The Continued Importance of the Violence Against Women Act

The Acting Director from the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice realizes that abusive, battering fathers are getting custody of children. She testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary recently:

STATEMENT OF
CATHERINE PIERCE
ACTING DIRECTOR
OFFICE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

BEFORE THE
UNITED STATES SENATE
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

HEARING ENTITLED
“THE CONTINUED IMPORTANCE OF THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT”

PRESENTED

JUNE 10, 2009

What is interesting is close to the final remarks in the statement is this:

The complicated issue of child custody presents another challenge involving the intersection of children and domestic violence. Battered women losing custody of their children is a serious and growing problem. In August of 2008, OVW convened a Roundtable Discussion on Custody and Domestic Violence with experts and practitioners to inform OVW about how battered women are losing custody of their children to either the perpetrators (through Family Court) or to the State (through Child Protective Services). As a result of the Roundtable Discussion, OVW will be supporting a variety of projects: training for attorneys and judges; increased access to legal representation for victims of domestic violence; training for custody evaluators; the development of easily accessible resources and tools that will assist judges and others in making informed decisions around custody; and increased public awareness about how children are being placed in the custody of batterers and how that is affecting those children. OVW will also increase collaboration with HHS to assist in developing better domestic violence practices for the child protection system.

To download “THE CONTINUED IMPORTANCE OF THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT”, statement by Catherine Pierce, Acting Director of OVW, before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, please click here.