The kind of "anecdotal evidence" found in the Women's Issues forum was borne out in the extensive hearings by Congress which lead to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and prompted Congress to include a section in that act giving an individual the right to sue an attacker in Federal Court. This is the section of the VAWA that the Supreme Court struck down in a recent decision. While the papers and testimony from those Congressional hearings are not available online, the Solicitor General's Petition for the Writ of Certiorari, filed in support of the law, refers to the findings of those hearings extensively:

Congress found that the problem of gender-motivated violence was exacerbated by pervasive bias in the state justice systems, including bias among police officers, prosecutors, judges, juries, and court employees. The Conference Report concluded that "bias and discrimination in the [state] criminal justice system often deprive[] victims of crimes of violence motivated by gender of equal protection of the laws and the redress to which they are entitled." Conf. Rep. 385.

In reaching that conclusion, Congress relied, in part, on the reports compiled by numerous state task forces on gender bias. Congress found that "[s]tudy after study commissioned by the highest courts of the States-from Florida to New York, California to New Jersey, Nevada to Minnesota-has concluded that crimes disproportionately affecting women are often treated less seriously than comparable crimes against men."

I think you are over-reacting. Rape is still a serious criminal offense, and I am not aware of any state that does not consider that to be so.
--DONALD1100

Feminists have raped the use of statistics so badly over the years that they have totally destroyed their credibility.
--RINGLE67

Some men even suggest that women lie about being raped, or blame women for the violence they suffer:

Some women make false reports because there are legal, financial, and child custody rewards for making a false report. Some divorce attorneys and gender activists specialize in encouraging false accusations, and actively coaching women how to falsely accuse.
--TETRA1999

I once held my ex-wife's arms by her side so she could not hit me. She screamed at me and I held her so tightly that it bruised her arms. She accused me of attacking her and beating her up. ... How does one figure out exactly how much verbal abuse one can take before one becomes violent? ... If I go up to a tiger's cage, stick my arm through the bars, and start throwing rocks, and the tiger suddenly rushes over and claws my arm.... whom do I blame? The mean, evil tiger?
--WAWHEART

With sentiments such as these being regularly voiced on the Women's Issues forum, I have to believe that the airing of the tape is, in the final analysis, a good thing. No one can look at the tape and deny the reality, or the seriousness, of the attacks portrayed. No one can argue that the women are blowing the situation out of proportion, or are falsifying their claims, or did anything to provoke the attacks. (Click on the picture to the right to access the Fox News page and view one of the videos.)

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