International Violence Against Women Act:
Critique and Analysis

Lead Sponsors:
Senate: John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins
House: Bill Delahunt, Ted Poe, and Jan Schakowsky

Bill Numbers:
Senate: S. 2982
House: H.R. 4594
The full text of the bill can be read here: http://thomas.loc.gov/

Purposes:
1.Reduce domestic violence against women
2.Reduce other forms of violence against women by means of a variety of legal measures, community education, “female empowerment,” and “gender integration”

Authorization:
$1 billion over five years

General Critique (see Bill Summary and Detailed Analysis below):
The proposed International Violence Against Women Act represents a naked power grab to impose a radical gender perspective on U.S. foreign policy, export an anti-family agenda, and satisfy a favored political constituency.

Research shows persons who are in a stable, married relationship are at far lower risk of experiencing domestic violence. But I-VAWA provides a $1 billion blueprint to destabilize the family, the most important social and economic institution to women, men, and children around the world. This is particularly true in low-income countries that have weak social service programs, no retirement system (like Social Security), and no state-funded unemployment insurance.

I-VAWA would promote social disintegration by defining “violence” in the broadest possible terms, advancing the shibboleth that only men are abusive in partner relationships, providing incentives to women to make accusations of abuse, breaking up the family, and eventually forcing persons to become dependent on the welfare state.

In addition, I-VAWA would serve to trample on internationally-recognized civil liberties, including those enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by undermining due process for the accused, discriminating against male victims, and providing a pretext for heavy-handed state intervention into family matters.

Finally, I-VAWA remains shamelessly silent on the leading cause of violence affecting females around the world: sex-selective abortion. In India alone, 500,000 unborn girls have been subjected to this procedure.i

Bill Summary:
1.States seven general Findings pertinent to violence against women and girls (Section 2).

2.Enumerates United States policy to employ “multisectoral methods, working at individual, family, community, local, national, and international levels” to address “economic, education, health, legal, and protective intervention services,” including “engaging men and boys as partners;” and recognizes UN Security Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, and 1888. (Section 3)

3.Defines domestic violence broadly to include “psychological harm,” “coercion,” “intimidation at work,” and even “psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the government of the country in which the victim is a resident.” (Section 4)

4.Creates an “Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues” at the State Department to assure a “gender integration” perspective is brought to bear on all State Department policies and programs. (Section 101)

5.Establishes a “Women’s Development Advisor” at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to “integrate prevention and response, as well as broader gender issues in foreign assistance.” (Section 102)

6.Funds the following activities, among others:

a.A “comprehensive, 5-year international strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls internationally;”
b.Selects up to 20 countries to develop “gender-integrated, comprehensive, and holistic” country plans; and
c.Supports the “Development and enforcement of civil and criminal legal and judicial sanctions, protections, trainings, and capacity,” “Development of programs affecting social norms, community attitudes, and male and female participation in violence and response to victims.” (Section 111)

7.Provide grants to “Women’s Nongovernmental Organizations and Community-Based Organizations.” (Section 112)

8.Requires the Department of State to “prepare a public report on best practices for preventing and addressing violence against women and girls internationally” and amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to accord greater priority to stopping violence against women and girls. (Section 113)

9.Calls for the training of foreign military and police forces and judicial officials on violence against women and girls. (Section 114)

10.Funds humanitarian relief and peace-keeping programs to address violence against women and girls, including providing “legal services for women and girls who are victims of violence.” (Section 115)

11.Allocates $10 million a year to the United Nations UNIFEM program. (Section 201)


Detailed Analysis:
1.Makes the breath-taking assumption that violence against men is unworthy of concern. (According to the World Health Organization, 1.1 million men and 500,000 women die of violence-related causes each year.ii)

2.Stereotypes and vilifies men as abusers. (Research shows men and women are equally likely to engage in partner violence, and at least half of all partner violence is mutual.iii)

3.Ignores the fact that female-initiated violence (e.g, a slap or punch) has been found to be the leading cause of female domestic violence injury.

4.Presents a series of Findings that are one-sided, unverifiable, false, or flatly Orwellian.

5.Presents a Statement of Policy using vague language that is easily susceptible to ideological interpretation, e.g., “female empowerment” and “gender integration”

6.Expansively defines domestic violence to include “psychological harm,” which in practice encompasses any marital tiff or lover’s quarrel.

7.Defines violence to encompass “violence perpetrated or condoned by the government” – a phrase that opens the door to require governments to fund abortion on demand (feminists often claim that lack of access to abortion services represents “violence against women”).

8.Provides sweeping powers to the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, powers that are likely to be used to usurp normal foreign policy-making procedures.

9.Advocates that programs “shall consider the safety of women and girls as a primary concern in deciding how to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate programs.” (Section 112). In practice, this serves as a pretext to diminish due process protections for persons falsely accused.

10.Promotes law enforcement approaches such as restraining orders, which are known to be ineffective in stopping violence and routinely violate the civil liberties of the accused.

11.Funds training efforts to change “social norms” and “community attitudes.” Experience proves such programs are highly biased in their content and ideological in their purpose.


March 5, 2010