Man joins lawsuit against shelters
By Brittany Retherford
» More from Brittany Retherford
12:01 a.m. PT Oct 29, 2005
A Grass Valley man is claiming he was turned away because of his gender when he sought help from the county's Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalition, said the man's attorney Friday.
The man, Patrick Neff, is part of a class action lawsuit filed Friday along with three other men and one woman against the State of California and two state-funded domestic violence agencies, including Grass Valley's Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalition and Women Escaping a Violent Environment in Sacramento, said Neff's attorney, Marc Angelucci.
The men are claiming that they have continually been refused services by these agencies. The woman in the suit, a 21-year-old daughter of one of the men, says she was repeatedly harmed by having to witness years of abuse of her father by her mother because no help was available from Women Escaping a Violent Environment.
Representatives from Grass Valley's Domestic Violence Coalition had not yet learned of the lawsuit and so would not comment on it Friday.
Niko Johnson, a DVSAC board member, said services offered by the agency are the same for men and women.
"We do crisis counseling. We have our crisis line. We meet with individuals. We have safe housing capabilities. We help them find more permanent housing. We offer transportation, court advocacy, particularly around restraining orders," she said.
Johnson said the only service that is currently not available for men is a support group.
"We offer that when we can, when there is the need," she said. "I haven't known that there have been that many (male) clients (recently)."
Lack of support for male abuse victims is a nationwide problem, however, said Edward Dunning of Family Interventions Project, a nonprofit that researches abuse cases.
"What I do know is from coast to coast men are not part of the funding. If you are a man, unless you want to go to a batterers' group, that is pretty much the only available," Dunning said. He was the one who initially referred Neff to Angelucci after Neff sought his help through a crisis hotline.
Angelucci, a Los Angeles-based construction attorney who occasionally does men's rights work, said he has taken the case pro bono because he feels there is a lack of representation for men in this area.
"I've known about this (type of discrimination) for a very long time. Either nobody cares or nobody wants to do anything about this," he said.
Dunning said he initially referred Neff to Angelucci after Neff sought his help after not receiving services from Grass Valley's Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalition.
"I agonized for weeks before sending him to Mr. Angelucci," he said. He said he eventually did because he wanted to help stop the characterization of domestic abuse and sexual assault as a purely male or female issue.
It's not that clear, he said Friday.
"If this (lawsuit is) handled properly it can be very beneficial, but if it is handled from an angry man point of view, it is not going to be productive for anybody."
Katie Kull Francis, a district attorney who handles a bulk of the county's domestic violence and assault cases, was surprised to learn of Neff's complaint against DVSAC, saying it was a first.
She also said that she is not familiar with Neff's case and so could not comment on it specifically.
Neff was unable to be reached Friday for comment.
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To contact staff writer Brittany Retherford, e-mail brittanyr@theunion.com or call 477-4247.
