The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was designed in 1994 to give additional protection to women who were battered by their intimate partners. The VAWA has since evolved into a billion-dollar-a-year boondoggle that looks the other way on female batterers and punishes men for acts they did not commit.

Companion laws to the VAWA, such as the Victims of Crime Act and Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, funnel about $1 billion a year to provide victim services and enhance law enforcement efforts. The VAWA has also spawned the passage of about 1,500 state-level laws and programs.

The VAWA establishes the legal framework to create perverse incentives, to make false claims of abuse, to escalate partner conflict, and to discourage partner reconciliation. The result is to break up families and separate children from their fathers.

It has become de rigeur for women to claim false allegations of violence in order to gain the upper hand in divorce and custody courts. The mere allegation of domestic violence is enough in many states to affect the child’s access to a noncustodial parent. Programs instituted by the VAWA often leave kids in jeopardy and promote a society of fatherless children.

The VAWA funds judicial education programs that have been shown to be ideological and one-sided. Rather than helping judges balance the legitimate needs of the accuser with the due process rights of the accused, the VAWA training sessions do the opposite, instructing judges to grant a restraining order if there is any hint whatsoever of a problem.

Changes need to be made in the way courts handle domestic violence petitions for protective orders, particularly when they are requested or issued in conjunction with a custody case. Many people uninitiated with the procedures of custody and criminal courts may believe that such false allegations would be recognized and punished by the judge as slander, as lying under oath, as perjury, or as contempt of court. They are not. Such lies are usually rewarded with primary custody of the child and child support.

Elaine Epstein, former president of the Massachusetts Bar Association, once revealed, “Everyone knows that restraining orders and orders to vacate are granted to virtually all who apply… In many cases, allegations of abuse are now used for tactical advantage.”

Protective orders and restraining orders are routinely used by women in custody courts. Many lawyers for men are compelled to counter such orders with a restraining order for their client. Such legal posturing side-tracks any issue of the best interests of the child.

In one state alone (West Virginia), 15,274 domestic violence petitions were filed in State magistrate courts during 2005. That year, 14,821 domestic violence emergency protective order cases were transferred to Family Court for hearing. Ninety-seven percent of the petitions were granted.

Studies made by Men Against Discrimination indicated as many as 67-75 percent of those petitions were based on questionable claims (i.e., false allegations), but they were enough to cast doubt on parents’ ability to parent.

The legal definition of Domestic Violence includes non-physical actions, e.g. stalking, silent phone calls, threatening language etc and “low-threshold” actions such as touching. Even if none of these actions take place, women are still granted restraining orders if they claim they are fearful. Candidates are often coached to say the word, “fear,” when applying for restraining orders.

Situations where assault has been alleged should be heard by criminal courts and not be treated as a untested slur on a man’s character in family proceedings. The American maxim of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ should apply to allegations of domestic violence just like any other allegations of criminal behavior. The legal burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt should apply. This would help women as well as men.

When actual crimes are heard in a civil setting, justice is not served. A true victim is not protected by a restraining order - which are handed out like tissues for crocodile tears. An actual violent abuser is not subject to repercussions of criminal courts. Like the ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf,’ the preponderance of false allegations of abuse means that the courts cannot give full attention to cases of actual abuse.

The current epidemic of false claims of domestic violence weakens the American family by promoting family dissolution and discouraging men from marriage. There is little doubt that the VAWA has contributed to our culture of false allegations. Each year, at least one million false allegations of domestic violence are made, usually in the context of a divorce.

The result of the VAWA is rampant false claims of abuse. This means that children are removed from decent, loving fathers. The Violence Against Women Act must be radically altered or else it will continue to destroy the father/child bond.

Don Mathis, Editor
The Fourteen Percenter, A Newsletter for Noncustodial Parents