Those zany conservatives at the Heritage Action and FreedomWorks groups complained that the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act is unfair to men. Besides the claim that men would lose their right of due process, the groups also complain that domestic violence is redefined into something vague where name calling would be classified as violence toward women. Like all zany conservative conspiracy theories, this one is also false and is only being used to raise money.
Claiming that the reauthorization would expand the definition of domestic violence to include “emotional distress,” Heritage declared that the “expansive and vague language will increase fraud and false allegations, for which there is no legal recourse.”
“Under VAWA, men effectively lose their constitutional rights to due process, presumption of innocence, equal treatment under the law, the right to a fair trial and to confront one’s accusers, the right to bear arms, and all custody/visitation rights,” the group wrote. “It is unprecedented, unnecessary and dangerous.”
FreedomWorks also worried that the legislation would be unfair to men.
“The newest version of the VAWA, S.47, contains very vague and broad definitions of domestic violence,” the organization wrote. “A man that raises his voice at his partner, calls her an offensive name, stalks her, causes her any emotional distress, or simply just annoys her can potentially be prosecuted under the VAWA. Calling your spouse a mean name is not advised or polite, but it isn’t the same thing as violence towards her.”
Conservative Advocates: Violence Against Women Act Unfair To Men
Not only are they giving false information about the Violence Against Women Act, but like usual these conservative groups have no idea what domestic violence is really about.
The accused perpetrators of domestic violence – including men and women – are presumed innocent but because of lack of action in the past, the accused is removed from the location of the violence. They are considered a danger to the complaining party unless they prevail in court that they aren’t a danger.
Back in the day domestic violence was always treated like simple name calling and in most cases the women who complained either were intimidated to drop the complaint or they might have been beaten further if not outright killed for complaining.
That’s why today in most states, neither party in domestic violence has a choice if there is a prosecution.
The Violence Against Women Act addresses the fact that women and other minorities need assistance when domestic violence happens because the legal system tends to be biased toward the party that has the means and resources which in most cases this means the men. The Act levels the playing field and is needed.
