for several reasons, men are already less likely than women to seek help for domestic violence. A major national study funded by the Centers for Disease Control in 2007 found women initiate or commit at least half of heterosexual domestic violence and both sexes suffered significant injuries. http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/42/15/31-a
This is supported by more than 200 other empirical studies summarized in an online bibliography by Professor Martin Fiebert of California State University. See www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm This research is more reliable than crime data because men are less likely to report the violence or to respond positively to crime surveys. But regardless of statistics, services should be need-based, not gender-based. When victims don’t get help, the violence often escalates, and children are emotionally damaged by witnessing it.
SOURCES:
10/8/09 Associated Press story in San Francisco Chronicle on ruling in West Virginia
www.sfexaminer.com/local/ap/judge-wva-shelter-rules-biased-against-men-63771622.html
10/14/08 ABC News story on Woods v. Horton decision in California
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&id=6453627
Woods . Horton decision in 2008 in California
http://www.cpedv.org/docs/101608CPEDV-Woods_v_Shewry_Decision.pdf
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