Family Nonviolence Inc.

All child abuse should be illegal - help us make it so!

In Massachusetts it is still legal to beat a child with a belt or other similar object that could cause bodily harm. Family Non-Violence finds this appalling and would like to see the law changed. To that end, we have petitioned the General Court for a change in the law. If you agree, we urge you to send a letter to your legislator in support of our petition and would appreciate a copy such letters sent to us as well.

Our concern on this issue arose because of the failure of a recent petition involving spanking. We wish to stress that we are NOT asking for a law banning spanking. What we do want to prevent is harsher punishments of children that are currently legal, but that we feel cross the line and are harmful to children.

The recent citizens petition that failed was called An Act Prohibiting Corporal Punishment of Children. It received little support from the general public, the media and legislators. But in an article in the Standard Times, a statement by State Senator Karen Spilka caught the attention of our board. Sen. Spilka said the state needs to do more to combat child abuse, but isnt about to ban spanking. The same article notes that lawmakers believe that beating children with belts and extension cords would likely cross the line into child abuse under current law.

The fact is that under current law and Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) rulings, the beating of children with belts and other injurious instruments, such as extension cords, by parents or guardians does not cross the the current legal line into child abuse. We think it should, but In fact a number of SJC findings have condoned the beating of children with belts by parents or guardians.

In light of the failure of the corporal punishment petition receiving little to no support our board voted to present a petition that asks the legislature to forbid what is otherwise a felony under criminal law. Our petition asks the legislature to make the beating of children with belts or other injurious instruments unlawful. Beating children with belts or other injurious instruments presentsa high risk of bodily injury. Further, the condoning of the use of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon [a felony] against children sets a poor example for a society that is attempting to forbid the use of any physical or verbal assaults among family members.

Article on restorative Justice
Our Most Recent Newsletter!
Dating Violence: Prevention( A new phamphlet you can download and distribute.)
Discussion group: Preventing Family Violence
A Domestic Violence Research Tool

Domestic Violence: Intervention, Prevention, Policies, and Solutions

That's the title of a new book by Richard L. Davis which: book cover

Presents the most contemporary intervention and prevention theories based upon empirical data and not ideological beliefs
Discusses the need for a commonly accepted definition of domestic violence
Challenges the belief that adult female heterosexuals are the primary victims of domestic violence
Provides 10 recommendations for change to policies, procedures, and legislation
Includes access to an annually updated online resource section that contain hundreds of scholarly investigations, empirical studies and books.

For details, please go here. To purchase at Amazon.com, go here. For a list of links to the resources referenced in this book,as well as the author's recomendations, go here.

Dating Violence: Prevention( A new phamphlet you can download and distribute.)

This pamphlet, based on the article above on dating violence by Richard Davis, can be downloaded a Microsoft Word document and you can add your organization's name to it and distribute it. It is free, of course.

Download the Microsoft Word version (use if you plan to add your name to it.)
Download the PDF version if you simply wish to read it. (Free Adobe Acrobat Reader needed)

Preventing Family Violence (discussion group)

Preventing Family Violence is a discussion group we've created on Yahoo for people who are interested in sharing helpful ideas for preventing family violence. The media and our government mainly place their attention on what happens after violence has occurred and little attention in seeking the strategies and approaches to keep violence from happening.

This Discussion group is to focus on being proactive, not reactive. What ideas, suggestions, possible approaches, even questions do you believe might be of assistance in moving our society forward helping individuals and families cope with this problem? We seem to be stuck in the same place we were in twenty years ago. It is a time for new ideas, for creativity, for radical suggestions! You get the message. We're eager to hear your ideas!

Use the convenient form below to subscribe to our group.

A Domestic Violence Research Tool

by Richard L. Davis

Unfortunately too many domestic violence agencies, advocates and members of the criminal justice system continue with policies that fail to reflect contemporary knowledge from recent research studies.

The purpose of this paper is to place many of these studies and articles into the hands of those who directly or indirectly affect our public polices concerning domestic violence intervention.

Welcome!

This Web site contains original articles, plus links to other articles and studies, detailing what we think should be done about violence in the family and why. In the column on the left you will find new material, links to other relevant and useful resources, and information on how to contact us.

Family Nonviolence Inc. is a nonprofit, grass-roots organization of volunteers whose goal is to focus on ways to reduce family violence in Massachusetts, who believe that change is necessary because . . . for more details why, please click on... "Gloria Steinem Got Married"

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