A report recently published by Stop Abusive and Violent Environments, a victim-advocacy organization, highlights the failure of the criminal justice system in the United States to fairly adjudicate domestic violence cases. The report cites a number of statistics that show the general landscape of domestic violence across the country and demonstrate the bias against men throughout the adjudication process. Some of the salient facts and statistics cited by the report include:
- A number of scholarly studies show that acts of domestic violence are initiated equally by men and women, with half of all abuse being mutual in nature.
- About two-thirds of domestic violence cases involve minor incidents, such as a shove or a slap, while the remainder involves more severe incidents.
- Despite the above two statistics, about one million people are arrested in the United States each year for intimate-partner violence, of whom 77 percent are men.
- Low conviction rates suggest that many arrests for domestic violence are being made without probable cause.
- Men are consistently treated more severely at every stage of the prosecution process, including at the stages of jury selection and sentencing.
The report cites additional instances of partiality, including the fact that although many domestic violence cases are non-meritorious, few district attorneys prosecute women for making false allegations of domestic violence against men. This has created an incentive for women to make allegations against men when they are angry or jealous, even though no violence has been perpetrated.
If you have been accused of domestic violence, the best way to protect your rights throughout the adjudication process is to hire an experienced criminal defense attorney who can fight for your best interests. The attorneys at Larsen, Larsen, Nash & Larsen can help you defend against a non-meritorious claim and ensure your voice is properly heard in a court of law.
