Jeffery Fagan warned on page 38 of, The Criminalization of Domestic Violence: Promises and Limits that, “Assuming that patriarchy and power relations alone [emphasis added] cause domestic violence leads us toward conclusions that do not consider a full array of explanatory variables from other disciplines.” That advice has fallen on deaf ears at the Violence Against Women Office.
On April 18 & 19 2000, a domestic violence training conference for law enforcement was held in Colorado Spring, Colorado. The conference was titled Domestic Violence Arrests: Improving Strategies in the New Millennium. It was funded through the U.S. Department of Justice by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
The curriculum and training manual was sponsored by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, the Los Angeles Police Department and the California Alliance Against Domestic Violence. Information on how to obtain a copy of the manual is available here, or by contacting C.A.A.D.V. 926 J Street, Ste. 1000, Sacramento, CA. or by emailing caadv@cwo.com.
This manual instructs the trainers that the “most recent” approach is to understand domestic violence in the context of men’s use of violence concerning “power and control.” What they mean of course is that men beat women so that men have power and control over women. It is the same single minded ideological approach the Fagan warns about. The “power and control” approach is just one component of a complex and multifaceted problem and this “power and control” approach is favored only by fundamental feminists and VAWA.
The editors of, Violence in Families, Rosemary Chalk and Patricia A. King, note that the idea of unequal power in relationships is a problem, but it is a problem for everyone regardless of age or gender. The entire book, Violence in Families can be found online at www.nap.edu. The book documents, the issue of power and control is a fact concerning child, sibling, spousal, intimate partner, and elder abuse. The book clearly notes that the issue of power and control is not the single, only, exclusive, or “most recent” reason or cause of domestic violence.
This “battered women” model of training is representative of the vast majority of “domestic violence” training funded by VAWA. However, it is actually not “domestic violence” training. Regardless of what VAWA or fundamental feminists believe, domestic violence by statute law in all fifty states is child, sibling, spousal, intimate partner, and elder abuse. That is the reality law enforcement officers see when they respond to “domestic violence” incidents.
The manual has a fascinating article, Working Effectively With The Police: A Guide For Battered Women’s Advocates, written by Jane Sadusky. It should be noted that the author clearly understands her concern is for “battered women” and not domestic violence.
Sadusky writes:
Like any profession, police officers don’t appreciate someone on the outside telling them what to do. Advocates in a battered women’s shelter would be taken aback and more than a little defensive if the local police department appeared with a list of policy and training demands dictating how the shelter should be run.
The problem concerning this style or VAWA model of domestic violence training for law enforcement is that VAWA and fundamental feminist have chosen to ignore both Fagan’s and Sadusky’s sage advice and data from many National Institute of Justice studies.
Jane Doe, a Massachusetts-based domestic violence coalition, claims as do the vast majority of VAWA funded or sponsored domestic violence agencies, that domestic violence should not be inclusive of all victims. Jane Doe believes, as do the vast majority of domestic violence advocates, that domestic violence happens because of sexism and “power and control” of men over women in our society. The axiom that you are innocent until proven guilty has been turned upside down by this style of training. Hence, men are guilty until they can prove their innocence.
The training manual notes that that the trainers may meet with some resistance from the law enforcement officers. That is true because the law enforcement officers respond to the many different and varied shapes and forms of domestic violence, not only “battered women” incidents. The vast majority of those working in the criminal justice system know and criminal justice data documents that domestic violence interventions can be quite different from battering. Domestic violence is far more complex and multifaceted than this “men beat women to subjugate them” approach funded and sponsored by VAWA.
VAWA funded “domestic violence” training is only and exclusively about violence against women in general and “battered women” in particular. However, the criminal justice system in general, and battered women in particular will be much better served once the Violence Against Women Office understands and acknowledges that it funds “violence against women training” in the guise of “domestic violence” training. Properly labeled and presented this particular form of domestic violence training will meet with much less resistance and more understanding from law enforcement officers concerning the real plight of those who are truly battered victims.
This is not to say that law enforcement officers should not be trained concerning all the complexities concerning domestic violence interventions including where battering behavior is being exhibited, because they should. Because of this biased approach and mandatory and preferred arrest policies, domestic violence arrests are being made regardless of how minor the incident and regardless of the fact that often no one being battered and there is no batterer.
Effective domestic violence training needs to acknowledge all victims and perpetrators regardless of the typology of abuse and the age and/or gender of both victims and perpetrators. If it is the intent of those who were involved with this manual to “improve strategies in the new millennium” they might better be served if they understand and acknowledge that domestic violence is an issue of concern to all of us, regardless of age or gender. Domestic violence victims and perpetrators are not limited to one specific age or gender.
