Decriminilizing domestic violence

[Lillybee]

I find that this is disturbing. The source is think progress.org.

Last night, in between approving city expenditures and other routine agenda items, the Topeka, Kansas City Council debated one rather controversial one: decriminalizing domestic violence.

Here’s what happened: Last month, the Shawnee County District Attorney’s office, facing a 10% budget cut, announced that the county would no longer be prosecuting misdemeanors, including domestic violence cases, at the county level. Finding those cases suddenly dumped on the city and lacking resources of their own, the Topeka City Council is now considering repealing the part of the city code that bans domestic battery. [...]

Since the county stopped prosecuting the crimes on September 8th, it has turned back 30 domestic violence cases. Sixteen people have been arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery and then released from the county jail after charges weren’t filed. “Letting abusive partners out of jail with no consequences puts victims in incredibly dangerous positions,†said Becky Dickinson of the YWCA. “The abuser will often become more violent in an attempt to regain control.â€

[notsocommon]

More anti woman bullshit. Why not save money by decriminilizing other things? Why pic DV? Becuae they HATE women!

[fundyfunland]

I am completely at a loss for words.

[mirele]

Wait, WHAT?

*gobsmacked*

[apple1]

Absolutely ridiculous.

[emmiedahl]

It looks like they are decriminalizing all misdemeanors, which means that Topeka is now *the* place to shoplift, drunk drive, wife beat, etc.

Really. We can't raise taxes even when things are this dire? I guess the Tea Party will finally get to see if things get better without all of that eebil gubbernment interference.

[NurseNell]

Very scary, for both women and men. Men are victimized too, although it's less reported, and isn't as common. I hope this trend doesn't spread. The Tea Party folks are frightening. It's hard enough to escape from domestic violence, it certainly doesn't need to be decriminalized.

[CanadianHippie]

That's disgusting! How the hell can they justify decriminalizing domestic violence?

[Koala]

unthinkable...

[Trynn]

Why don't they just decriminalize marijuana? I bet if more people were allowed to smoke it, we'd have less domestic violence anyway because men would be too high to beat their wives.

[LynnKaboom]

If they're decriminalizing all misdemeanors, then that means shoplifting is technically legal.

WHO WANTS TO GO ON A STUFF-STEALING SPREE IN TOPEKA?!

Actually, that means a lot of stuff is technically legal, not just domestic violence and shoplifting. What about driving over the speed limit? And littering? And a whole bunch of other things I can't think of at the moment?

[debrand]

Why don't they just decriminalize marijuana? I bet if more people were allowed to smoke it, we'd have less domestic violence anyway because men would be too high to beat their wives.

This is what I was thinking. Decriminalize marijuana and tax it. That should bring enough income into the city to keep domestic violence victims safe.

They won't decriminialize marijuana because smoking a joint is apparently worse than one spouse beating another.

[BravaAmica]

What in the fucking hell?? Bad enough domestic violence is a misdemeanor but to decriminalize it?!

[deelaem]

Very scary, for both women and men. Men are victimized too, although it's less reported, and isn't as common. I hope this trend doesn't spread. The Tea Party folks are frightening. It's hard enough to escape from domestic violence, it certainly doesn't need to be decriminalized.

Oh Jesus Christ on a cracker, you went there, didn't you? What about the poor menz?! :roll: The rate at which men are victims of DV compared to women is negligible. And men have about a zillion more options for getting out then women do. I have zero sympathy.

[GenerationCedarchip]

Oh Jesus Christ on a cracker, you went there, didn't you? What about the poor menz?! :roll: The rate at which men are victims of DV compared to women is negligible. And men have about a zillion more options for getting out then women do. I have zero sympathy.

As someone who spends lots of time trying and observing family law matters, I can tell you that's not exactly the case. It's the popular perception, but trying to get help for an abused man is a hellish ordeal sometimes. There are far fewer of them than there are of the women, but the cases are still gut-wrenching, no matter what the gender of the victim. I can get a woman placed at a shelter/safe house, but if the men don't have extended family in the area, it can be hard to get them out of their living situations because shelters won't take them. I have an impossible time getting services such as counseling, legal services or temporary housing assistance because most domestic violence groups I've dealt with give services to women only. And that doesn't even begin to touch the, "A REAL man wouldn't be in this situation," victim-shaming that some of the folks I encounter feel free to dish out.

And yeah, people who think domestic violence should be decriminalized really make me sick. It's already not prosecuted nearly hard enough.

[teddybear]

That is Topeka! Things here are from another time...the stone age. I will be so happy when I'm to the place where I can leave here.

[Lillybee]

The council is voting on this next Tuesday, so please keep us updated.

[LynnKaboom]

Oh Jesus Christ on a cracker, you went there, didn't you? What about the poor menz?! :roll: The rate at which men are victims of DV compared to women is negligible. And men have about a zillion more options for getting out then women do. I have zero sympathy.

Are you fucking serious with this?

You know what? I was going to tell the story about how I hid my friend in my basement from his psychotic bitch of a girlfriend who beat the shit out of him on a regular basis, tried to kill his pets, and regularly threatened his family, all because he tried to break up with her, until he could get a restraining order, but I have a feeling you'd write it off as unreliable anecdotes or something. So I'm not going to. I'm just going to give a link.

http://www.aardvarc.org/dv/malevictims.shtml

Holy shit FJ is making me angry tonight.

[Kelya]

Oh Jesus Christ on a cracker, you went there, didn't you? What about the poor menz?! :roll: The rate at which men are victims of DV compared to women is negligible. And men have about a zillion more options for getting out then women do. I have zero sympathy.

Don't you know, every single time domestic violence is brought up, we have to make sure to acknowledge men, even though the crime occurs staggeringly predominantly against women. Because it isn't a real discussion until men's suffering is brought up, complete with personal anecdotes about someone who was abused by a woman.

[LynnKaboom]

Don't you know, every single time domestic violence is brought up, we have to make sure to acknowledge men, even though the crime occurs staggeringly predominantly against women. Because it isn't a real discussion until men's suffering is brought up, complete with personal anecdotes about someone who was abused by a woman.

Did someone piss in your Cheerios this morning or something? Goddamn.

Just because you haven't ever seen something doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. Just because someone doesn't interpret something the same way that you do doesn't mean that it reads the same way to you that it does to everyone. Believe it or not, you are not omnipotent.

[Kelya]

Did someone piss in your Cheerios this morning or something? Goddamn.

You're throwing hissy fits in multiple threads (and just admitted that you're emotional and irrational for non internet reasons in another post), but I'm the one who ate urine cereal?

Just because you haven't ever seen something doesn't mean that it doesn't happen.

I worked on a domestic violence hotline and worked throughout college bringing dv victims and rape victims to hospitals and acting as a patient advocate. I brought one man in for dv and two men in for sexual assault. The sexual assault for male number is actually the highest of any of my former coworkers- I was born under a full moon or something. Some people have worked there for 15 years and never had a male victim, because they are not a significant proportion of reported crimes.

The site you posted above even states

" Women are a "significantly greater" risk of intimate partner violence than men. By conservative estimates, 1.5 million women in the United States are assaulted by their intimate partners every year. (Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, National Institute of Justice and Centers Disease Control and Prevention, July 2000)

In the United States, a woman is more likely to be assaulted, injured, raped or killed by a male partner than by any other type of assault. (Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: Violence Against Women: Estimates from the Redesigned Survey, August 1995)

Alabama reflects national statistics. In 1998, 83 percent of the victims of domestic violence cases reported by state law enforcement agencies were females. For this reason, female pronouns are used on this web site to refer to victims."

Just because someone doesn't interpret something the same way that you do doesn't mean that it reads the same way to you that it does to everyone.

Believe it or not, you are not omnipotent

Wah wah wah, vague personal attack because you're feeling cornered.

[CanadianHippie]

Don't you know, every single time domestic violence is brought up, we have to make sure to acknowledge men, even though the crime occurs staggeringly predominantly against women. Because it isn't a real discussion until men's suffering is brought up, complete with personal anecdotes about someone who was abused by a woman.

Not, it needs to be brought up because no form of domestic violence should ever be ignored. It is all serious, and it all needs to be acknowledged and we all need to work towards stopping all of it. How the hell do you propose we stop domestic violence if we ignore an entire subgroup of victims?

Not all male victims of domestic violence were abused by a woman, some are abused by male significant others. Just like not all female victims of domestic violence are abused by men, some are abused by female significant others. Focusing on one aspect of a problem never solved a damned thing!

[LynnKaboom]

You're throwing hissy fits in multiple threads (and just admitted that you're emotional and irrational for non internet reasons in another post), but I'm the one who ate urine cereal?

Yeah, I think most people might be a bit upset after learning their dad has been hospitalized in a different country for a burst appendix. I admit I'm emotional and irrational.

I worked on a domestic violence hotline and worked throughout college bringing dv victims and rape victims to hospitals and acting as a patient advocate. I brought one man in for dv and two men in for sexual assault. The sexual assault for male number is actually the highest of any of my former coworkers- I was born under a full moon or something. Some people have worked there for 15 years and never had a male victim, because they are not a significant proportion of reported crimes.

The site you posted above even states ...

OK, you got me there. I actually do mean this sincerely, but what you did during college is very important. I wish there had been a service like that for me after I was assaulted. And yeah, I know what the site says, I posted it. The reason I posted it was because it is proof that DV does happen to men.

Wah wah wah, vague personal attack because you're feeling cornered.

Again, I apologize.

[NurseNell]

Oh Jesus Christ on a cracker, you went there, didn't you? What about the poor menz?! :roll: The rate at which men are victims of DV compared to women is negligible. And men have about a zillion more options for getting out then women do. I have zero sympathy.

Having known a male victim who was as stuck as any female I disagree. Domestic violence is never OK, whether the victim is male or female, the perp male or female. It exists in the heterosexual world and the gay/lesbian world. It's never OK.

[Alecto]

This isn't good for anyone... male, female, gay, straight or anything in between. Domestic violence is not just partner on partner on violence, but other familiar relationships. I think we sometimes focus too much on romantic partner violence and forget this also covers older people being abused/assaulted by their children, or adult children being physically abused by their parents.

Not to mention this is bad for FUTURE men, who are seeing adults in their lives get abused and the abusers get away with it.