From: PAUL M.
CLEMENTS <pclem@juno.com>
My letter in rebuttal to Grace Mattern,
re: VAWA From: Paul M. Clements
Founder: DAD'S AGAINST DIVORCE DISCRIMINATION
Concord, NH 226-1904
We need the Violence Against Women
Act like a fish needs a bicycle! This
feminist entitlement act is based
on lies and distortions, as was the
opinion piece by Grace Mattern published
in the Union Leader July 7. Mattern
states in her commentary that men
and women are concerned with VAWA
III, but the concern of men, and many
women, is for the inequities foisted
upon them by the discriminatory provisions
of this act. Mattern cites a study
by the Lifetime TV network, a feminist
television network whose programming
clearly demonstrates their anti-male
bias. Mattern also quotes from a study
by the Center for the Advancement
of Women, an arm of the feminist party.
It's like the church surveying the
choir. Objective research has shown
conclusively that domestic violence
is perpetrated as often by women as
by men; a fact conveniently overlooked
by the domestic violence industry.
Over 360 academic studies, cited by
Dr. Martin Fiebert, agree that men
are victims of domestic violence at
rates which often exceed that of women.
New Hampshire's' own Dr. Murray Straus,
founder of the Family Violence Center
at UNH, has been documenting that
fact for decades. Not unexpectedly,
Dr. Straus has been excluded from
all of the commissions and conventions
of the local domestic violence industry,
just as the men who are abused by
a woman are excluded from the services
provided by VAWA.
Mattern provides a list of achievements
of VAWA, which include hotlines, training
for police, courts, and prosecutors,
and new laws on stalking, domestic
violence, sexual assault, the authority
of (Native American) nations in domestic
violence cases, interstate cooperation
pacts, and protections for immigrants.
What she neglects to tell us is that
they all exclude men. Training is
based on a "women as victims"
only philosophy. Protections, shelters,
and legal assistance are only for
females. To be sure, she alludes to
male victimization by claiming that
the local domestic violence industry
has provided "services"
to a total of 731 men (out of a total
of 10,426 cases). That means that
only 7% of male victims are being
served. Knowing, as the legitimate
research proves, that males are equally
victimized, her own figures point
up the anti male discrimination. And
what are the services provided to
men? They have no shelters, no legal
assistance, no counseling, no court
advocates, not even a poster to acknowledge
their victimization. The only service
men receive is to be told that no
services are available to them. Still,
it is telling that even the feminist
organizations are receiving calls
for help from abused men.
Mattern wants to "put more resources
into helping some of society's most
marginalized citizens, who experience
high rates of domestic and sexual
violence", but the ongoing practices
of the domestic violence industry
belie that claim. Studies have shown
that LESBIAN relationships involve
violence and forced sexual activity
at a rate almost TWICE that of heterosexual
relationships. Yet, no mention of
that aspect of domestic violence is
ever made. There are no provisions
in VAWA to protect women victimized
by other women. One would hardly expect
the industry to admit they are guiltier
than men. Ignoring the high incidence
of woman against woman violence highlights
the anti-male agenda of the domestic
violence industry, an agenda which
is purely political.
In attempting to justify the re-authorization
of VAWA, the domestic violence industry
relies on several deceits. The studies
referred to claim services provided
to 10,426 persons. That is the number
of phone calls and walk-ins, not the
number of cases actually provided
with shelter, legal aid, or counseling.
When some sort of service is actually
provided, it results from a manufactured
need. Several testimonials from women
indicate that a request for information
is met with an onslaught of feminist
propaganda. The feminists attempt
to convince the woman that she's the
victim of male violence; that she's
controlled, verbally or psychologically
abused, even if she is not physically
abused. They recruit her, brainwash
her into believing she's a victim
of male violence. Before she can realize
it, she becomes a pawn in the destruction
of yet another man. Indeed, a claim
of victimization is a prerequisite
for assistance. Thus, the shelters
supported by VAWA have been populated
more often with alcoholics needing
a place to dry out, drug addicts needing
a place to get straight, or runaways
looking for a handout. Those are,
undoubtedly, realistic needs, but
not at the expense of vilifying an
innocent man, or the entire male gender.
VAWA provides financial, legal, and
social advantages to women only. It
is a political weapon employed by
feminists in their "War Against
Men". It's grossly discriminatory,
and WEAKENS families and communities.
It does not deserve to be renewed.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Marc S. < atk406@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 7, 2005 12:16 PM
Subject: Response to 'We need the
Violence Against Women Act' by Grace
Mattern
To:
writeus@unionleader.com,
letters@theunionleader.com
With respect to:
Another View:
We need the Violence Against Women
Act
by Grace Mattern
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Mattern is
nothing more than the queen of the
biggest special interest group in
New Hampshire. Her organization,
the NHCADSV is at the very forefront
of the assault on fatherhood in NH,
and they are using federal taxpayer
funds provided through VAWA, in association
with state funds provided from
every NH marriage license, to do everything
in their power to paint fathers in
the state with a broad brush as violent
bums who should only be treated
as wallets.
The NHCADSV encourages
false allegations of domestic violence
against fathers who only want to remain
a meaningful part of their children's
lives. The NHCADSV refuses to
take a stand against false allegations,
even when such fraudulent claims of
abuse result in fathers across the
state being forcibly removed from
their own homes and restrained from
seeing their own children without
any measure of due process.
The NHCADSV is guilty of suborning
perjury in many cases, and does everything
in their power to keep the Judiciary
from holding those guilty of making
false allegations accountable for
their lies. So, while
fathers are being ejected from their
homes and forcibly separated from
their children without so much as
the opportunity to face their accuser
in court, mothers perjuring themselves
to gain an advantage in family court
are not punished even when proven
to have invented claims of domestic
violence.
The NHCADSV refuses
to serve male victims of domestic
violence, despite their claims to
the contrary. Such work is left
to the unbiased people at SAFE-NH
who receive no VAWA funds.
The NHCADSV is
also heavily involved in lobbying
the NH legislature in opposition to
child custody and child support reform
that would be in the best interests
of NH's children, despite the fact
that said issues have no relationship
to domestic violence.
The misuse and
abuse of VAWA funds has become despicable,
and the NHCADSV's assault on fathers
(and commensurately their children)
should be no secret to anyone.
It's no wonder that over two thirds
of all divorces are initiated by women
in the state, and I suspect the percentage
is much higher when broken out into
families with children (I've been
unable to obtain those statistics
from the Bureau of Vital Statistics
after asking for them for many months).
Real domestic
violence does occur and those who
perpetrate such acts should be punished
severely. The problem is that
the overwhelming number of men actually
being punished under the laws are
innocent fathers being railroaded
at the time of divorce.
I wonder if Ms.
Mattern supports a federally funded
Violence Against Children Act, considering
that the U.S. Government ACF statistics
show that mothers are more than twice
as likely to abuse or neglect children
as are fathers?
VAWA is no
less than the fuel being poured
on the flames burning the social
fabric of family in this country.
And Ms. Mattern only wants to fan
the fire...
Marc Snider
3 Ellie Drive
Merrimack, NH
03054
(603) 801-2008
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