 Fathers who abuse their children's mothers are more likely to dispute custody and visitation than are fathers who are not violent. This statement appears in the text of HCR 182, a resolution sponsored by Rep. Constance Morella (R-MD), and in HR 3514, the Violence Against Women Act of 1998. Having this statement adopted in law appears to be a priority of the National Organization for Women. The purpose of this statement is to instruct judges that any father who attempts to gain custody of his children is to be presumed violent. Reasonable people should be seriously concerned that feminist activists are today powerful enough to propose language like this, quite literally a slanderous lie directed at every father in the country, in multiple laws intended for adoption by the Congress of the United States. As to whether it is true, Liss and Stahly in Domestic Violence and Child Custody [Hansen and Harway, Battering and Family Therapy, A Feminist Perspective, Sage 1993] state that "7% of batterers sought any form of custody". |