PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Teri Stoddard
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org
Poll: Most Don’t Want Violence Against Women Act
Washington, DC/March 27, 2012 — The broader American public opposes reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, according to a U.S. News and World Report poll that shows Americans think the law is ineffectual and unjust. Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) notes the recent U.S. News “Debate Club” feature on VAWA has elicited an overwhelmingly negative reaction to the law: http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-the-violence-against-women-act-be-reauthorized.
The top vote-getter in the poll was a commentary by Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America, who argued the Violence Against Women Act should “outrage decent people” because it “victimizes both women and men.” Crouse’s statement beat opposing votes by a nearly five-to-one margin.
Taking the other side of the debate was Deborah Tucker, Executive Director of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence, who argued the “Violence Against Women Act must be reauthorized because it is working.” But U.S. News readers disagreed with that claim by over a two-to-one margin.
While the U.S. News poll is not scientific, the sampling represents the first wide-scale assessment of American voters on the subject of VAWA reauthorization. Responses were in line with concerns about the bill recently raised by commentators across the political spectrum.
Atlantic magazine contributor Wendy Kaminer deplored the myriad abrogations of civil liberties in VAWA, insisting “the defense in a war on women should not be a war on liberty.” http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/03/whats-wrong-with-the-violence-against-women-act/254678/
Highlighting the problem of false allegations, New York Post columnist Abby W. Schachter ridiculed the proposed VAWA reauthorization, titling the law the “I lied to the police and got him thrown in jail” Act: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/capitol/the_lied_jail_the_police_and_got_s2zheEr5zwQ1CXY3cbgGCP.
Sharp critiques of VAWA have recently appeared other news outlets, as well, some asserting VAWA presents a “totalitarian” path to violence-reduction: http://www.ifeminists.net/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.1083
Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) has long advocated for victims of domestic violence. Said spokesman Philip W. Cook, “VAWA is weakening the core social institutions, chief among them the family, that can aid us in the fight against domestic violence. For the sake of all victims of domestic violence, VAWA must be reformed.”
Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to partner violence: www.saveservices.org.
