This October, the DesertLight Journal is launching a campaign to promote full awareness of the issue of domestic violence. DVA2004 – Media Recon, will track stories on domestic violence and highlight those with inaccurate information and faulty statistics.
(PRWEB) September 28, 2004 -- Media Recon Project for Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Every October, in media throughout the country, both old and new, two statements are repeated so often theyve almost become a mantra for domestic violence:
95% of the victims of domestic violence are women," and every nine seconds a woman is battered."
Often, they take a prominent place in an article or website, and have even been used as a headline or lead. The problem with both of these statements is that they simply have no basis in fact.
The 95% number is extrapolated from a Department of Justice statistic that only reports the number of incidents of which they are aware. It presumes knowledge of all incidents, when that cannot be possible, and neglects to address the number of incidents which are never reported, or the reasons why.
The every nine seconds" statement is an interpretation of an extrapolation. At some point, someone concluded, based on the number of incidents of domestic violence per year, that it equaled one every 14 seconds. It was presumed that a woman was always involved. Someone else down the line thought nine seconds sounded better, so thats become the number that is used.
Reporters believe them, because they are usually stated by a spokesperson for a womens shelter, or other service in aid of domestic violence victims. The fact that these statements seem to have taken on lives of their own does not make them any more credible. They are untrue, which is misleading to the public, and ultimately misrepresents the real picture of the issue.
This October, the DesertLight Journal is launching a campaign to combat these and other distortions in an effort to promote full awareness of the issue of domestic violence. DVA2004 – Media Recon, will track stories on domestic violence and highlight those with inaccurate information and faulty statistics. Each day, the website will link to those stories, and encourage readers to contact the media outlets in their local areas with correct information.
According to Trudy Schuett, Publisher of the DLJ, There can never be any progress made in the treatment of victims or solving the problem until the issue is objectively studied. There has been so much advocacy research, and political agenda obscuring the facts, that only a fraction of the victims can be helped by todays programs. This is not even to mention the waste of taxpayer dollars in misguided services."
Also on the website will be a list of the most-often repeated factual errors, with explanations why they are wrong and links to sources with correct information. In addition, the site provides background on the history of domestic violence programs, and how the problem came to be considered a womens issue."
http://desertlightjournal.blog-city.com/index.cfm
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