All
Points Bulletin: M.O.M.s
are on the loose. They're
armed and dangerous.
Be forewarned, M.O.M.s
-- Mothers Opposed to
Men -- wield a formidable
array of fake statistics,
sob stories, and old-fashioned
propaganda.
I
admit, sometimes I feel
a bit silly trying to
answer their preposterous
charges. But since the
M.O.M.s keep saying
this stuff, maybe it's
time to put the kibosh
on the whole thing.
So here goes:
(1)
The M.O.M. squad claims
divorcing fathers gain
child custody 70 percent
of the time, citing
Phyllis Chesler's 1986
book, "Mothers
on Trial." But
Boston Globe columnist
Cathy Young calls Ms.
Chesler's claim a contender
for the Phony Statistics
Hall of Fame. [
www.lapresrupture.qc.ca/cpadec10_cathy_young.html
]
Fact:
Fathers win child custody
only 15 percent of the
time.
(2)
The M.O.M.s say male
violence against women
is all-pervasive. Here's
feminist icon Catherine
MacKinnon at her level-headed
best: "Just like
terrorist attacks, acts
of violence against
women are carefully
planned, targeted at
civilians, and driven
by ideology."
Fact:
Women are just as likely
as men to assault their
partners. [www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm]
If you don't want to
look up the research,
just ask Indianapolis
Colts cornerback Nick
Harper, whose wife Daniell
spent a couple days
in the slammer recently
after stabbing him with
a kitchen knife.
(3)
The M.O.M.s claim fathers
commonly abuse their
children. Like the child
custody canard, that
statement is the exact
opposite of the truth.
Fact:
Women are the majority
of child abusers. According
to the federal Administration
for Children and Families,
"In 2003, 58.2
percent of child abuse
and neglect perpetrators
were females and 41.8
percent were males."
[http://faq.acf.hhs.gov
] The ACF also reveals
that in 30 percent of
child fatalities, the
perpetrator is the mother
is acting alone, while
in 18 percent of cases,
it's the father acting
alone.
Are
you ready for the latest
bombshell?
This
one concerns fathers
who find they must go
to court in an often
futile effort to gain
joint custody of their
children. This whopper
made its way into the
recent PBS program,
Breaking the Silence:
(4)
"Numerous studies
have confirmed that
approximately 75 percent
[of fathers seeking
custody] involve a history
of violence."
Fact:
This defamatory statement
is akin to the claim
that Jews were wrecking
the German economy.
Look beyond the histrionics
of the PBS claim and
you can't help but notice
that "The references
cited by the film's
supporters in most cases
are a round-robin of
assertions, in which
the same pool of authors
repeatedly cites each
other's opinions, without
supporting data,"
as one critic put it.
[
www.fathersandfamilies.org/NEWS/BTSResearchCritiqueWithComments.pdf
]