Supporting the Goals and Ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH -- (House of Representatives - September 25, 2007)

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Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank the gentlewoman from New York for handling this very important bill. I want to thank Mr. Costa and Mr. Poe for sponsoring this legislation.

When we talk about violence in the family, domestic violence, we quote a lot of statistics, and my colleagues have done that very, very well. But one of the things that's very hard for people to understand is what it's like to actually go through domestic violence.

It's so important that everybody in America be involved in stopping domestic violence. There's so many people that hear some woman scream or see some child being beaten by their father and they don't do anything about it. They say it's not my business, and so they go on their merry way, and they feel like this problem's going to go away. It doesn't go away. It gets worse and worse and worse until sometimes people get killed or maimed for life.

My father was six-foot eight, and my mother was five-foot-and-a-half inches tall, and he used to beat her so badly that we couldn't recognize her. He would tear her clothes off of her in front of me and my brother and sister, and then if we said anything he would beat me.

He went to prison for trying to kill her, and one of the reasons it went that far, in my opinion, is because there wasn't enough attention paid to what he was doing in the first place.

I can remember one night about 2 o'clock in the morning my mother, who had been beaten up, took me and my brother and sister down to the police station in Indianapolis, and she went to the desk sergeant and said to him, you know, she wanted to get a restraining order, get away from this brute and this brutality. And the desk officer said, you know what time it is, lady? It's 2 o'clock in the morning, and these kids ought to be in bed. If you don't take these kids home right now, I'm going to arrest you for child abuse. That was the attitude that we saw back in those days.

I can remember when she would throw a lamp through the front window when he was beating on her or me and scream for help so loud that you could hear it for blocks away and nobody came. Nobody's light went on. Nobody paid any attention, and that's the crime.

The crime isn't just the wife abuse or child abuse or spousal abuse. The crime is that people don't take it upon themselves to stop it.

Today, it's a lot better in police departments across this country. There's a lot of organizations that are trying to help women and kids who are abused, and that's great. It's a great step in the right direction, but as these statistics that we've heard today will tell you, it goes on and on and on. And the only way it's going to stop, if collectively across this country, men and women who see violence in public or in private or hear about it, report it to the police, report it to the proper people and get that brute away from that man and that woman and those kids. If we don't do that, this is never going to stop. The brute has to be afraid of what's going to happen to him.

I'll just tell you how this story ends. My mother finally got away from him. He went to prison for 2 to 14 years. And when he got out, he still tried to bother us. But it wasn't until he realized that he was going to go back to jail if he did it again that he stopped. The fear of the law, the fear of prosecution, the fear of retaliation for what they're doing is the one thing that brutes and wife and child abusers understand.

And so I'd like to say to my colleagues, this is very important legislation. I really appreciate it. I'm glad that we sponsor this every year, and we need to make sure there's awareness of this.

But I'd like to say if anybody across the country is paying attention, it's your responsibility, every single American, if you see a wife or child abuse or abuse of any type like this, report it to the police. Tell your friends and neighbors to watch for it. That's the only way it's going to stop, and it's everybody's responsibility.

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Each year children witness domestic violence and this experience can have a lasting impact on their lives. In order to break the intergenerational cycle, children need services and interventions to address their experiences and prevent future violence. Between 3.3 and 10 million children witness domestic violence every year.

The National Census of Domestic Violence Services (NCDVS) revealed that over 18,000 children in the United States received services and support from 1,243 local domestic violence programs during a 24-hour period in November 2006. During the survey day: 7,241 children found refuge in emergency shelter; 4,852 children were living in transitional housing programs designed specifically for domestic violence survivors; and 5,946 children received non-residential services, such as individual counseling, legal advocacy, and children's support groups.

Nationwide, participating programs reported that 5,157 requests for services from adults and children went unmet. Boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults.

Children exposed to domestic violence are more likely to exhibit cognitive and physical health problems like depression, anxiety, and violence toward peers. These children are also more likely to attempt suicide, abuse drugs and alcohol, run away from home, engage in teenage prostitution, and commit sexual assault crimes.

Teens experience high rates of domestic and sexual violence and need specialized services that respond to this and prevent future violence. Domestic and sexual violence's prevalence in the youth population is a problem that deserves careful attention.

One in 3 teens know a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, kicked, slapped, choked or physically hurt by dating partners. One-fourth of high school girls have been the victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse or date rape. Girls and young women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence.

Not surprisingly, this violence can have a traumatic effect on the lives of these young people that can last well into adulthood.

Victims of teen dating violence are more likely to: use alcohol, tobacco, and cocaine; drive after drinking; engage in unhealthy weight control behaviors; commit sexually risky behaviors; and become pregnant. Over 50 percent of youth reporting dating violence and rape also reported attempting suicide. Girls who are raped are about 3 times more likely to suffer from psychiatric disorders and over 4 times more likely to suffer from drug and alcohol abuse in adulthood.

American Indian and Alaska Native women are battered, raped and stalked at far greater rates than any other group of women in the United States.

The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that: 1 of 3 Native women will be raped; 6 of 10 will be physically assaulted; and Native women are stalked at a rate at least twice that of any other population. Seventy percent of American Indians who are the victims of violent crimes are victimized by someone of a different race.

This bill raises awareness of domestic violence. It is essential to keep this issue in the eye of the public so that victims know that they have options and a way out. I am proud to support this bill today.

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