Friday, October 31st 2008
Battered Men Should Have Equal Access to Programs
The California Court of Appeal for the Third District ruled earlier this month that the state can’t exclude abused men from government-funded domestic violence programs. You can find the court’s opinion here.
At issue was whether gender-based classifictions in statutes which provide programs for victims of domestic violence violate equal protection. The court found that male victims of domestic violence are similarly situated to femal victims of domestic violence, and that there was no compelling state interest justifying the gender classification.
Men are less likely than women to report domestic violence, which makes crime-based statistics unreliable. Worldwide surveys, however, consistently show women initiate domestic violence at least as often as men, and men suffer about a third of physical injuries.
Male litigants in family law cases often complain that the laws don’t protect men equally as they do women. Now, at least according to the appellate court’s interpretation of one statute, they must.
View other articles for: Domestic Violence