April 20, 2011: Steve Blake, Sharon Dillon and Sekaidah Dillon had meetings at the capital in Madison with Governor Walker's Policy Research Assistant Becky Kikkert and with State Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt (52nd Assembly District) regarding AB-54. Ms. Kikkert was gathering information to pass along to Gov. Walker regarding AB-54, which she will relay to him on Friday April 22, 2011. We are hopeful that he will support this bill. Rep. Thiesfeldt wanted additional information and clarification of some points. Both meetings went very well. We look forward to more meetings with the Governor's staff in the future.
April 6, 2011: A hearing was held at the state capital in Madison before the Children and Families Committee on AB-54, the Equal Parenting bill. People began showing up to testify as early as 10:00 am. Steve Blake, Joe Vaughn, Sharon Dillon and Sekaidah Dillon, many who are involved with Dads of Wisconsin and many who just believe in this bill, waited for as long as six hours to testify. Steve Blake, the last to testify, waited until 8:30 pm. As expected, there was a lot of opposition from the domestic abuse coalitions. However, the testimony seemed to be pretty evenly split. We'll have to wait to see what the committee decides.
Joe Vaughn and Steve Blake have been making trips to the capital in Madison to drum up support and co-sponsors for the Equal Parenting bill. They have met with the executive assistant to the Secretary of the Department of Children and Families to gain the support of the Walker administration and have been in contact with the State Director of Child Support concerning the bill. We are also getting help promoting the bill from other organizations, such as Wisconsin Fathers for Children and Families, the American Coalition for Children and Families and the Eagle Forum.
Malachi 4:6
He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse. (NIV) Abuse shelters in Washington DC currently have a 3-month wait-period, and most likely, this is true of shelters across the country. The cause of the problem can be traced back to expanding definitions and lack of requirements for proof of abuse.
The PVRA limits the definition of domestic violence to "felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence," so victims of physical violence don't have to take a number and wait their turn.
Abused men who look for help are often turned away, and in some cases arrested. Most shelters only accept female clients. Some shelters that claim to give hotel vouchers to abused men, do not.
The PVRA makes the law gender-inclusive and removes discriminatory policies.
The Partner Violence Reduction Act (
PVRA) offers hope to physical abuse victims by:
- Promoting proven abuse-reduction strategies
- Tightening definitions, so real victims aren't put on waiting lists
- Allowing partner reconciliation when the abuse is minor, keeping more families together
- Ending gender discrimination
If you haven't done so yet, sign the petition:
Also, call and thank Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) for calling for a gender neutral abuse law: 202-225-6565. Link to article:
While you're at it, call your own legislators and ask them to support the PVRA. To find your senators' and representative's phone numbers, you may use
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt or call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202)224-3121 and ask for your senators' and/or representative's office.
