Ignoring Family Violence Statistics

by Richard L. Davis          

     Approximately two decades ago I was drawn, like a Bostonian to baseball, to the issue of domestic violence because the criminal justice system minimized, marginalized, and ignored victims of domestic violence.

     Today I remain interested, invested and concerned because women and children, with the help of our public policy makers and domestic violence advocates have been accepted as victims while males continue to be rejected.

     For reasons that escape my understanding, adult male victims continue to be minimized, marginalized and ignored by these same public policy makers and domestic violence advocates. As the father of three girls and two boys, I will continue asking for equity of behavior until all five of my children receive recognition.

     In recent public statements concerning the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Senator’s Biden, Hatch and Specter demonstrate their continued ignorance of the issue and their distain for the victimization of men.

     Senator Biden said when introducing VAWA 2005 that, “The bill we are introducing today provides a comprehensive approach to combating domestic violence.” Biden never mentions the victimization of a single male by a female. Any mention of male victimization seems to be forbidden.

     Senator Hatch said, “In 2003, 27 Utahans died because of domestic violence, and far too many women live in constant fear and lack the means to get the help they so desperately need and deserve.” It appears, as Hatch omits any mention of males. Hatch apparently believes that no males died, none live in fear or any of them deserve or need help.

     Senator Specter said, “Women and children are assaulted in their homes, on the streets, in the workplace, and on campuses.” He also makes no mention of the “M” word. After all, in his and VAWA’s world, females are the victims and males the perpetrators.

     In June 2005 the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics released the report, “Family Violence Statistics,” . This report documents that family violence, similar to violence in general, has dropped dramatically. It also clearly documents male victimization.

     However, it appears that Biden, Hatch and Specter or any of their staff have never read the report or if they have they just do not care about male victimization. Biden, Hatch and Specter seem oblivious to the fact that it is generally agreed, depending on the methodology of the study,  that men constitute from 15% to 50% of the victims of domestic violence.

     While the rates of initiation, perpetration and victimization for males and females appear to be similar in many surveys, few people argue that women suffer more injuries from physical assaults and more sexual victimization. 

     Surveys that include emotional and verbal abuse in their questions report the highest incidence rates. Surveys that limit their definitions to physical assaults or sexual violence report lower rates. Regardless of the methodology all report male victimization. 

     However, the only time the three senators or VAWA mention men is when they or VAWA want boys and men to engage in efforts to end domestic and sexual violence against women. It appears Biden, Hatch and Specter think boys and men are victims and females perpetrators so rarely that male victimization and female perpetration is too trivial to mention.

Facts Biden, Hatch, Specter and VAWA ignore in the above report:

ü      Murder accounted for less than half of 1% (0.3) of all family violence between 1998 and 2002.

ü      And 42% of the family member murder victims were male.

ü      Family violence accounts for only 11% of all reported and unreported violence between 1998 and 2002.

ü      Of that 11%, approximately one in every four victims is male.

ü      One in every four perpetrators of domestic violence is female.

ü      Approximately one in five persons arrested for assaulting a spouse is female.

ü      More than one in four persons arrested for assaulting their son or daughter is female.

ü      Almost one in three persons arrested for assaulting a parent is female.

ü      More than one in four persons arrested for assaulting a sibling is female.

ü      More than one in four persons arrested for assaulting other family members are female.

     VAWA wants to increase funding to $5 million a year for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The National Domestic Violence Hotline website has a documented history of minimizing, marginalizing, and ignoring male victimization and female perpetration.

     These senators and VAWA also ignore the Department of Justice report, “Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence”  This report documents that:

ü      Approximately 1.5% of women and 0.9% of men say they were raped and/or physically assaulted by a partner in the previous 12 months.

ü      That 41.5% of women and 19.9% of men who were physically assaulted by a partner were injured.

ü      Because many victims are victimized more than once there will be approximately 4.8 million intimate partner rapes or physical assaults against women and 2.9 million against men.

     These senators and VAWA also ignore a key issue found on page iii in the Department of Justice report, “Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women,”:

The data show that violence is more widespread and injurious to women’s and men’s health than previously thought — an important finding for legislators, policymakers, intervention planners, and researchers as well as the public health and criminal justice communities.

     Why do Biden, Hatch, and Specter and the legislation they sponsor ignore the important finding noted above? Michael S. Kimmel, a gender feminist and a professor of sociology, demonstrates far more wisdom than exhibited by the senators when he writes:

Men who are punched, slapped, kicked, bitten, or otherwise assaulted by their wives or partners are no less deserving of compassion, understanding, and intervention than are women who are so assaulted. And male victims deserve access to services and funding, just as females victims do. Nor do they need to be half of all victims in order to deserve either sympathy or services.

     Kimmel is willing to marginalize and minimize male victimization but, at least he does not ignore it and understands male victimization needs to be addressed. Biden, Hatch and Specter do not want to hear of it, see it, or speak of it. And their words and deeds document quite clearly they do not intend to provide any services or funding for male victimization.

     Biden, Hatch and Specter and the legislation they sponsor do not believe that the issue of male victimization is important and they and VAWA have decided to ignore U.S. Department of Justice data that clearly document male victimization.

     Biden, Hatch and Specter display an unacceptable lack of compassion and understanding, and they have chosen to ignore the facts concerning male victimization. Biden, Hatch and Specter have publicly minimized, marginalized and ignored male victimization. What say the other 97 senators? 

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Richard L. Davis is the author of Domestic Violence: Facts and Fallacies and the VP of www.Familynonviolence.org