Officials: War strain hurts violence curbs

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Former members of a task force on domestic violence in the U.S. military say efforts to curb violence have been frustrated by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pentagon officials said they have begun offering additional parenting and couples classes, increased the number of advocates for victims and created a system that gives victims more confidentiality in reporting abuses to help curb the problem of domestic violence, The New York Times reported Friday.

However, members of the now-disbanded congressionally chartered task force said the Pentagon's efforts have been complicated by war-related strains on the military and military families.

"I don't think there is any question about that," said Peter McDonald, a former task force member and a retired district court judge in Kentucky. "The war could only make things much worse than even before, and here we had a system that was not too good to begin with."

Connie Sponsler-Garcia, another former member of the body who continues to work with the Pentagon on domestic violence issues, echoed the sentiment.

"Whereas something was a high priority before, now it's: 'Oh, dear, we have a war. Well get back to you in a few months,'" she said.