PRESS RELEASE
On Partner Abuse, President Obama Flubs his Facts
Washington DC (Oct. 4, 2011) – Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is calling on President Obama to correct false information in the Domestic Violence Proclamation he issued Monday. At a time when victims are demanding accuracy and accountability, the declaration features misleading statements and inaccurate facts.
The presidential proclamation, issued for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, makes the claim that “One in four women and one in 13 men will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.” But multiple studies show that men and women abuse each other at similar rates.
The Center for Disease Control’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey reveals males are being victimized at a higher rate than females: 10 percent of teenage males versus 9 percent of teenage females report dating violence. In the American Journal of Public Health, a second CDC study of young adults revealed a dramatic gap for one-way violence: in 71 percent of cases, females were the aggressors.
The Obama Proclamation also states, “Young women are among the most vulnerable, suffering the highest rates of intimate partner violence.” But the President did not mention that the most important risk factor for female victimization is a woman striking the first blow with a slap, punch, or other form of physical aggression.
This follows Vice President Biden’s recent visit to The View (ABC) where he only addressed the problem of male-on-female abuse. The Vice President also side-stepped Whoopi Goldberg’s direct question about women hitting men.
The Presidential Proclamation follows a string of high-profile media reports of women harming, or threatening to harm men:
Duke lacrosse accuser Crystal Mangum stabbed her boyfriend Reginald Daye to death in April. In July, Katherine Becker of California drugged her husband, tied him to a bed, and sliced off his penis. Later, actor Daniel Baldwin filed for a restraining order against his wife writing, “My wife has claimed over 10 times in the last two months that she will stab me, slash me or slit my throat in my sleep. I am truly fearful for my life.”
Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to partner violence: www.saveservices.org .