VAMA...

Blog: Her Blueprint

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act in America.

A total of 27 NFL players were arrested in the off season prior to this current fiasco + 2 more (see Aaron Hernandez of the New England Patriots at the first link) + Adrian Peterson. "Video-gate" treated more as a public relations faux pas than anything otherwise. The two-game suspension was a slap on the wrist compared to the league's punitive standards on the evil marijuana weed - an entire season. The previous hand-wringing discussions were on some current and former players committing suicide. Despite the brief shallow introspection of public naval-gazing, we eventually get on with the billion-dollar industry's contemporary gladiator spectacle with a modern Roman shrug.

And make no mistake on the business focus: the NFL made $9 billion dollars last season, and Roger Goodell had a stated public goal of $25 billion by 2027. So, resolving quickly this latest in a string of incidents was simply and cynically in protection of that goal.

The savagery of war and collision sports wreck the same havoc resulting in traumatic brain injury. To be successful at both, a level of aggression must be cultivated, fostered and unleashed at practice, on the field of battle and in the locker room. It is hardly surprising that like war, it is difficult to turn off the testosterone at home, or in elevators.

The World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna, Austria, in 1993, and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in the same year, concluded that civil society and governments have acknowledged that domestic violence is a public health policy and human rights concern.

The Violence Against Women Act was developed and passed as a result of extensive grassroots efforts in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with advocates and professionals from the battered women's movement, sexual assault advocates, victim services field, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors' offices, the courts, and the private bar urging Congress to adopt significant legislation to address domestic and sexual violence. Since its original passage in 1994, VAWA's focus has expanded from domestic violence and sexual assault to also include dating violence and stalking. It funds services to protect adult and teen victims of these crimes, and supports training on these issues, to ensure consistent responses across the country. One of the greatest successes of VAWA is its emphasis on a coordinated community response to domestic violence, sex dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; courts, law enforcement, prosecutors, victim services, and the private bar currently work together in a coordinated effort that had not heretofore existed on the state and local levels. VAWA also supports the work of community-based organizations that are engaged in work to end domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; particularly those groups that provide culturally and linguistically specific services. Additionally, VAWA provides specific support for work with tribes and tribal organizations to end domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking against Native American women.

Source: Wikipedia

White House Fact Sheet: Violence Against Women Act

Tomorrow: Home to Roost