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Anti-Violence Advisor ‘Thrills’ Allies in Field

Run Date: 07/13/09
By Kayla Hutzler

(WOMENSENEWS)--Vice President Joe Biden’s June 26 announcement of a White House Advisor on Violence Against Women stirred some public grumbling about President Barack Obama’s recent “czar frenzy.”

Bonnie Erbe, at U.S. News and World Report, complained in her blog that these advisors without any budgets—”a drug czar, a U.S. border czar, an urban czar, a regulatory czar, a stimulus accountability czar”--are just titles with limited influence.

Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the longest-serving senator in history, worried that such advisors—who don’t have to get approved by Congress—may upset the system of checks and balances, reported CBS.

But at a time of rising pressure on domestic violence shelters, representatives of two of the largest advocacy groups for ending domestic violence were far more enthusiastic about the creation of the post. They were also excited at the naming of Lynn Rosenthal, a former executive director at the New Mexico Coalition against Domestic Violence in Albuquerque, with a substantial resume of safety advocacy and working ties to Biden.

“I am thrilled that President Obama has established the White House Advisor on Violence Against Women,” said Rita Smith, executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, based in Denver. “I have been working in this field since 1981 and this is the first time an administration has made this level of commitment to ending violence against women, girls, men and boys.”

Rosenthal could not be reached for comment through the White House press office.

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