He-Man Woman Haters Club continues apace:
With emotions still raw from the fight over President Obama’s contraception mandate, Senate Democrats are beginning a push to renew the Violence Against Women Act, the once broadly bipartisan 1994 legislation that now faces fierce opposition from conservatives.
Democrats, confident they have the political upper hand with women,
Well hell, if they don’t, this country is more far gone than I thought.
insist that Republican opposition falls into a larger picture of insensitivity toward women that has progressed from abortion fights to contraception to preventive health care coverage — and now to domestic violence.
And here are the things that wingnuts don’t like about it:
The legislation would continue existing grant programs to local law enforcement and battered women shelters, but would expand efforts to reach Indian tribes and rural areas. It would increase the availability of free legal assistance to victims of domestic violence, extend the definition of violence against women to include stalking, and provide training for civil and criminal court personnel to deal with families with a history of violence. It would also allow more battered illegal immigrants to claim temporary visas, and would include same-sex couples in programs for domestic violence.
Republicans say the measure, under the cloak of battered women, unnecessarily expands immigration avenues by creating new definitions for immigrant victims to claim battery. More important, they say, it fails to put in safeguards to ensure that domestic violence grants are being well spent. It also dilutes the focus on domestic violence by expanding protections to new groups, like same-sex couples, they say.
OH GOD FORBID the definition of “domestic violence” be extended to include couples who are not wingnut-approved.
So conservative Republicans [on paper, in theory] oppose violence directed against women, as long as it doesn’t help minorities or immigrants, because hey, wingnuts, they’re not actually people, right?!
If Democrats somehow manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on this one, we’re doomed.
[h/t watertiger]
Of course they don’t want this renewed. They want to be free to “keep women” in line by whatever means they deem necessary…making abortion illegal…making contraception unavailable…making sure battered women have few or no avenues of escape from their situation…the list goes on and on.
I have a dear friend who was finally able to escape an abusive marriage, but what if she hadn’t had some community resources to fall back on? Battered women need things like shelters to get themselves and any children involved OUT OF THE ABUSIVE situation. Many times battered women (and men as well) don’t leave a situation because they don’t see a way out–now the Rethugs want to make sure there are even fewer avenues of escape.
The Rethugs are just pigs, pure and simple–my apologies to pigs. We have to break their hold on the House, keep as many as possible out of the Senate, and definitely keep a Democrat in the White House. This election is a very critical one.
well said Merlyn. The anti woman stances of the republicans are almost to painful to read…and their hatred of us, to hurtful to ignore.
Ugh, here’s the culmination of such pain, from one of Sean Hannity’s friends:
http://www.newshounds.us/why_is_hannity_associated_with_a_charity_run_by_a_slavery_apologist_who_thinks_most_women_are_little_whores_03152012
mmm… what about the.men who are abused by their female partners? What about the large portion of couple dealing with mutual violence? These two groups of people are looking for help that simple does not exist eith this bill. These groups together make up more than the stereotypical “wife beater” situations.
Violence is everywhere in our culture, yet wgen it perpitrates the home men take all the blame. Women are more likely to abuse and kill their own children yet we’re not writing sexist child abuse laws that blame mommy. Domestic Violence will continue to grow in frequency and strength as we are not addressing the real causes… only shifting the blame for the sake of funding.