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Catholic World News News Feature

Family breakdown seen as major cause of domestic abuse May 19, 2006

The main cause of domestic abuse in America is the breakdown of families, according to a new report from the American Coalition for Fathers and Children (ACFC).

The ACFC report, authored by the group's president Stephen Baskerville, argues that government policies are aggravating the problem of domestic abuse, by contributing to the destabilization of families. The report is particularly critical of new federal programs aimed at cubing violence against women, arguing that the feminist thrust of the programs is likely to aggravate rather than solve the problem.

"Gaping inconsistencies separate what the scientific data demonstrate about family violence from current public policy," Baskerville charges in the report, entitled "Family Violence in America." He says that divorces, separations, and disputes over the custody of children account for most incidents of reported domestic violence-- "both true incidents and false accusations." Policies that strengthen and preserve family ties are the most effective safeguards against the spread of domestic violence, the ACFC argues. The report recommends a shift in American government policies to provide for "statutory protection for parental rights," and "a legal presumption of equal and shared legal and physical custody of children in cases of divorce, separation, and unmarried parents."