Oct. 9, 2009
Kanawha County Judge Rules West Virginia Domestic Violence Rules Discriminate Against Men
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Charleston, WV (HNN) -- Kanawha County Circuit Judge James Stucky has found that the state’s Family Protection Service Board (FPSB) rules discriminate against men. The Board issues rules for the licensure of domestic violence shelters, certifies advocates, and distribute state funding.
The judge agreed with the nonprofit Men & Women Against Discrimination that FPSB rules violate the plaintiff’s First Amendment protected free speech right. In addition, Judge Stucky ruled that the state administers its program that only men can be batterers and only women can be victims, due to a requirement that 30 hours of board approved training of educators/facilitators working in perpetrator intervention programs which stipulates under board rules that “the understanding of domestic violence is deeply rooted in its historic attitudes towards women and is intergenerational.”
"The practical effect of this rule is to exclude adult and adolescent males from their statutory right to safety and security free from domestic violence for no reason other than their gender,'' Stucky wrote in his Oct. 2 ruling.
Having defined domestic violence in gender neutral terms, the legislature sought to ensure “every person, regardless of gender, enjoys a statutory right to participation in and receipt of domestic violence services offered by facilities licensed and funded in whole or in part by the State of West Virginia.”
Responding to the ruling, Mike McCormick, American Coalition for Fathers and Children (ACFC) , stated that many members had “experienced the problem of false allegations of abuse in divorce or custody proceedings.
The Charleston Gazette quoted Marc Angelucci of with the National Coalition For Men (NCFM) , who stressed, "We're not trying to belittle women who are abused, we're trying to raise awareness'' that men are also victims. Angelucci secured a similar court victory in California last October.
The NCFW website clarifies numerous domestic violence myths. One of them states:
“Although men are less likely than women to call police, randomized sociological (behavior-based) research consistently shows: (1) women initiate DV as often as men do; (2) women use weapons and surprise more than men do; and (3) about 38% of physically injured DV victims are men.
“Even the latest fact sheet from the Centers for Disease Control (partly from crime-based data) states: “In the United States every year, about 1.5 million women and more than 800,000 men are raped or physically assaulted by an intimate partner” (i.e., 36% of the victims are men).Unfortunately, the DV industry has covered up female violence for decades for purely ideological reasons. (Kelly, Linda, “Disabusing the Definition of Domestic Abuse; How Women Batter Men and the Role of the Feminist State,” 30 Fl. St. U. Law R. 791, 2003,)
The NCFW site also topples a “myth” that women act only in self defense:
“Men and women gave similar reasons for assaulting their partners, usually to “get through to them,” and self-defense was among their least common motives. (Carrado, “Aggression in British Heterosexual Relationships; A Descriptive Analysis,” Aggressive Behavior, (1996) 22: 401-415.)”
Further, in a limited survey of college age women at California State University in Long Beach, 30% admitted assaulting a male partner. Why? (1) “He wasn’t listening to me,” (2) “he wasn’t being sensitive to my needs,” and (3) “I wished to gain his attention. http://www.batteredmen.com/fiebertg.htm.
The organization which prevailed in its Kanawha County case that certain state mandated domestic violence rules are enforced to discriminate against men submitted a report to Gov. Joe Manchin found that “42% of all victims of domestic violence related homicide were male.”
This finding comes from an analysis by Ron Foster, BSME University of Kentucky, in a September 2007 report of WV Police Crime Statistics and Court Caseloads. One of its recommendations was to narrow the definition of domestic violence so that courts do not become involved in the outcome of domestic disagreements. In addition, this report postulates that $18 million dollars in court resources are consumed annually by “false or unnecessary claims of domestic violence” in Family and Magistrate Courts.
For the full report click: http://www.madmenunitedwv.org/Police%20Crime%20Statistics%20-%20WV%20Statistical%20Analysis%20-%20Men%20&%20Women%20Against%20Discrimination.pdf
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
Kanawha County Judge Rules West Virginia Domestic Violence Rules Discriminate Against Men
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Charleston, WV (HNN) -- Kanawha County Circuit Judge James Stucky has found that the state’s Family Protection Service Board (FPSB) rules discriminate against men. The Board issues rules for the licensure of domestic violence shelters, certifies advocates, and distribute state funding.
The judge agreed with the nonprofit Men & Women Against Discrimination that FPSB rules violate the plaintiff’s First Amendment protected free speech right. In addition, Judge Stucky ruled that the state administers its program that only men can be batterers and only women can be victims, due to a requirement that 30 hours of board approved training of educators/facilitators working in perpetrator intervention programs which stipulates under board rules that “the understanding of domestic violence is deeply rooted in its historic attitudes towards women and is intergenerational.”
"The practical effect of this rule is to exclude adult and adolescent males from their statutory right to safety and security free from domestic violence for no reason other than their gender,'' Stucky wrote in his Oct. 2 ruling.
Having defined domestic violence in gender neutral terms, the legislature sought to ensure “every person, regardless of gender, enjoys a statutory right to participation in and receipt of domestic violence services offered by facilities licensed and funded in whole or in part by the State of West Virginia.”
Responding to the ruling, Mike McCormick, American Coalition for Fathers and Children (ACFC) , stated that many members had “experienced the problem of false allegations of abuse in divorce or custody proceedings.
The Charleston Gazette quoted Marc Angelucci of with the National Coalition For Men (NCFM) , who stressed, "We're not trying to belittle women who are abused, we're trying to raise awareness'' that men are also victims. Angelucci secured a similar court victory in California last October.
The NCFW website clarifies numerous domestic violence myths. One of them states:
“Although men are less likely than women to call police, randomized sociological (behavior-based) research consistently shows: (1) women initiate DV as often as men do; (2) women use weapons and surprise more than men do; and (3) about 38% of physically injured DV victims are men.
“Even the latest fact sheet from the Centers for Disease Control (partly from crime-based data) states: “In the United States every year, about 1.5 million women and more than 800,000 men are raped or physically assaulted by an intimate partner” (i.e., 36% of the victims are men).Unfortunately, the DV industry has covered up female violence for decades for purely ideological reasons. (Kelly, Linda, “Disabusing the Definition of Domestic Abuse; How Women Batter Men and the Role of the Feminist State,” 30 Fl. St. U. Law R. 791, 2003,)
The NCFW site also topples a “myth” that women act only in self defense:
“Men and women gave similar reasons for assaulting their partners, usually to “get through to them,” and self-defense was among their least common motives. (Carrado, “Aggression in British Heterosexual Relationships; A Descriptive Analysis,” Aggressive Behavior, (1996) 22: 401-415.)”
Further, in a limited survey of college age women at California State University in Long Beach, 30% admitted assaulting a male partner. Why? (1) “He wasn’t listening to me,” (2) “he wasn’t being sensitive to my needs,” and (3) “I wished to gain his attention. http://www.batteredmen.com/fiebertg.htm.
The organization which prevailed in its Kanawha County case that certain state mandated domestic violence rules are enforced to discriminate against men submitted a report to Gov. Joe Manchin found that “42% of all victims of domestic violence related homicide were male.”
This finding comes from an analysis by Ron Foster, BSME University of Kentucky, in a September 2007 report of WV Police Crime Statistics and Court Caseloads. One of its recommendations was to narrow the definition of domestic violence so that courts do not become involved in the outcome of domestic disagreements. In addition, this report postulates that $18 million dollars in court resources are consumed annually by “false or unnecessary claims of domestic violence” in Family and Magistrate Courts.
For the full report click: http://www.madmenunitedwv.org/Police%20Crime%20Statistics%20-%20WV%20Statistical%20Analysis%20-%20Men%20&%20Women%20Against%20Discrimination.pdf
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
