Battered Women's Advocates and Their Fight Against Domestic Violence at the Local, State, and

149 Pages·2017·0.84 MB·English

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History Theses & Dissertations History
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Clara Amy Van Eck
Old Dominion University, [email protected]
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Van Eck, Clara A.. "Changing the Message: Battered Women's Advocates and Their Fight Against
Domestic Violence at the Local, State, and Federal Level, 1970s-1990s" (2017). Master of Arts (MA),
Thesis, History, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/bs1s-7187
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This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the History at ODU Digital Commons. It has been
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CHANGING THE MESSAGE: BATTERED WOMEN'S ADVOCATES AND THEIR FIGHT
AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AT THE LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL LEVEL,
1970-1990s
by

Clara Amy Van Eck
B.A. May 2011, Whitman College

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of
Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
HISTORY
OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY
August 2017

Approved by:
Elizabeth Zanoni (Director)
Brett Bebber (Member)
John Weber (Member)
ABSTRACT

CHANGING THE MESSAGE: BATTERED WOMEN'S ADVOCATES AND THEIR FIGHT
AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AT THE LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL LEVEL,
1970-1990s

Clara Amy Van Eck
Old Dominion University, 2017
Director: Dr. Elizabeth Zanoni

This thesis analyzes congressional hearings, reports to Congress, government statistics,
acts of Congress, Supreme Court rulings, and newspaper articles to examine how, in the 1970s,
1980s, and 1990s, battered women's advocates altered their rhetoric when dealing with local,
state, and federal governments in order to change policies, laws, and to obtain funding for
domestic abuse shelters. In the 1970s, battered women's advocates used anti-patriarchal
language to help survivors of sexual assault and of domestic violence understand the pervasive
and systemic nature of violence against women to liberate survivors from the belief that the
violence was their fault. In the 1980s, however, battered women's advocates altered their
language from an anti-patriarchy message to an equal protection under the law message as a
strategy to gain the cooperation of local police departments. When testifying before Congress to
obtain funding for shelters, advocates adjusted their language to emphasize the vital and life
saving social services that shelters provided as a tactic to gain Congressional support. By
reframing their message, advocates mobilized and motivated members of Congress to pass the
Family Violence Prevention and Services Act of 1984, the Indian Child Protection And Family
Violence Prevention Act of 1990, and the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. All three of
these acts provided shelters with much needed funds. The Violence Against Women Act even
included the right for women to sue men who attacked them in federal court.
Battered women’s advocates and their supporters in Congress achieved these legislative
successes despite repeated attempts by the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush
administrations to prevent battered women's advocates from obtaining funds for the shelters as
part of a national-wide, systemic campaign against feminists. Battered women's advocates'
alteration of their original message made violence against women socially unacceptable and
made federal funding for shelters possible.
iv

Copyright, 2017, by Clara Amy Van Eck, All Rights Reserved
v

This thesis is dedicated to my mother, who provided encouragement and necessary "brain food,"
and to my father, who spent many a night as my intellectual sounding board.
vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend my deepest gratitude and especial thanks to my advisor, Dr.
Elizabeth Zanoni, without whom this thesis would not have been possible. For the past five
years Dr. Zanoni has provided invaluable comments, gentle and invariably astute critiques, and
unfailingly encouragement. I would like also to thank my committee members Dr. Brett Bebber,
for allowing me to borrow his copy of British Social Policy for the past five years, and Dr. John
Weber, whose insightful class "The Global 1960s," on the civil rights movements of the 1960s,
inspired me to write this thesis.
vii

NOMENCLATURE

ADC Aid to Dependent Children
BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs
CETA Comprehensive Employment and Training Act
FVPSA Family Violence Prevention and Services Act
IHS Indian Health Service
HHS Department of Health and Human Services
LEAA Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
NOW National Organization for Women
VAWA Violence Against Women Act
VISTA Volunteers In Service to America
WEEAP Women's Education Equity Act Program
viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page

I. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1
BRIEF HISTORY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND THEIR
FUNDING ........................................................................................................4
SOCIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW ....................................................8
HISTORIOGRAPHY: PATRIARCHY AND SECOND WAVE FEMINISM ....16
CHAPTER OUTLINE ...........................................................................................25

II. ADVOCATES' STRATEGIES IN CONFRONTING POLICE DEPARTMENTS ..........28
LANGUAGE USED WITH SURVIVORS ...........................................................29
LEGAL PRECEDENCE AND POLICE INTRANSIGENCE ..............................32
POLICE RESPONSES TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CALLS ............................35
ST. PAUL, SCOTT V. HART, AND FEMINIST RESPONSES ..........................38
CHANGING ATTITUDES IN STATE LEGISLATURES AND POLICE
DEPARTMENTS ...........................................................................................45

III. SECURING FUNDS FOR SHELTERS DURING THE REAGAN YEARS ...................50
FEMINIST RHETORIC IN THE FIELD ..............................................................51
FEDERAL FUNDING FOR FEMINIST ORGANIZATIONS: THE EARLY
DAYS .............................................................................................................54
THE FEMINIST BACKLASH LED BY REAGAN ADMINISTRATION .........56
CONGRESSIONAL HEARING ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:
ADVOCATES, DEMOCRATS, AND REPUBLICANS ..............................63
PASSAGE OF 1984 FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND
SERVICES ACT ............................................................................................74

IV. ADVOCATES WIN REAUTHORIZATION OF FVPSA AND PASSAGE OF THE
1990 INDIAN CHILD PROTECTION AND FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION
ACT....................................................................................................................................82
GLORIA STEINEM ..............................................................................................83
CONGRESSIONAL RESPONSES TO THE FAMILY VIOLENCE
PREVENTION AND SERVICES ACT .........................................................86
THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION FIGHTS REAUTHORIZATION ............89
BATTERED WOMEN'S ADVOCATES URGE REAUTHORIZATION ...........95
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S ANTI-FEMINIST ATTACKS ..................103
RACISM UNDER THE GUISE OF PATERNALISM: THE INDIAN
CHILD PROTECTION AND FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION
ACT OF 1990 ...............................................................................................107
THE PASSAGE OF THE INDIAN CHILD PROTECTION AND FAMILY
VIOLENCE PREVENTION ACT OF 1990 .......................................................113
ix

Chapter Page

V. CONCLUSION: PASSAGE OF VAWA AND UNITED STATES V. MORRISON ....118

BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................128

VITA .........................................................................................................................................139