White Ribbon Campaign

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. ELLMERS. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank my colleague and friend from New York and to point out the fact that, over the years, she has just been a tireless, dedicated supporter of women's issues, family issues, and of giving her voluntary support of legal services to facilities that provide domestic violence havens in New York. She is a strong advocate for the White Ribbon Campaign, and I am proud to stand with her today in support of ending violence against women.

We show our support today by wearing these white ribbons that represent a pledge to never commit, condone, or to remain silent about violence against women and girls. So let's start this discussion by defining the different forms of violence against women.

Domestic violence occurs when one person in an intimate relationship uses a pattern of controlling assaultive behavior to abuse, threaten, harass, and intimidate the other partner. This violence comes in many forms. In its simplest terms, it is emotional abuse; name-calling; playing mind games; put-downs; threats--they can be physical or emotional--intimidation; using looks; smashing things; loud voices or actions to put you in fear of what might happen; isolation; controlling where you go, what you do, what you see; driving away friends and family; and of course sexual abuse and the use of children: making you feel guilty about the children, using custody or visitation to harass you.

None of these forms of abuse are acceptable, and part of the White Ribbon Campaign's objective is to bring these issues to light. The bottom line here is that there are men in this country who want to protect the women they love. Through the White Ribbon Campaign, they are speaking out against these atrocities that take place. They are educating and calling on their fellow man to stop the violence.

While we are taking a moment today to bring this important issue to light, I want to take a moment to commend the many facilities in my congressional district that are helping to provide a safe place for women but that are also working toward bringing families back together by working through the violence issues.

S.A.F.E. of Harnett County is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide safety and to serve as an advocate for sexual assault and domestic violence victims, survivors, and their families.

In Chatham County, North Carolina, the Family Violence and Rape Crisis Services has helped numerous people through effective programming. One victim said, ``The pieces of the puzzle are coming together. The Family Violence and Rape Crisis Service has given me the strength to be who I was supposed to be on my own.''

In Johnston County, Safe Harbor is another private, nonprofit agency that was created in 1984 with $500 and a donated phone line. This agency served around 3,000 victims in 2009.

There are numerous other facilities in my congressional district that are also doing good work toward stemming the tide of domestic violence. I want to commend them for their hard work and dedication to the downtrodden.

As I close today, I also want to commend the men who support the White Ribbon Campaign. I applaud them for rising up and for reaching out to educate. It takes a strong man to take this kind of action.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source