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Summary Sheet
Organization: New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence

F
Name of president:  Gwen Wright, Executive Director
Dept. of Justice funding (2011): (Unknown)*
URL:  http://www.opdv.ny.gov
Date of review: 10/4/13
Fact Sheet Grade:  F
QUESTIONS YES NO NOTES
Totals
1. Does the Fact Sheet list at least three of the causes and risk factors for Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) identified by the US Centers for Disease Control, such as substance abuse, marital instability, and psychological factors? x The site does discuss substance abuse and mental illness, although it refers to these as “excuses” rather than risk factors.
2. Does the Fact Sheet indicate that men and women engage in IPV at approximately equal rates? x The site claims that 97% of DV is male-on-female.  The paper cited for this statistic claims only that 97% of “patriarchal terrorism” is perpetrated by men.
3. Does the Fact Sheet indicate that about half of all IPV is mutual? x The site calls this a “myth.”
4. Does the Fact Sheet indicate that female initiation of IPV is the leading cause of a woman becoming injured by her partner? x The site claims that most female-on-male DV is in self-defense.
5. Does the Fact Sheet indicate that about two-thirds of persons injured by IPV are female? x
6. Does the Fact Sheet indicate that rates of IPV have fallen substantially in recent decades? x
7. Does the Fact Sheet include any mention of the problem of false allegations, and how false allegations divert resources from victims? x
8. Does the Fact Sheet indicate that crime surveys (e.g., NCVS) and criminal justice statistics (e.g., arrests) are not valid indicators of overall levels of IPV? x The site uses these types of statistics to support its claim that most DV is male-on-female.  “Data in samples obtained primarily from women’s shelters, court-mandated treatment programs, police reports, and emergency rooms are more likely to report…Coercive Controlling Violence.”
9. Does the Fact Sheet avoid use of imprecise terminology such as “battering”? x The Model Domestic Violence Policy repeatedly refers to victims as “battered women.”
10. Are the majority (> 50%)  of the references recent, i.e., published since 2005? x The Understanding Domestic Abusers section contains 144 citations, and the Model Domestic Violence Policy contains 42, for a total of 182.  Of these, 19 do not contain a date.  Of the remainder, 69 are since 2005 and 98 are from before 2005.  All of the Model DV Policy citations that have dates are from before 2000.  There are at least several citations in which the site cites a newer paper that in turn quotes numbers from an older study in order to obfuscate the use of older data.
* Source: Federal Audit Clearinghouse: https://harvester.census.gov/fac/