Neil Gilbert

About the author: Neil Gilbert is a professor of social welfare at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Violence Against Women Act of 1993 (which was recently enacted as part of the Senate's 1993-1994 Omnibus Crime Bill) classifies rape motivated by gender bias as a civil rights offense. The authors of the bill erroneously claim that in the area of violent crime, rape results in the lowest number of convictions and incarcerations. In fact, the conviction and incarceration rates for robbery, aggravated assault, and other violent crimes approximate those of rape. The reality is that the United States Senate has reacted to the shrill and exaggerated claims of victimization by radical feminists.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has answered the dreams of radical feminist lawyers with its proposed Violence Against Women Act...