According to a report on AHN [USA] Over one million false allegations of domestic violence are filed each year
A new report released on Monday sheds some light on an alarming issue. Over one million false allegations of domestic violence are filed each year. The accusations usually stem from a family break-up and the removal of children from their parents
"A Culture of False Allegations: How VAWA Harms Families and Children" outlines how the Violence Against Women Act defines "domestic violence" in broad terms. The definition spawned over one million claims of domestic "violence" each year in which physical violence is not even alleged.
The Violence Against Women Act defines domestic violence this way: "The term 'domestic violence" includes felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse, ..."
State legislatures have used the word "includes," as a loophole. The word opens the door to broad interpretations. Law enforcement officials used that loophole to enact domestic abuse statues that allow people to claim they are merely "afraid" or "fearful" as the basis for a domestic restraining order. Subsequent legislations no have 63 percent of all states' definitions of domestic abuse include psychological distress and 33 percent incorporate the ill-defined legal allegation of "harassment."
Elaine Epstein, former president of the Massachusetts Bar Association, says "Everyone knows that restraining orders and orders to vacate are granted to virtually all who apply ... In many cases, allegations of abuse are now used for tactical advantage."
This is the view that even if there had been no violence, then the fear of violence would be sufficient to deny contact with the child(ren). Such fear is usually discussed as from the father on the mother, though violence in both directions is of about equal frequency.
A case involving Dan Iagatta of Foxboro, Mass. Gives a good example of the types of allegations flooding the legal system. Iagatta is a quadriplegic dad who is confined to a wheelchair, he was accused of domestic abuse by his wife and recently ordered to vacate his home.
Dan now has until the end of August to give his estranged wife 50% of the marital home in cash and $75,000 in 10 years and to pay back the two children's college funds tenfold and Dan is to surrender his $200,000 inheritance to his wife, she is allowed to keep her $250,000 inheritance and Dan has to remove a $40,000 elevator along with a $15,000 ramp and put all the doors back to their original location before his injury.
Even late night TV talk-show host David Letterman was formally charged with domestic violence. In a very bizarre case that shockingly made it into the court system a New Mexico woman accused him of harassing her with mental telepathic messages.
"False allegations of domestic violence have become so widespread that lawyers now call them a legal 'slam-dunk,'" notes RADAR spokesman Ron Grignol. "Some are saying we should pass a David Letterman Protection Act to curb the problem."
Restraining orders are now seen as part of the "gamesmanship of divorce," according to a 2005 article in the Illinois Bar Journal. A report written by RADAR (Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting), a research and education organization documents how these false allegations violate civil rights and harm families. As a result, children often lose daily contact with one of their parents.
Sadly, the report shows how children who grow up in a single-parent home are greater risk of child abuse, academic failure, and a broad range of social pathologies.
Source: AHN