On May 5, 2010 Concerned Women for America (CWA) released a media advisory informing the public that their Executive Director and Senior Fellow, Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, provided written testimony to the Senate Committe on the Judiciary during their hearing on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Her testimony consisted of informing the committee that the issue of domestic violence is nothing but a feminist political ploy. She wrote that for the "past 15-20 years, the women's movement has used the issue of violence against women to increase their influence around the world." http://christiannewswire.com/news/406313824.html
Crouse wrote that the numbers of actual violence are skewed. She's right. They are. The numbers do not even begin to reflect how many women are actually experiencing domestic abuse or violence. But that is not what she meant. She also wrote that "violence is...diluted when psychological and verbal abuse are thrown into the mix and differ in magnitude" from physical abuse.
Crouse, and Concerned Women for America are wrong. The magnitude of psychological and verbal abuse should not be underestimated. They are horrendous. Crouse wrote, "Physical violence is not to be tolerated, and VAWA needs to focus on ending those crimes rather than broadening the definition of violence to the point of meaninglessness." Meaninglessness? Domestic abuse is not meaningless. It is devastating, and it can be deadly. Women can and do commit suicide as a result of domestic abuse. The suicide of a verbally and psychologically abused woman is a domestic violence murder.
Suppose a verbally abused wife does not commit suicide? Does that make everything Ok? How many women who live under the strain of verbal and psychological abuse (in military settings it is called psychological warfare) experience significant deterioration in their physical and mental health, and live miserable, shortened lives as a result of the abuse? Abuse should not be a crime?
God help us.
"Dr. Crouse concluded, 'None of us likes to see anyone abused, and we all recoil at those situations where women and children are battered and assaulted. However, those who really want to help these women cannot continue to 'add on' to the list of abuses things that are regrettable and objectionable but not 'abusive'...'"
Psychological warefare is not abusive? How can Christians continue to support these "non-profit" organizations? Stop sending them money!
Crouse continued, "we must ensure that those programs that are funded really do help women, rather than merely increasing the federal bureaucracy and imposing further barriers between hurting women and those who are eager and qualified to help them." How does Concerned Women for America plan to support programs that help battered women? Do they fund any battered women shelters? If they do, it cannot be found on their website. They do not even deal with the issue of domestic violence on their website. It is not listed as either a "Core Issue" or a peripheral "Miscellaneous" issue. It appears that wife beating and domestic psychological warfare are not "Issues" at all as far as CWA is concerned, except in opposing efforts to help women who are victimized by these crimes. CWA consistently attempts to erect judicial and economic barriers between endangered women and those who have the authority and the qualifications to help them.
One of the purposes behind CWA is protecting and supporting the "Biblical design of marriage." The Biblical design of marriage, according to them, is defined by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), and consists of male authority and submissive wives--period. How can a wife submit and leave an abusive husband at the same time? What is CWA doing to help abused women? What can they do when they issue media releases saying that verbal and psychological warfare is not abuse?
Little real help for battered and abused wives will be found within radical complementarian organizations like CWA. And CWA is a radical complementarian organization. Its founder, Beverly LaHaye, serves on the Board of Reference for the CBMW, which is an organization committed to the absolute overthrow of the personal authonomy of all Christian women. In spite of the fact that Beverly LaHaye has been living a high profile life with CWA, and been busy in politics for quite some years, she and her husband, best selling author, Tim LaHaye, advise Christian husbands to practice economic abuse by controlling all monies earned by working wives in order to discourage female independence. Why in the world would they, or any organization connected with them, be concerned about domestic abuse? They promote it. It is part of their strategy for implementing what they call the "Biblical Design of Marriage."
Concerned Women for America may be the nation's largest public policy women's organization, but they certainly are not concerned about women.
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"And they said Let us rise up and build So they strengthened their hands for this good work"
3 comments:
Thanks, Jocelyn for bringing this to our attention. "What is CWA doing to help abused women? What can they do when they issue media releases saying that verbal and psychological warfare is not abuse?" And they said adding these abuses to the definition of DV makes it meaningless?!
Perhaps they do not realize that at first the secular community aimed their intervention at physical abuse, but that didn't work, because abusive men are less likely to change once their control beliefs have taken such a radical hold on their minds. Those who combat domestic violence had to battle what caused the abuse and try to stop it before it became physical. They found that a belief in male privilege, in male entitlement and authority was what CAUSED the abuse to escalate until it became violent physical abuse. Concerned Women for America appear to be unconcerned that the non-physical abuses also violate the woman. It is violence against her very being.
"Concerned Women" are focused on maintaining the status quo of keeping the males THEY cater to in power, so their bread will be well buttered. I have news for them, no matter how well their bread is buttered, there is absolutely NO Jam, Jelly or applebutter available for women of complementarianism. Their lives are NOT sweet, and they want to make sure no other woman can have a sweet life, either. They apparently would rather a woman get beaten or killed; that IS far too often what happens to women who cannot get a protective order to keep a non-physically abusive husband away from them.
I am so stunned I don't know what to write. Almost nothing coming out of the church these days surprises me. How ignorant and heartless of CWA. That is just cruel.
I was intrigued by this statement "[LaHaye] advise Christian husbands to practice economic abuse by controlling all monies earned by working wives in order to discourage female independence. "
I've long despised CWA, but hadn't heard that one before. Do you have a citation for this? I know some people who think the LaHayes are fantastic who would be very upset by this idea.
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