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Wednesday, Feb 20, 2013 3:22 PM UTC

GOP Rep.: Men can handle violence better than women

Rep. Jimmy Duncan says he's more opposed to violence against women because "men can handle it a little better"

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Topics: Violence Against Women, Violence Against Women Act, Jimmy Duncan, House Republicans, domestic violence,

GOP Rep.: Men can handle violence better than women Rep. Jimmy Duncan, R-Tenn. (Credit: Wikipedia)

Rep. Jimmy Duncan, R-Tenn., has his reasons for potentially voting against the Violence Against Women Act when it comes up in the House, but, he said, it’s definitely not because he supports violence against women. ”Like most men, I’m more opposed to violence against women than even violence against men,” Duncan told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “Because most men can handle it a little better than a lot of women can.”

Duncan noted that the title of the bill, like most bills, is “a motherhood-and-apple-pie title,” but “if you voted [based] on the title, you’d vote for every bill up here. If we’d all done that, the country would have crashed a long time ago.”

Though he voted for the bill’s reauthorization in 2005, Duncan added that he has to look at the budget implications of the latest version. ”Last time my main concern was the money,” he said.

The VAWA, which the Senate approved last week, was allowed to expire in September 2011, and stalled several times in 2012 over a new set of protections carved out for LGBT, undocumented immigrant and Native American women.

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

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