‘Wife Beating Is Not a Matter of ‘Differences of Opinion”: Domestic Violence Groups Blast Oberweis - Aurora Beacon-News
For a man intelligent enough to amass a fortune in business, state Sen. Jim Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove) can display a head-shaking lack of common sense and courtesy.
You may have heard by now how ice-cream magnate Oberweis compared “wife beating” and “wage theft” to “differences of opinion.”
It probably comes as no surprise that the Republican senator’s comments, uttered March 8 at a state Senate Labor Committee meeting about legislation regarding wage theft, riled a lot of people, including domestic violence groups here in the Fox Valley.“Wife beating is not a matter of ‘differences of opinion’ - it either happened or it didn’t,” Executive Director Michelle Meyer and board President Andi Danis of Mutual Ground stated in a press release. “Similarly, wage theft either happens or it doesn’t. Both crimes are deplorable but cannot be compared. To do so minimizes the seriousness of each offense.”
. .
“But Oberweis is not the only one who diminishes this issue,” Vapnar added. “Until men start standing up for women and tell other men that any sort of domestic violence is wrong, I don’t have a lot of hope for any sort of change.”