Domestic violence is not what we thought we would be carrying as a societal problem into the new Millennium. In fact, it is an ancient problem that mere mention of it today as an ongoing crisis should really make our society embarrassed and oppressive. Only with the past decade is our society beginning to realize that we have overlooked the stringency of domestic violence. All along we have been viewing domestic violence as a 'private family matter' and not a public matter. So, while we were looking the other way, here is what has developed. Domestic violence is now one of the leading causes of death among women and this has fueled drastic changes in local and state laws. Under these revised laws, in the state of Florida, a woman may qualify for an injunction if she believes that she is in danger of becoming the victim of an assault. Should the state of Florida change the domestic violence laws? A woman does not have to certify under oath that the person has ever committed a crime against her resulting in physical injury. The woman does not even have to pay the filing fees. One might ask why would a woman want an injunction if she were not abused. The injunction can remove the man from the home, order him to stay away from the woman, award custody of children, award child support, award alimony, and may order the violator to participate in counseling. Many experts in family law- both from the legal and mental health arenas- have observed an increase in deceptive and manipulative tactics used by divorcing women. Florida needs to change the domestic violence laws to require proof of abuse before issuing a domestic violence injunction. The problems with the current laws is angry wives in divorce cases are abusing this loophole in our laws to get revenge and punish their spouses, and numerous unjustified injunctions are unfair to the real victims of abuse and to men.
             Feminists who support the domestic violence laws tell ...