Rumor in Washington, D.C., has it that House conservatives bent on dismantling the Violence Against Women Act believe they've succeeded by setting up a heads-I-win-tails-you-lose endgame. They figure, so it's said, that they can either force passage of the House version of VAWA -- a horrendous bill that fundamentally undermines the act's key programs -- or block passage altogether of a reauthorization of this life-saving legislation, in which case they would proceed to defund its programs in next year's federal budget.
Who knows if such speculation is true? What I do know is that these conservatives are not just playing politics. They are dead set on a broad-based anti-woman agenda that includes dismantling the Violence Against Women Act -- and it's up to us to stop them.
Here is what has happened thus far in the effort to reauthorize VAWA's life-saving programs: The Senate passed a VAWA reauthorization bill that is supported by women's rights and anti-violence advocates. The Senate bill would consolidate some programs to reduce costs, but at the same time expand services for underserved populations on Native American reservations and in immigrant and LGBT communities, as well as for sexual assault victims on college campuses. Senate conservatives like Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) balked at improving services to these inconvenient victims and came up with a substitute authored by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas). Not only did the Hutchison alternative fail, but the Senate went on to pass VAWA reauthorization by a vote of 68-31, with 15 Republicans (including Sen. Hutchison, to her credit) joining all Senate Democrats in support.
Over on the House side, however, conservatives picked up the failed Hutchison substitute and ran with it. The House bill, H.R.4970, fundamentally transforms the Violence Against Women Act. By slashing resources, imposing new and unnecessary costs on service providers, and turning its back on Native American women, immigrant women LGBT victims and college students, H.R.4970 essentially undoes VAWA's victim-centered response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. In some cases, the House bill even exposes survivors to known risks of heightened violence at the hands of their abusers.
Among other things, H.R. 4970:
The two chambers' dueling versions of VAWA reauthorization now need to be reconciled, and House leaders are playing procedural hardball to force their version to prevail. And this is where we come back to those Capitol Hill rumors: If they can't get the bad House version of VAWA through, they'll block reauthorization altogether and then defund its programs. Win-win for them, right?
Not so fast. Women voters are paying attention.
A growing number of women are becoming deeply disgusted by what they view as an extremist agenda to roll back women's rights and well-being across the board -- not just abortion rights, but also birth control, equal pay, affordable health care and, now, protection from domestic violence and sexual assault.
House Speaker John Boehner, according to Politico, wants to change the subject and stop talking about things like VAWA reauthorization. But the speaker can't have it both ways. He cannot lead savage attacks on women's rights and then whine when women take notice, object and push back.
If Speaker Boehner wants to avoid controversy over VAWA, he should support the Senate version of VAWA reauthorization, instead of the House bill that contains a host of regressive and sometimes dangerous provisions.
Of course, what Speaker Boehner really wants to prevent is people starting to connect the dots between his efforts to undermine VAWA and the other legislative attacks aimed specifically at women. Conservative bills like H.R.1, H.R.3 and H.R.317, respectively remove federal funding for family planning clinics, prevent private insurance from covering abortion costs and authorize public hospitals to watch pregnant women die rather than perform lifesaving abortions.
And let's not forget the Ryan Budget, which rolls back Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits and defunds or cuts programs like Head Start, food stamps, after-school care, job training and college tuition assistance -- all programs that disproportionately serve and employ women -- in order to increase military spending and tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.
Is there a connection there? Well, guess who co-sponsored and/or voted for every last one of those bills? Yup -- the very same folks behind the House version of VAWA. You could call this a calculated strategic exploitation of economic and political imbalances in service of an agenda to reinstate mid-20th century gender roles and relations.
Or, you could call it a war on women.
And join me in mobilizing to kick these extremists out of office.
Follow Terry O'Neill on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Terryoneill
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The DHHS report contains clear and undeniable evidence that the majority of child abuse is committed by mothers, not fathers. This runs counter to the standard mainstream-media depiction of child abusers as being almost exclusively male.
You can get a free copy of the report by calling 1-800-394-3366. Examine the data and you will come to the same conclusion the Department of Health and Human Services did- that mothers commit the majority of child abuse, not fathers.
•Table 5-3 shows that children in mother-only households are almost 4 times more likely to be fatally abused [read: murdered] than children in father-only households.
•Table 6-4 shows that females are 78% of the perpetrators of fatal child abuse [read: child murder], 81% of natural parents who seriously abuse their children, 72% of natural parents who moderately abuse their children, and 65% of natural parents who are inferred to have abused their children.
Of cource, you can rest assured that the woman who commited the crime has the full backing of the local woman shelter. The victum cannot recieve services based upon his sex. Shelters are for WOMAN only. The perp in this case gets the kids, house, crs and bank accounts. While the victum is recovering from the wounds and exculded from his home for 30 days.
You see the perp got a restraining order from the Court stating she was verbally abused. So she had the right to shot her husband. Perhaps, Ms. O'neill would be happy if men were to sit in the back of the bus and have seperate drinking foutains.
This data is from the NISVS. You can google that and find it on the CDC web site. Go to the full report and have a look at page 38, tables 4.1 and 4.2, the first for women and the second for men. Notice that in the last 12 months the number for men is 5,365,000 while for the women in chart 4.1 it is 4,741,000.
The problem of domestic violence is one that impacts both men and women but the thrust of the VAWA is to ignore the male victims and also the female perpetrators. It's time we dropped the ideological banners and start seeing and serving all people who are in need.
How could they not tell it to the world? Because it would be a lie.
Yet Ms Oneill's causes are only directed at domestic relationships. We have primarily leaders who are males of which NOW says 3/4 of them are wife beaters, incestuous kid abusers and worse. Is it true ! That really does mean that either 'Attorney' O'Niell has lost it, or is seeking federal professional welfare for a failed political argument. I find that it is a four billion dollar scam by paid professional welfare recipients.. That money to this day as in the past is non performing and unaccountable.
Throughout the US many walk away with nice BMW's, perks, many political meetings, no work nor victim help. Ring and find those resources they claim. Married, we will get rid of the Guy ! , no man involved, forget it. Got kids let us take them off your hands, no boys please !.
"•Imposes costly new paperwork and audit burdens on agencies" -- Do you mean that its OK for agencies that receive VAWA support to squander billions of dollars of federal funds, not be required to account for it, and get more billions to shove down a rat hole the next year?
"•Erodes important provisions for immigrant victims' safety" -- Do you mean that its OK for immigrants, legal or illegal, to make up a story about being a domestic violence victim and be pushed to the front of the line on the short track to U.S. citizenship without even notifying the alleged perpetrator and getting his or her side of the story?
But, more important, VAWA ignores 50% of victims. Where are the services for male victims? Where are the shelters for fathers and children? In fact, where are the shelters for female victims and their teenage sons? They don't exist.
Instead of "violence against women," we need a Violence Against All People law that will provide services for everyone.
Pity they never recovered from the embrace of a President who had little respect for women. Kind of undercut all of their moral authority.
Ah well, let them bleat. The time of the liberal government is almost over.
Who is raging the war on women?
More and more women are realising that this isn't a fake talking point.