National Bureau of Economic Research (cont'd)
M. Lafontaine
The Feminist Myth of Domestic Violence
One of the most pervasive myths of our society is that domestic violence is
something men do to women. Solid scientific research reveals that domesticviolence is something women do to men at least twice as often as men do it to
women. While it is true that men account for most violence outside the home,
women instigate most domestic violence and they injure men more frequently
and more severely.
The Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire, under
grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, recently finished the last
of three national studies on domestic violence. The first two studies revealed
results similar to the latest study. Anyone who would like a copy of the paper
may order it from the University of New Hampshire (ask for document V55).
The data tape and documentation of the 1975 and 1985 studies are available
from the Interuniversity Consortium For Political and Social Research at the
University of Michigan. Original data is also available on CD-ROM from
Sociometrics, Inc. in Palo Alto, CA.
Average results in the "severe assault" category covering 30 years of research
(1975, 1985, and 1995) studies are reported below:
Severe Assault per 1000 couples:
Wives report they have been severely assaulted by husband 22 per 1000
Wives report they have severely assaulted husband 59 per 1000
Husbands report they have been severely assaulted by wives 32 per 1000
Husbands report they have severely assaulted wives 18 per 1000
Husbands & wives both report wife has been assaulted 20 per 1000
Husbands & wives both report husband has been assaulted 44 per 1000
There are dozens of other studies that reveal similar findings.
Women are 3 times more likely than men to use weapons in domestic
violence.
Women initiate most incidents of domestic violence.
Women commit most child abuse and most elder abuse.
Women hit their male children more frequently and more severely that they
hit their female children.
Women commit 40% of all murders and the majority of their adult victims
are men.
Women commit 50% of spousal murders.
More than 80% of the people of both genders experience violence for the first
time at the hands of their mothers.
There is much controversy about whom to believe in the debate about
domestic violence. On one side we have domestic violence advocates and
feminists who rely on "reported violence", and law enforcement statistics. On
the other side we have social scientists who rely on scientifically structured
studies. Unfortunately, the results of scientific studies do not receive media
attention. Therefore, the public perception, and the perception of many
domestic violence advocates, is almost the reverse of the more balanced
perception of social scientists. The typical response of feminists upon first
hearing the results of the scientific studies is to "shoot the messenger". It's
like telling a fundamentalist that the Bible isn't literally true. You can almost
hear their minds snap closed.
Domestic Violence in Other Countries
We think it is important to note that there have been the same kind of studies
done in many countries. There is cross cultural verification that women are
more violent than men in domestic settings. When behavior has cross cultural
verification it means that it is part of human nature rather than a result of
cultural conditioning. Females are most often the perpetrators in domestic
violence in all cultures that have been studied so far. That leads many
professionals to conclude that there is something biological about violent
females in family situations. Maybe American women can find some comfort
in the fact that they are not the only females who are more violent than their
male counterparts in the family.
Here are the studies Steinmetz has done so far:
A cross-cultural comparison of marital abuse. Journal of Sociology, and
Social Welfare, 8, 404-414. Married couples from 9 different cultures. .
1: Finland, n=44; .
2: Puerto Rico, n=82; .
3: British Honduras(all), n=231; .
4: British Honduras, Spanish speaking, n=103; .
5: British Honduras, Creole, n=79; .
6: British Honduras, carib, n=37; .
7: USA, n=94;.
8: Canada, n=52; .
9: Israel(all), n=127; .
10: Israel Kibbutz, n=63;.
11: Israel, city, n=64.
Below is a summary of the most recent and significant studies I could find
about domestic violence in Canada. There were two waves of data collection.
The first was done in 1990 the second was finished in 1992.
This study was done by "Ms." Reena Sommer, Ph.D., a research associate
with the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and Evaluation. I emphasize the
"Ms" to call attention to the fact that scientific studies of Domestic Violence
are dominated by female social scientists. Someone mentioned that the
figures might reveal a gender bias as if all scientists are male. In this field
many of the recognized experts are women.
female vs. male perpetrated violence as a percentage of all respondents:
---------------------------------------% of females --- % of males
Minor violence
threw an object [not at partner] --------- 23.6 ------- 15.8
threaten to throw object ------------------ 14.9 ------- 7.3
threw object at partner ------------------- 16.2 ------- 4.6
pushed, or grabbed ------------------------ 19.8 ------- 17.2
Severe Violence
slapped, punched, kicked ---------------- 15.8 ------- 7.3
used weapon ------------------------------- 3.10 ------- 0.9
A survey of couples in Calgary, Canada found that the rate of severe
husband-to-wife violence was 4.8%, while severe wife-to-husband violence
was 10%. Brinkerhoff & Lupri, Canadian Journal of Sociology, 13:4 (1989)
Abuse shelter advocates and feminists have severely distorted the Domestic
Violence picture and deliberately produce fraudulent statistics and
disinformation. Even when they quote well grounded statistics, they misuse
the information. Here is an example: One of the favorite statistics quoted by
abuse shelter advocates is that a women is the victim of domestic violence
every 15 seconds. This statistic is deduced from a well conducted piece of
research which was published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, a well
respected professional journal for marriage and family therapists. The Abuse
Shelter advocates arrived at this figure by using one of the conclusions of the
study, i.e.;
1.8 million women suffer an assault from a husband or boyfriend per year.
What Abuse shelter advocates always ignore is another finding of the same
study, i.e.;
2 million men are assaulted by a wife or girl friend per year, which translates
as, a man is the victim of domestic violence ever 14 seconds.
Abuse shelter advocates and feminists only present half the Domestic
Violence story.
This is typical of the wide spread deception practiced by abuse shelter
advocates. America's press establishment is a party to this deception and
shares blame for exacerbating the Domestic Violence problem by
perpetuating a false diagnosis.
Women usually initiate violent episodes (they hit first), and women hit morefrequently, as well as using weapons three times more often then men.
This combination of violent acts means that the efforts of finding solutions to
the domestic violence problem need to focus on female perpetrators.
We need to recognize that women are violent, and we need nationwide
educational programs that emphasize the women's role as perpetrators. Other
studies show that men are becoming less violent at the same time that women
are becoming more violent. Educating men seems to be working. Educating
women to be less violent should now be the main thrust of public education
programs.
Any domestic violence program which accepts the "male abuser - female
victim" paradigm is not worthy of support. These kind of domestic violence
programs actually perpetuate the problem of domestic abuse.
Let us quote from a book on the subject by McNeely, R.L.. and
Robinson-Simpson, G (1987) "The Truth about Domestic Violence: A Falsely
Framed Issue" : "Yet, while repeated studies consistently show that men are
victims of domestic violence at least as often as are women, both the lay
public and many professionals regard a finding of no sex difference in rates
of physical aggression among intimates as surprising, if not unreliable, the
stereotype being that men are aggressive and women are exclusively victims."
However, a vital part of the feminist agenda is to make men look as bad as
they can. The American press cooperates with this libelous portrayal of men
"Recent studies show that every 7 seconds a feminist tells a lie about male
character!"
Now, there is nothing to back up this statement. No studies, no cites, not even
a clue as to where the statement originated. We made it up, pure and simple.
That is exactly how feminists write news releases. The press is so obsequious
about feminist propaganda that they publish unfounded statements like this
without ever checking.
Patricia Ireland was a guest on the Charlie Rose show on PBS. She said,
"According to the March of Dimes, the leading cause of birth defects is men
beating their wives." This statement was reported as fact in the national
media. The March of Dimes says the story has become a widespread urban
myth The March of Dimes never said it, there are no studies to support it.
Time Magazine later retracted the story, but it was repeated by a local shelter
movement advocate and published by our local press just recently.
Ireland knew she was caught telling a lie, but she had the audacity to repeat
the same lie in a speech she gave months later.
In 1993 a coalition of feminists, aided by a media propaganda organization
called FAIR (believe it or not, Fairness And Accuracy in Reporting) pulled off
a nationwide hoax about spouse abuse. They claimed that Super Bowl
Sunday is "the biggest day of the year for violence against women. Forty %
or more women will be battered on Super Bowl Sunday." They sent media
kits to all major outlets and asked them to warn women, "Don't remain
home with him during the game." There was no data to support this
outrageous claim, but the press obliged the feminists by publishing or
broadcasting most of their press kit claims verbatim. Ken Ringle of the
Washington Post was evidently the only journalist who checked. He blew the
whistle on the hoax. Ringle contacted a scholar at the University of Virginia
who had been quoted as a source for a study by the feminists. The response
of the scholar, "That's not what we found at all." Later, the FAIR
representative admitted that she knew all along that the study had been
misrepresented.
It leaves this person to wonder...why do you suppose conventional news
sources convey the feminist point of view so readily, and ignore the evidence
of the social sciences?
Feminists and domestic violence advocates are very powerful politically. They
are also know to play dirty. A few examples:
When Dr. Warren Farrell was making the talk show circuit to promote his
latest book, "The Myth of Male Power", feminists nationwide lobbied media
outlets to boycott his appearances. This book is a real eye opener for most
men. We suggest that anyone who is interested in gender issues read Dr.
Farrell's book as well as "Who Stole Feminism?" by Christina Hoff
Sommers. Dr. Sommers has also been harassed by feminists.
When Dr. Suzan Steinmetz published her book "The Battered Husband
Syndrome" she received death threats against her children from outraged
feminist who were afraid they would lose the political advantage of being
"victims". Imagine the irony of being threatened with violence by people who
were afraid of being labeled violent.
The Domestic Violence issue has been the subject of overt bogus statistics
generated by abuse shelter advocates and feminists. The media has been
duped or actively involved in creating a false perception of the problem.
Journalism is rife with feminists. Our own local newspaper has a "Family
Section" which is reserved for feminist propaganda. Our letters and faxes
often fall victim to the censorship of these feminist employees.
Another theory to explain the wide spread misconception of the Domestic
Violence issue is that men will do almost anything to avoid looking like a
victim. Many women hold onto their victim status like Silas Marner held
onto his gold. The idea of men as victims and women as perpetrators is
unpalatable to both genders. You will not win friends or influence people by
talking about the scientific studies that agree with Kipling's comment. "The
female of the species is more deadly than the male."
Feminists have been using this falsely defined domestic violence issue the
same way for many years. Their twisting the truth about the Domestic
Violence issue is probably their most successful hoax to date. Its time we
called them on it.