It's a societal problem that starts when one person is raised with the belief that he deserves power over other people. Leudtke and Steinem relayed accurate assessments about violence against women in American society, and, as to be expected from anyone representing IWF, Hart completely misses the point. Anyone intimately involved with the domestic violence issue, as a survivor, an activist, or a shelter volunteer, knows that domestic violence is not simply a matter of a man hitting a woman. Most domestic violence is emotional and verbal in nature. Domestic violence is only one issue IWF has tackled without bothering to understand and explore the nuances behind the abusive cycle.
Emotional abuse can be more damaging than physical abuse.
Anyone can see a broken bone. A broken spirit is more difficult to detect. Emotional and verbal abuse are not taken seriously in this culture. Thus, there is no guarantee that any of the hundreds of millions of dollars in grants will actually be spent for cops or courts. Nothing could be farther from the truth.