[ OUR OPINION ]
Enforce orders against
spousal abuse on basesCONGRESS is taking a small but important step toward dealing with spousal abuse in military families. The House of Representatives has voted to close a loophole in the law dealing with domestic violence on military bases, but more efforts are needed to avoid what some regard as collateral damage from America's wars. The family problems that may be related to deployment too often are allowed to be hidden from law-enforcement authorities and the military chain of command.
THE ISSUE The House has voted to require that civilian judges' restraining orders against abusive spouses be enforced on military bases.
The House this week approved a bill that would require the military to enforce restraining orders issued by civilian judges aimed at preventing domestic violence in military housing. The bill was prompted by the slaying of four Army wives by their husbands over a six-week period last summer at Fort Bragg, N.C. Two of the soldiers then committed suicide. A Pearl Harbor sailor is charged with murdering his wife and and mother-in-law in June after a state judge had issued a restraining order against him.
Due, at least in part, to the stresses of life in the armed service, domestic violence is twice as prevalent in the military than in civilian families. Members of elite units used in dangerous missions are considered even more prone to domestic violence, although no such studies have been conducted. Three of the four soldiers involved in the Fort Bragg killings were Special Operations Command members who had recently returned from duty in Afghanistan.
The House bill, proposed by Rep. Robin Hayes, D-N.C., whose district includes Fort Bragg, would close a loophole in the 1994 Violence Against Women Act that exempts military bases from enforcing restraining orders issued by civilian courts. Similar measures are pending in the Senate. Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., said the loophole "has essentially made military installations a free zone for batterers."
The problem is more complex than that. Before the draft ended, fewer than one-fourth of the Army's enlisted troops were married. Enlistees are younger now, about half are married, and about 70 percent live off base, where civilian authorities are not required to report domestic-violence abuses to military authorities. While on-base housing may provide spousal abusers immunity from civilian court orders, living off base in adjoining communities may keep military commanders from knowing about it.
Military chaplains are assigned to identify and help soldiers having home problems, and 1,100 counselors at Army installations assist soldiers in adjusting to their post-deployment lives. However, professional counseling is not covered by military insurance policies. Many military personnel who seek professional counseling keep it confidential, concerned that domestic problems could jeopardize their promotions. Closing the restraining-order loophole alone will not end violence in military homes.
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