Domestic Violence Not the Government's Problem?

The Violence Against Women Act was a giant step forward for women when first passed in 1994. It provided for real resources for helping victims in the US, but it also had a symbolic meaning. Its passage meant the acknowledgement of domestic and sexual violence, something which somehow has been often ignored.

The Act is set to expire in September, and apparently, hundreds of members of the US Government believe domestic violence is no longer a problem -- or at least not the government's problem.

In New York City, if you added up all the reported robberies, burglaries, and murders in 2003 and multiplied that number by two, it still would not equal the number of calls received by the City's domestic violence hotline.

Across the country, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends every day. One in every three women will be physically assaulted by a partner. Every year, 10 million children experience domestic violence in their homes.

The right wing calls the VAWA fascist, indentifying it with radical feminists and "their goal of destruction of the Western Civilization". Another great quote: "Feminist elites in conspiracy with America’s Neo-Marxists are seeking a gradual usurpation of power," which apparently they are doing through the VAWA. If you can stomach it, read a sickening article or two.