October 8, 2011
Fathers and Families Board Chairman Ned Holstein, MD, MS discussed president Obama’s new Domestic Violence Awareness Month proclamation on the Dr. Laura Show Friday. To listen to the audio, click here. Dr. Laura clearly enjoyed the interview, telling her listeners afterward “That was fabulous—I loved talking to him.” To join the vigorous discussion of the issue on Dr. Laura’s Facebook page, click here. Dr. Holstein explains that Obama”s new proclamation misstates several key facts on men, women, and domestic violence:
“Obama tells us that ‘One in four women and one in thirteen men will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.” In reality, over 200 studies have found that women initiate at least as much violence against their male partners as vice versa. Obama”s 3.25 ratio is actually 1-1. And men comprise about a third of domestic violence injuries and deaths.’
During the half hour interview, Dr. Holstein noted that this isn’t just a quibble over statistics. In a recent release he asserted:
“The myth that ‘only men do it” has crept into family courts, leading judges to put children into the custody of dangerous mothers whose violence is ignored because of the pervasive myth that women do not injure or kill.’
The controversial Dr. Laura has been a longtime supporter of family court reform. For example, in 2004 in the wake of the California Supreme Court’s move-away decision in In re Marriage of LaMusga, Dr. Laura helped our campaign to defeat legislation sponsored by the president of the California Senate which would have abrogated LaMusga and given custodial parents the right to arbitrarily move their children whenever they wanted, wherever they wanted. To learn more about LaMusga, see our column Is a Pool More Important than a Dad? (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/4/04).