OIDV Project Of Michigan - Officer Involved Domestic Violence Project Of Michigan

Between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, about 450,000 women throughout the nation will be violently abused in their homes, according to U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. During each week of the holiday season, about 30 women will be killed by their husbands.

In light of those shocking statistics, it's disturbing to note that the federal government has turned its back on victims of domestic violence. Congress has been slow to act because of society's views that family privacy and husbands' rights are not to be tampered with.

Biden will propose the first federal legislation on domestic violence to the next session of Congress. His bill - the Violence Against Women Act - would impose strict penalties on abusers, including those who cross state lines to track a fleeing partner. It also would offer incentives to states that arrest spouse abusers and triple federal funds for women's shelters.

Women's advocates say domestic violence is a serious national problem. It's time the nation did something about it with harsher punishment for abusers and greater protection for their victims.

CONGRESSIONAL NOTES - VAWA

USA TODAY (Arlington, VA)

January 25, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

Rockefeller was among the original co-sponsors of the Violence Against Women Act introduced this past week by Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., which would toughen federal laws punishing a variety of abuses of women.

It also would make sexual assaults a "hate" crime and extend civil rights protection to victims so they can pursue civil damages as well as criminal cases.

"Women are often not even safe in their own homes," he said. "Every time a woman is battered, all of society is punished. The health and dignity of all women must be protected."

Seduction or rape? Bad manners or harassment?

Washington Times, The (DC)

JANUARY 29, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

Washington erupted in fury after George Washington University student Mariam Kashani falsely reported last month that a woman she knew had been raped at knifepoint on campus by two young black men. Some of the gravest damage done by Miss Kashani's lie might have been to the latest effort of the women's movement: to highlight what its spokesmen call an epidemic of rape - date rape, acquaintance rape, spousal rape.

Miss Kashani had been a campus rape counselor, and her friends said she fabricated the story to show how widespread the rape problem really is. The incident was the movement's first setback in some time. Advocates for date rape survivors (saying "victim" is considered bad form) have been riding the crest of a media wave.

Some of the movement's key statistical assertions - that one in four university women is sexually assaulted during her college years and one in three women is attacked during her lifetime - have been repeated over and over in recent stories about rape.

Another assertion that appears constantly in the media: The vast majority of these assaults are by men the women know.

Women at Brown University recently garnered national media attention by writing on bathroom walls the names of men they alleged to be rapists. Newsweek covered the controversy, as did talk show host Phil Donahue, who bused in activists to fill his audience. Most wore red, the movement's color of solidarity.

Surfing the media wave has been the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is working on an omnibus rape and domestic violence bill called the Violence Against Women Act. Among other things, the bill would double federal criminal penalties for rape - sexual assault is a federal crime when it occurs on military bases and other federal territory - change some rules of evidence in rape trials to favor the accusers and create a National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women.

Sponsored by Sen. Joseph Biden, Delaware Democrat and chairman of the committee, the bill also calls for rape to be defined as a gender-based hate crime, which would make it punishable under federal civil-rights statutes in addition to state criminal codes.

Another key provision of the measure would spend more than$1 billion in federal funds on the issue of rape over the next three years, primarily for education programs. Police and court officials, including judges, would take classes to learn to be more sensitive to the difficulties women face in bringing rape charges. Grants for education programs also would be given to community and university activists.

Testifying before the committee in favor of the bill was Mary P. Koss , a psychiatry professor at the University of Arizona. Many of the statistics in the news media concerning rape come from Miss Koss'

research. She is the source of most of the figures on date rape, and the oft-repeated statistic that one-fourth of college women are sexually assaulted comes from a 1987 article Miss Koss wrote in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

But Miss Koss also promotes the assertion that one-third of all women are sexually attacked. She bases that belief on a mailed questionnaire. Last year she mailed a brief questionnaire to more than 5,000 women in Cleveland. She used the responses to tell Mr. Biden's committee, "Almost one in three women (27.5 percent) had been victimized by rape or attempted rape since their 14th birthday."

Aside from the fact that 27.5 percent is closer to one in four than to one in three, "When you have a mailed questionnaire, what you get back is what we call a volunteer sample, which means that it's not a probability sample in a mathematical way, and therefore you shouldn't be using it to make generalizable statements to the public," says Kathryn Newcomer, who teaches statistics and public policy at George Washington.

"The problem is that the people who send [a questionnaire] back have some motive to send it back, some sort of ax to grind. No one cares what the real numbers are, they just want to make political statements. Her [Miss Koss'] study made a political statement. But is it generalizable to the general public? Absolutely not.

"That date rape is being taken more seriously is good," Miss Newcomer says. "To start using numbers incorrectly, though, is not good, because that just reduces the validity of the arguments."

What is rape?

Miss Koss, who could not be reached for comment, told Mr. Biden's committee that she had conducted her study because the official figures compiled by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics were erroneously low. The bureau, based on census interviews, says that about one in 770 women experienced an attempted rape in 1987 and that most attempts failed.

According to the Justice statistics, rape is on the decline, with the rate of rapes and attempted rapes nearly one-third lower in 1987 than in 1973, when one in 525 women was so assaulted. The Judiciary Committee's bill on rape relies primarily on Miss Koss' figures, not Justice's.

One reason for the dispute over the figures is that there is a dispute over exactly what rape is. Under traditional legal definitions, rape occurs when sexual intercourse takes place under force or threat of force or when the woman is unable to give consent (such as if she is unconscious or mentally ill). Activists want to change the definition to include sexual activity in which the woman feels intimidated or believes she cannot say no.

Critics say this would extend rape to murky areas of behavior that are not really rape but seduction or (often drunken) miscommunication. For example, in Miss Koss' survey of college women, which uses standard statistical methods, the majority of those she said had been raped did not describe it that way themselves.

Only 25 percent of those Miss Koss identified as rape victims called what had happened to them rape. Another 25 percent believed they had been attacked in some way but did not call it rape. The remaining half did not consider themselves to have been assaulted.

Stretching the definition

Yet those legal reforms were not thoroughgoing enough for the activists. A recent controversy at Dartmouth University gives some indication of what they would like to see.

Kevin Acker, a junior and editor of the school's daily newspaper until he was suspended in May, kissed a girl at a fraternity mixer during his freshman year. She had not invited the kiss, but she did not object verbally or physically. Two years later, using the university's disciplinary system, she brought charges of sexual abuse, saying she had been drinking and he had taken advantage of her.

When Dartmouth Dean of Freshmen Diana Beaudoin heard the case, she dismissed it, saying Mr. Acker had not committed abuse. But date-rape opponents mounted a protest; about 50 students waved signs with Mr. Acker's picture and the caption "Watch Out!" Dartmouth's Committee on Standards reopened and retried the case, found Mr. Acker guilty and suspended him. He is challenging the school's ruling in Grafton County Superior Court in New Hampshire.

Vivian Berger of Columbia Law School says conduct like Mr. Acker's may be wrong, but it is not assault. "Some women or alleged women's rights activists seem to be claiming that certain things ought to be defined as rape or sexual abuse that are certainly unpleasant conduct but that I would hesitate to define in that way," she says. "It's almost as if rape is the only term left."

Ambivalence about sex?

"There are an awful lot of women who are ambivalent about sex," says Maggie Gallagher, author of "Enemies of Eros: How the Sexual Revolution Is Killing Family, Marriage and Sex." That many women attach the name rape to an ambiguous and painful sexual experience "is a response to the loss of the ability to call it wrong," she says.

The message of what is and is not sexually acceptable on campus is often delivered through university date rape education seminars, programs that would be first in line for grant money under the Biden bill. On many campuses such seminars are mandatory for freshmen and members of fraternities, sororities and athletic teams.

The University of New Hampshire's program goes beyond rape to ferret out male behavior viewed as demeaning, including "sexist language and behavior and attitudes," says Jane Stapleton, a coordinator with the university's Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention Program.

Bad manners?

The definition of sexual harassment is expanding. Once thought to be pressure on a subordinate to have sex in return for some favor, it also has become a term for what was once known as bad manners. The University of New Hampshire student handbook includes "leering" and "derogatory gender-based humor" in its definition of sexual harassment, which is punishable by dismissal. A male student at Tufts University was suspended recently on harassment grounds for printing up T-shirts listing 15 reasons why "beer is better than women at Tufts."

"Our theory is that sexual violence exists on a continuum," says the University of New Hampshire's Miss Stapleton. "Harassment - the inappropriate jokes, the inappropriate touching - those things happen very frequently but are most often not perceived to be sexual harassment." Teaching students that lewd jokes constitute harassment is one of the missions of her program's educational offerings.

This emphasis on male behavior once considered offensive but not criminal has created divisions within feminist circles. Declaring women to be vulnerable - even to off-color jokes - makes them look weak and in need of protection, a 19th-century image at odds with the strong, independent one most feminists promote.

To resolve this paradox, Andrea Parrot, assistant professor of human services studies at Cornell University, says she urges women to take responsibility for themselves: "Women need to pay attention to their instincts and get out of situations that are dangerous. They need to be careful about alcohol and drug consumption. They need to be careful about spending time with men that exploit them, even in non-sexual ways. All of those messages are important to give to women."

But that does not let men off the hook, she warns. "We also have to say to women that even if you make all the mistakes, you do everything wrong, that still doesn't make you responsible for the crime committed against you. Exercising bad judgment is not a rapable offense."

It may turn out to be unwise to use the issue of rape to fight the battle of the sexes. Rape is a horrible crime. But if the word is used too often in ambiguous situations or becomes a springboard for enforcing political correctness or condemning sexism in society, Maggie Gallagher says, the word could well lose its power. She and Vivian Berger worry that rape could be taken less seriously as time passes, rather than more so.

'VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN'

Miami Herald, The (FL)

February 18, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

THE CASE of the female drifter accused of killing several male motorists in Central Florida is sometimes referred to in news accounts as bizarre. True, there are some oddities in the case -- but mostly it's considered "bizarre" because a woman is accused of doing violence to men. The tragic norm is the other way around.

When Sen. Joseph Biden, Democrat of Delaware, reintroduced his Violence Against Women Act this year, he cited that tragic norm. He added that it's easier to get a car thief convicted than a rapist.

His bill strikes at rape and domestic violence, with heavy emphasis on encouraging law enforcers and the courts to treat all crimes of violence against women more seriously. That's commendable, as are many provisions in this sweeping bill that would require states to do more to combat gender violence and reward those that do.

But the bill also puts heavier burdens on states: It would double penalties for rape and aggravated rape and create new penalties for repeat sex offenders. It would require states to pay for medical exams to determine if a woman has been raped. It would also bar using a rape victim's clothing as trial evidence to try to show that she "asked for it." This may well infringe defendants' Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial.

Regarding domestic violence, proposals include deterring abusers from learning the whereabouts of a fleeing victim and requiring all states to enforce any "stay away" orders. It would create Federal penalties for spouse abusers who cross state lines to continue their abuse. It proposes increasing funding for battered women's shelters.

The bill further defines gender-violence crimes as depriving victims of their civil rights. Thus a rape victim could sue an assailant for denial of rights under Federal civil- rights laws.

While some of Senator Biden's proposals overextend the Federal reach into state criminal statutes, most have merit -- including the civil-rights proposals. At least the bill also calls for extensive new funding to offset increased costs of enforcing its tougher provisions. If adequate funding is included in a less-sweeping version, then Mr. Biden's decent intentions deserve widespread support.

A society of victims

Sun, The (Baltimore, MD)

March 21, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

``First one group wants rights, next thing you know, the whole damn world wants rights.'' -- Poet Gil Scott-Heron. *

``I have worked with women who were raped as long ago as 40 years ago and who were still trying to come to terms with it, still trying to regain control of their lives,'' said Cecelia Carroll, director of the Sexual Assault Recovery Center here.

``That's the thing you have to understand about rape,'' Carroll continued. ``It is such a terrible, terrible, terrible thing. You feel that you have lost control of your person. You feel that you have been denied the opportunity to make a very fundamental decision about your life. You feel powerless. You feel awfully, awfully dirty. You feel guilty, as though, somehow, you were at fault.''

In January, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., introduced the Violence Against Women Act of 1991, declaring that ``today, it is easier to convict a car thief than a rapist. Police officers are more likely to arrest a man for parking tickets than for beating his wife.''

Biden's bill, which is due for a hearing next month, would funnel some $500 million in federal funds toward shelters for battered women, counseling services and law enforcement efforts.

It also would classify rape and other gender-based assaults as ``hate'' or ``bias'' crimes akin to racism or anti-Semitism. The act would allow victims to sue their assailants for damages under federal civil rights provisions.

In some ways, the effect of this provision would be largely symbolic because women can seek civil damages against their assailants in state courts under the same tort provisions applicable to everyone.

But the surprising thing, the sad thing, is that many of those in the field insist that in these days and times a forceful statement against rape might still be necessary.

Rape victims still are cross-examined about their own actions as though they had somehow enticed men to rape. A huge number of cases still are never brought to trial, either because the victim decides not to testify, or because prosecutors believe the circumstances are too ambiguous to win a conviction.

And women's-rights advocates insist the cultural context of rape has not changed as much as people believe it has.

``Our society sanctions violence against women in the same way it sanctioned slavery and racism against blacks,'' Carroll said. ``We tell people it's OK in ways that are so subtle that we may not even be aware of it. The rapist sees a movie where a woman says, 'No, no,' and then succumbs in the end. So then he refuses to believe that 'no' means 'no.' ''

``It is almost eerie,'' agreed Scott Shellenberger, of the Baltimore County state's attorney's office.

``In every woman's mind, there is no question they were raped,'' he said. ``But then you talk to the defendant and many of them are equally certain in their minds that they had had a normal sexual encounter. I bet many could even pass a polygraph test. Yet, they will describe the same circumstances, the same chain of events, but with completely different interpretations.''

Shellenberger and other law enforcement officers said the demented serial rapist who attacks strangers at random is relatively rare.

``I wouldn't say in the majority of the cases the rapist hates women per se, although that may be true of the serial rapist,'' he said. ``For instance, we don't often see the rapist screaming gender epithets, the way a racist may scream racial epithets during an attack.

``But the majority of the cases we see involve men with a distorted view of women, or who see women in a demeaning, degrading way.''

Not everyone working against sexual offenses applaud Biden's approach.

In fact, Dr. John Money, a Johns Hopkins University psychiatrist, insisted society would be better served if we sought to treat sexual offenders rather than incarcerate them.

``This is a sexological illness,'' Money said, ``and you don't solve medical problems and psychological problems by building more jails to put . . . [the convicted rapists] in.''

Money said a less punitive approach to these illnesses would encourage more men to seek help before they hurt others.

``But we don't do that, do we?'' he said sadly. ``No. We're a self-destructive little society, aren't we?''

Actually, we're worse off than that. We are a society of victims. I know it seems as though everyone is clamoring for their rights these days. But it's got to be that way.

More women raped in 1990 than in any year in U.S. history

UPI (USA)

March 21, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

More women were raped in 1990 than any year in U. S. history, exceeding 100,000 for the first time ever, a Senate report released Thursday showed.

'American women are in greater peril now from attack than they have ever been in the history of our nation,' Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said of the report issued by the committee's Democrats.

The report found that there were 94,504 rapes known to police in 1989 -- or 10 rapes every hour -- setting a record. In 1990, police identified 100,433 rapes -- or nearly 300 every day -- shattering the previous record.

While the national rape rate broke a record, the report also said 29 states set records in 1990 for the number of reported rates.

The five states suffering the greatest number of rapes in 1990 were California (12,413), Texas (8,427), Michigan (6,938), Florida (6,874) and New York (5,315).

And globally, the United States appeared to be the worst place in terms of rape, according to the report. Last year, American women were eight times more likely to be raped than were European women. The 1990 U.S. rape rate was 20 times higher than in Portugal, 26 times higher than in Japan, 15 times higher than in England, eight times higher than in France, 23 times higher than in Italy and 46 times higher than in Greece.

All of the numbers presented in the report represented the number of rapes reported to police. The report said as many as 2 million women are raped each year if non-reported attacks are taken into account.

In an attempt to remedy the problem, Biden has introduced the Violence Against Women Act, which cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously last year but never made it to the Senate floor.

Under the bill, penalties for rape and aggravated rape cases prosecuted in federal courts would be doubled from five years to 10 years in prison, new penalties for repeat sex offenders would be created and restitution for victims of sex crimes would be required.

Biden said under current sentencing guidelines, robbers, kidnappers and many drug offenders currently receive stiffer sentences than rapists.

The bill also would define gender-motivated crimes as 'bias' or 'hate' crimes, opening the door for victims of rape to bring civil rights suits against their attackers.

Both Democrat and Republican staffers on the committee indicated the Justice Department may have concerns with this provision of the bill, but no formal objection has been made yet.

The bill also would require states to pay for women's medical examinations to determine if they have been raped, authorize $300 million for beefed-up law enforcement efforts to combat sex crimes and $100 million for the 40 metropolitan areas most dangerous to women.

Further, the bill would create a $20 million grant program for the neediest colleges to fund campus rape education and prevention programs.

REPORTED U.S. RAPES REACH RECORD 100,433 DURING 1990

Daily News of Los Angeles (CA)

March 22, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

A record number of rapes - 100,433 - were reported to police across the country in 1990, the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday.

A study of statistics from every state showed that rape increased four times faster than the country's overall crime rate over the last decade, and that about 12 rapes occurred every hour last year, the panel said.

The number of reported rapes exceeded 1989 figures in 41 states and the District of Columbia and reached record levels in 29 states, according to the report prepared by the committee's Democratic majority staff. In Illinois, however, the number of reported rapes declined by 1 percent, to 4,128.

The attacks reported last year marked an increase of 5,929, or 6 percent, over 1989's totals.

Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., said the statistics show that rape "has reached epidemic proportions" in the United States. ''American women are in greater peril now from attack than they have ever been in the history of our nation," he said.

Biden is sponsoring a bill called the Violence Against Women Act that would require, among other things, states to pay for women's medical exams in rape cases, increase restitution for rape victims and define rape as a "hate crime," which would open the possibility of civil rights lawsuits against assailants.

The bill also would authorize $300 million for law-enforcement efforts against sex crimes.

Rape `Epidemic' in U.S.

Tulsa World (OK)

March 22, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

WASHINGTON - A record number of rapes - 100,433 - were reported to police across the country in 1990, the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday.

The attacks reported last year marked an increase of 5,929, or 6 percent, over 1989's totals.

Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., said the statistics show that rape "has reached epidemic proportions" in the United States. "American women are in greater peril now from attack than they have ever been in the history of our nation," he said.

The bill also would authorize $300 million for law-enforcement efforts against sex crimes, with one-third of the funding targeted at the 40 metropolitan areas most dangerous for women, and provide $20 million in grants for college rape education and prevention programs.

"I cannot imagine what other form of proof our nation needs before it moves vigorously to right such an obvious, destructive wrong," Biden said of the report.

California, the most populous state, had the highest number of reported rapes, 12,413. It was followed by Texas, 8,427; Michigan, 6,938; Florida, 6,874; and New York, 5,315.

RAPES AT `EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS' IN U.S.

Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA)

March 22, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

More than 100,000 women reported being raped last year, a nationwide record, and the rate of sexual assaults is now increasing four times faster than the overall crime rate.

``These numbers show that rape has reached epidemic proportions in our country,'' said Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which released the study Thursday. ``American women are in greater peril now from attack than they have ever been in the history of our nation.''

Estimating the number of rapes has always been difficult.

The report said less than 10 percent of women who are assaulted report it to the police. In addition to compiling official state records, the Judiciary Committee staff contacted rape crisis centers - where women can go for counseling and medical aid without having to disclose their names to the police - and learned that there was an even more dramatic increase in rapes.

For example, the report noted that Michigan law enforcement authorities reported a 4.7 percent increase in rapes while state rape crisis centers showed a 36 percent increase; Louisiana records showed an increase of only 0.3 percent in reported rapes, but the state's central rape crisis center reported a 39 percent increase.

``This data . . . silences the skeptics who believe that the rising rape rates are nothing more than a function of more women reporting their rapes to police,'' the report said.

The number of reported rapes exceeded 1989 figures in 41 states and the District of Columbia and reached record levels in 29 states. In Illinois, however, the number of reported rapes declined by 1 percent, to 4,128.

The attacks reported last year marked an increase of 5,929, or 6 percent, over 1989's totals.

The greatest increase came in the nation's capital, where the 303 rapes reported in 1990 were 63 percent higher than the 1989 figure. States with large increases were Alaska, up 31 percent to 367; Utah, up 30 percent to 636; Colorado, up 26 percent, 1,518; Maryland, up 23 percent, 2,184; and West Virginia, up 21 percent, 420.

In simplier terms, about 12 rapes occurred every hour across the country last year.

Experts have offered a variety of explanations for the increase, including drug abuse, an increased willingness of women to report and talk about the problem and the violent nature of American culture. The committee report noted that the reported rape rate in the United States was higher than in Portugal, Japan, England and Italy.

``Last year, American women were eight times more likely to be raped than were European women,'' the report said.

Biden cited the report to bolster the case for his recently introduced legislation, the ``Violence Against Women Act,'' which would double federal penalties for rape, authorize $300 million for local law enforcement efforts to combat sex crime and define rape as a ``hate'' crime, thereby allowing victims to bring civil rights suits against assailants.

FORUM SHOWCASES BILL ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)

March 24, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

Most men who have admitted raping women did not even realize they were committing a crime, a spokesman for the Portland Women's Crisis Line told an audience of 100 Saturday at a forum on violence against women.

``We ordinary men are the perpetrators,'' said Paul Edison, who conducts school lectures for the crisis service. ``Rape is not a woman's issue. It is a man's issue as well, and it is up to men to solve the problem.''

Edison was one of five speakers brought together by U.S. Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., for a forum at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Northeast Portland.

Wyden used the event to showcase a pending piece of federal legislation, known as the Violence Against Women Act. It would earmark about $500 million for harsher penalties for sex offenders, protection of abuse victims and prevention and education programs.

It would also create a National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women and classify sex crimes as bias crimes, placing them under the legal umbrella of civil rights protections given to other protected classes.

Edison said rape is perpetuated through misperceptions created in part by the entertainment industry.

``In the movies, this is romance,'' he said of scenes where men make sexual conquests of women who resist advances. ``In real life, this is rape.''

Edison said he encourages boys in high school to follow the basic rule of ``No means no'' and to avoid consumption of drugs or alcohol as part of a peer sexual ritual.

``What makes it rape, what makes it cruel, is that it is unwanted and it is as simple as that,'' he said. ``Sex is a gift between people and not something to be extorted.''

Tina Frost, former director of the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said rape is symptomatic of a male, European mindset of domination over a weaker group.

``Every gain in women's rights has brought with it a backlash in the form of violence,'' she said.

Dr. Barbara Limandri of Oregon Health Sciences University took a shot at Wyden for being part of a legislative group that approved spending $1 million each for Patriot missiles but only $5 million for research into domestic violence.

National statistics show that a woman is raped every six minutes in the United States. More than 2,000 women die each year from aggravated assaults.

Addressing the forum crowd, Limandri said, ``You men in this audience who are not violent, you are still responsible for your brothers.''

During a question-and-answer session, Susan Hunter of the Council for Prostitution Alternatives said the proposed federal legislation also needed to list assistance for prostitutes.

Hunter said women forced into prostitution are ``a class of rapable women'' for whom there is little or no legal recourse.

BILL WOULD CLASSIFY RAPE AS A HATE CRIME

Mercury News, The (San Jose, CA)

March 24, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

`` I HAVE worked with women who were raped as long ago as 40 years ago and who were still trying to come to terms with it, still trying to regain control of their lives," said Cecelia Carroll, director of the Sexual Assault Recovery Center in Baltimore.

''That's the thing you have to understand about rape," Carroll continued. "It is such a terrible, terrible, terrible thing. You feel that you have lost control of your person. You feel that you have been denied the opportunity to make a very fundamental decision about your life. You feel powerless. You feel awfully, awfully dirty. You feel guilty, as though, somehow, you were at fault."

In January, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., introduced the Violence Against Women Act of 1991. The bill, which is due for a hearing next month, would funnel $500 million toward shelters for battered women, counseling services and law enforcement.

It also would classify rape and other sex-based assaults as "hate" or "bias" crimes akin to racism or anti-Semitism. The act would allow victims to sue their assailants for damages under federal civil rights provisions.

In some ways, the effect would be largely symbolic, because women can seek civil damages against their assailants in state courts. But the surprising thing, the sad thing, is that many of those in the field insist that a forceful statement against rape might still be necessary.

Rape victims still are cross-examined about their own actions as though they had somehow enticed men to rape. A huge number of cases are never brought to trial, either because the victim decides not to testify, or because prosecutors believe the circumstances are too ambiguous to win a conviction.

And women's-rights advocates insist the cultural context of rape has not changed as much as people believe it has.

''Our society sanctions violence against women in the same way it sanctioned slavery and racism against blacks," Carroll said. "We tell people it's OK in ways that are so subtle that we may not even be aware of it. The rapist sees a movie where a woman says, 'No, no,' and then succumbs in the end. So then he refuses to believe that 'no' means 'no.' "

''In every woman's mind, there is no question they were raped," said Scott Shellenberger, of the Baltimore County state's attorney's office. "But then you talk to the defendant and many of them are equally certain in their minds that they had had a normal sexual encounter. I bet many could even pass a polygraph test. Yet, they will describe the same circumstances, the same chain of events, but with completely different interpretations."

Shellenberger and other law enforcement officers said the demented serial rapist who attacks strangers at random is relatively rare.

''But the majority of the cases we see involve men with a distorted view of women, or who see women in a demeaning, degrading way."

Not everyone working against sexual offenses applauds Biden's approach.

Dr. John Money, a Johns Hopkins University psychiatrist, insisted society would be better served if we sought to treat sexual offenders rather than incarcerate them.

''This is a sexological illness," Money said, "and you don't solve medical problems and psychological problems by building more jails . . . "

Money said a less punitive approach to these illnesses would encourage more men to seek help before they hurt others.

''But we don't do that, do we? We're a self-destructive little society, aren't we?"

We're worse than that. We are a society of victims. I know it seems as though everyone is clamoring for rights these days. But it's got to be that way.

The violence against women

Tampa Tribune, The (FL)

March 31, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

""I have worked with women who were raped as long ago as 40 years ago and who were still trying to come to terms with it, still trying to regain control of their lives,'' said Cecelia Carroll, director of the Sexual Assault Recovery Center in Baltimore.

""That's the thing you have to understand about rape,'' Carroll continued. ""It is such a terrible, terrible, terrible thing. You feel that you have lost control of your person. You feel that you have been denied the opportunity to make a very fundamental decision about your life. You feel powerless. You feel awfully, awfully dirty. You feel guilty, as though, somehow, you were at fault.''

In January, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., introduced the Violence Against Women Act of 1991, declaring that ""today, it is easier to convict a car thief than a rapist. Police officers are more likely to arrest a man for parking tickets than for beating his wife.''

Biden's bill, which is due for a hearing next month, would funnel some $500 million in federal funds toward shelters for battered women, counseling services and law enforcement efforts.

It also would classify rape and other sex-based assaults as ""hate'' or ""bias'' crimes akin to racism or anti-Semitism. The act would allow victims to sue their assailants for damages under federal civil rights provisions.

But the surprising thing, the sad thing, is that many of those in the field insist that in these days and times a forceful statement against rape might still be necessary.

And women's rights advocates insist the cultural context of rape has not changed as much as people believe it has.

""Our society sanctions violence against women in the same way it sanctioned slavery and racism against blacks,'' Carroll said. ""We tell people it's OK in ways that are so subtle that we may not even be aware of it. The rapist sees a movie where a woman says, "No, no,' and then succumbs in the end. So then he refuses to believe that "no' means "no.''

""It is almost eerie,'' agreed Scott Shellenberger, of the Baltimore County state's attorney's office.

""In every woman's mind, there is no question they were raped,'' he said. ""But then you talk to the defendant and many of them are equally certain in their minds that they had had a normal sexual encounter. I bet many could even pass a polygraph test. Yet, they will describe the same circumstances, the same chain of events, but with completely different interpretations.''

Shellenberger and other law enforcement officers said the demented serial rapist who attacks strangers at random is relatively rare.

""I wouldn't say in the majority of the cases the rapist hates women per se, although that may be true of the serial rapist,'' he said. ""For instance, we don't often see the rapist screaming gender epithets, the way a racist may scream racial epithets during an attack.

""But the majority of the cases we see involve men with a distorted view of women, or who see women in a demeaning, degrading way.''

Not everyone working against sexual offenses applauds Biden's approach.

In fact, Dr. John Money, a Johns Hopkins University psychiatrist, insisted society would be better served if we sought to treat sexual offenders rather than incarcerate them.

""This is a sexological illness,'' Money said, ""and you don't solve medical problems and psychological problems by building more jails to put ... (the convicted rapists) in.''

Money said a less punitive approach to these illnesses would encourage more men to seek help before they hurt others.

Actually, we're worse off than that. We are a society of victims. I know it seems as though everyone is clamoring for their rights these days. But it's got to be that way.

Legislation Aims to Aid Victims of Rape and Abuse

Christian Science Monitor, The

April 1, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

THE 6 percent increase in reported rapes in the United States last year, recently announced by the Senate Judiciary Committee, shows what people like Sharon Vardatira, director of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC), have known for a long time: Reports of violence against women are increasing

According to the committee's report, more than 100,000 women reported rapes to the police last year, a nationwide record, and the rate of sexual assaults is increasing four times faster than the overall crime rate. Even more startling is the increase in rapes reported to rape crisis centers, where women call for confidential counseling and medical and legal assistance

This term, Congress may have the opportunity to help stem what is perceived as a growing tide of violence against women on the streets and in their homes. Rep. Barbara Boxer (D) of California, with 35 co-sponsors, recently introduced the "Violence Against Women Act" into the House of Representatives. This legislation is similar to that reintroduced in January, (after failing to pass last term) by Sen. Joseph Biden (D) of Delaware, chairman of the committee that issued the report. Key provisions of the legislation would:

* Strengthen penalties for rape and spouse abuse

* Provide $300 million for local law enforcement efforts to combat sex crimes

* Triple funding for battered women's shelters

* Provide funds for rape crisis centers

* Target $25 million to increase lighting and emergency services in public areas

* Educate state and federal judges about domestic violence, sexual assault, and gender bias

* Make "gender-based" assaults a violation of federal civil rights laws, allowing victims to sue for civil (monetary) damages

The Senate and House bills are currently in committee, where hearings will be held before the bills come before the houses for member votes

"We're totally thrilled with this legislation. It's way past due," says Ms. Vardatira at BARCC's headquarters, a modest room full of donated furniture and postered walls in Cambridge, Mass. Rape statistics are difficult to obtain, she explains, because rape is a crime that often goes unreported. Only 3.5 to 10 percent of all rapes are reported to the police, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Many more victims call local rape crisis centers, such as BARCC's 24-hour hotline staffed by volunteers.

"Going to the police to report a rape is a big thing. It's very scary. So is going to a hospital," says Vardatira, a victim of rape in her youth. "The majority of the women who call us do not report it to the police.

Last year 2,500 rape "survivors" were treated at BARCC, and roughly 300 "significant others" - husbands, boyfriends, parents - called for counseling. "We're just touching the tip of the iceberg right now. With more money, we could help many more women," says Vardatira. The BARCC annual budget of $210,000 - from state and private sources - is inadequate to meet the needs of more isolated victims, and to raise community awareness of the problem. Impending state cuts and falling donations from the private sector threaten BARCC's effectiveness, she says

"We need to let people know how extensive this problem is, how tragic and how many women are affected," says Varditara

Domestic abuse, too, is a growing problem, with an estimated 1 million women a year requiring treatment for injuries inflicted by abusive spouses. The proposed legislation would require all states to honor "stay away" orders, regardless of which state issues it

While most funding in the legislation would help the victim, some would pay for mandatory counseling for those convicted of spouse abuse and of rape

Linda Fairstein, head of the District Attorney's Sex Crimes Unit in New York, prosecutors in the Central Park jogger rape case, says national legislation would help prosecutors, victims, and the community. "People's attitudes about this crime really need to be improved, informed, educated, and enlightened. Until that happens, rape victims will continue to be stigmatized as they have been.

Of the estimated 3,000 rapes that are reported in New York annually, Ms. Fairstein says fewer than 600 led to arrests or investigations. The federally proposed funds would help hire more prosecutors and pay for evidence tests, such as DNA fingerprinting. "We'd not only prosecute more, but we'd do better with the cases," Fairstein says.

Biden's bill would treat rape with gravity it deserves

Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX)

April 9, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

Rapes - with consequences almost too heartbreaking to be imagined - have been widely reported recently, sad sidebars to new statistics showing this ugly crime reached record tolls last year in the United States.

In New York City, a 12-year-old rape victim gave birth, perhaps all alone, to a 6-pound, 10-ounce baby boy whom she held for a while and then, in desperation, threw down a four-story garbage chute before she struggled off to her 6th-grade special-education class. The infant was later rescued, seconds before he would have been crushed to death in a trash compactor, by workers who heard him cry.

The child-mother, orphaned at age 4, was growing up in a troubled household scarred by drugs and poverty. "Most of us don't expect her to recover from this," a neighbor told a New York Times reporter.

Reports from Kuwait are now describing the tragic aftermath of the wave of rapes committed by Iraqi forces on Kuwaiti women, some of whom became pregnant. In a Muslim society where women customarily lead highly restricted lives, rape victims - and their children - are shunned and can expect to be considered outcasts forever.

If there is still any lingering misconception that rape is a crime of sexual passion, it's important to drive a stake through the heart of that idea as quickly as possible. That stake, in fact, could come from such an unlikely source as Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who is using his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee to take on the cause of violence against women.

Biden has introduced in Congress a "Violence Against Women Act" that would raise criminal penalties for rape, provide more help for women victims of rape and increase government spending to make public areas safer for women.

The legislation's unusual Title III redefines rape and other "gender-motivated crimes" as hate or bias crimes, as forms of illegal discrimination and therefore violations of federal civil-rights laws. If the measure is passed, Title III would give rape victims another legal tool - and an easier one - to use in seeking justice against their attackers and allow them to do so in the federal court system.

Of all the provisions in this proposed law, the most important may simply be calling rape what it really is - a hate crime against women. It's not just sexual urges out of control or mistaking a date's "no" for "yes if you make me do it" or just an easy-to-forget little unpleasantness.

Rape not only violates the body, it can scar the mind for a lifetime, undermine the psyche, distort relationships with others and interfere with existing or potential marriage. It can cause nasty - or fatal - infection. And if it results in pregnancy, rape can pass the pain along even to a new generation, like the infant in the garbage compactor and the outcast offspring of the Kuwaiti women.

Two weeks ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported that more women were raped in the United States in 1990 than in any year in history - a 6 percent increase, the biggest jump in a decade. For the first time, the number of rapes known to police topped 100,000.

The jump isn't a statistical artifact reflecting just an increase in the number of women willing to report rape to police; many rape crisis centers are recording even bigger upward trends. Nor does it merely reflect a growing crime rate generally; the rape rate has increased four times faster than the overall crime rate in the last decade, says the committee.

But the total is admittedly squishy. Women report rape in only about 7 percent of instances, according to the judiciary committee. The actual toll is more likely to be as high as 2 million a year.

The committee turned up other damning distinctions. The United States leads the world in the number and rate of rapes. American women are eight times more likely to be raped than European women and 26 times more likely to be so harmed than those in Japan. American women were four times more likely to be raped in 1990 than in 1960. One of five of us will be raped at some time in our lives.

What Biden proposes isn't likely to make their homeland much safer for American women. His bill would increase the penalties for rape prosecuted in federal court. It would require states to pay for women's medical examination after rape. It would authorize more money for law enforcement, especially in high-rape areas. It would create special units of police, prosecutors and counselors to deal with rape. And it would provide money for increased lighting and camera surveillance by public transit facilities and for rape prevention education.

This is a beginning. But the financing Biden is asking for won't go far. The increase in legal penalties may have little deterrent effect. The task of making the United States safe for women is enormous and growing more difficult as the tide of violence increases everywhere.

But Americans are growing more aware and less tolerant of crimes and abuses involving discrimination. Maybe, just maybe, labeling rape clearly as a hate crime, as illegal bias against women, could make it easier to fight.

SENATE VIOLENCE BILL IS SEXIST BIGOTRY

Capital Times, The (Madison, WI)

April 10, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

Introduction of a ``Violence Against White People Act'' into the U.S. Senate by 26 senators would cause incredible embarrassment and expressions of outrage at the racist bigotry involved in proposing legislation that would more intensely punish people who do violence against white people.

There would be an added embarrassment since white people are only 78 percent as likely to experience violence as do blacks, according to the most recent U.S. Department of Justice reports.

In the first days of this legislative session, 26 senators have actually introduced legislation that should equally embarrass and outrage all Americans. This legislation is called the ``Violence Against Women Act of 1991.''

This sexist bigotry legislation proposes to more intensely punish people who do violence against women. This is particularly embarrassing because women are only about 59 percent as likely to experience violence as men do, according to the most recent Department of Justice statistics.

If Congress were to consider a ``Violence Against Whites Act'' on the basis that violence against whites is increasing faster than violence against non-whites, this would immediately be recognized and denounced as racist bigotry.

It would be considering violence against non-whites as less important than violence against whites, even though non-whites experience 135 percent as much violence as whites do. In fact, the Department of Justice states that ``significantly higher rates of victimization have been documented for males, younger people, and non-whites.''

The real Senate bill obviously considers violence against women more serious than violence against men, even though men experience 170 percent as much violence as do women.

The legislators justify their sexist bigotry by insisting that violence against women is increasing faster than is other violent crime. Thus Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who introduced the legislation, justified the proposed legislation by stating: ``Violence against women is not only widespread, but it is also growing.''

In actuality, over the past several years, total violence against women has declined to 59 percent of the amounts of violence men experience, down from 60 percent. In addition, ``The number of violent crimes in 1989 was 11 percent lower than in 1981,'' according to most recent U.S. Justice Department statistics.

Biden further states: ``During the past 10 years, rape rates have risen four times as fast as the total crime rate.'' Here Sen. Biden is doing more than stretching the truth. The latest Department of Justice statistics show that rape rates actually declined 38 percent between 1979 and 1989.

What is most incredible is that Sen. Biden and the dozens of other supporters of the bill have a total lack of consciousness of the sexist bigotry that they are advocating.

The feminists supporting the bill also fail to realize they have abandoned any pretense of being in favor of equality between men and women. Instead they advocate superiority and special privilege for women.

Passage of this bill can in no way be justified. Even when the bill pretends to be evenhanded between men and women, it is biased against men. For example, in domestic violence issues, it proposes punishing only physical violence.

While increasing numbers of studies find that women are physically violent at least as often as men, the studies show that men do not report the violence they experience from women. Yet the proposed legislation does nothing to encourage and educate men to report the physical violence they experience from women. As a result, only men would be punished for what is clearly mutual violence between men and women.

The failure of men to vehemently protest this sexist bigotry is also a source of mystification. Recent studies indicate that this failure is a result of men's socialization in which from infancy males are taught that they should be ashamed of being male.

This message causes men to feel that they deserve all the violence and other abuse they experience. This prevents men from protesting this violence and abuse.

SENATE COMMITTEE EYES BIDEN'S ANTI-RAPE BILL

Post-Tribune (IN)

April 12, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday took up a bill aimed at an apparent paradox: While American women enjoy greater equality and power than ever before, reported acts of violence against them have risen steeply, with rapes in 1990 reaching an all-time high.

The bill, sponsored by Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., seeks to help promote a legal and cultural upheaval that would protect women on the streets and also in their homes against husbands who continue to believe they have the right to beat or otherwise abuse their wives.

Through a series of chilling studies and hearings, the committee has heard testimony from rape victims, famous and obscure, discussing the treatment they received from law enforcement officers and society in general.

Their words have made it clear that much has changed since the time when domestic abuse was considered a private matter and the definition of rape was narrower and harder to prove.

Biden pointed out, for example, that 100 years ago courts would not intervene to stop a husband from beating his wife if the stick he used was no wider than his thumb. And 20 years ago, a rapist generally was freed if the victim could not prove that she had vigorously resisted his attack.

Despite widespread changes since then, Biden and supporters of his bill say deeply offensive views still prevail in society, often infecting even the victims themselves.

At a hearing on the bill Tuesday, Amy Kaylor, a frail 21-year-old student from Toledo, Ohio, recounted her rape at knifepoint by a serial rapist two years ago. When she went to the police station the next day, she asked the detective if she would be blamed for what had happened.

The detective replied, "They try not to do that," but Biden said after Kaylor's testimony that "there has got to be something wrong with a system" in which an intelligent young woman, raped at knifepoint by a stranger, feels the need to ask whether she will be blamed.

"We must realize that rape is a crime of hate, not of sexual desire," Biden said. "We must realize that battering is a crime of force, not of domestic discord."

Biden's bill would double penalties for rape and increase restitution for victims of sex crimes, aid women in prosecuting their attackers by requiring states to pay for women's medical examinations and authorize $300 million for law enforcement efforts to combat sexual assault.

The bill would also define rape as a hate crime, which would allow victims to bring civil rights lawsuits against assailants. This last provision - the bill's most controversial - would treat sex-based assaults just like racial attacks on blacks or violent prejudice against Jews or other groups.

The bill, known as the Violence Against Women Act of 1991, received unanimous committee approval in an earlier version last fall but never made it to the full Senate.

This time, it is likely to pass, with the support of at least the eight Democrats on the 14-member committee, but it is facing competition from a bill by Senate Republican leader Bob Dole of Kansas, as well as some objections from the administration. Dole's bill would cost less money. It would include the death penalty for some convicted rapists and mandatory AIDS testing for defendants charged with rape.

When Women Aren't Safe

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

April 13, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

Three out of every four women in Illinois will be raped or assaulted at some point in their lives, Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week. In Missouri, the number of rapes committed in 1990 was 15 percent higher than in 1989, according to a study for the Judiciary Committee. Unfortunately, the epidemic of violence against women isn't confined to the Midwest. Overall, 100,000 women in the United States reported being raped last year, asad national record, but that number is even more appalling when one considers that only 10 percent of all rapes are reported.

The simple truth is that American women are not safe, in the streets or in their homes, and the problem is becoming more acute. That is why a bill from Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the Violence Against Women Act, is so important. For the first time on a federal level, a bill takes a comprehensive approach to violence against women, emphasizing protection, prevention and education.

The legislation has several vital components. For example, Title I, Safe Streets for Women, makes it less burdensome legally and emotionally for women to prosecute rapists by requiring states to pay for medical examinations and by extending ''rape shield'' laws already in place.

But it also stresses prevention: Public areas can be made safer by improving not only law enforcement but things like lighting or emergency telephones. Title II, Safe Homes for Women, continues this same multifaceted approach: It contains provisions to protect women who are abused and to educate women and children, the most common victims, on domestic violence.

Certain parts of the bill are apt to be controversial, such as the part to allow a sex crime to be labeled a hate crime against women. Such a provision, though, is a step in the long overdue but now growing international effort to link crimes against women with violations of human and civil rights.

For too long, rape and abuse have been invisible crimes because of women's fear and shame. Sen. Biden's bill would go a long way toward changing that. It sends a strong, unambiguous message that violence against women is socially intolerable - and it provides a supportive framework for women who have been victimized to step out of the shadows.

BIDEN'S BILL TREATS WOMEN AS IF THEY NEED SPECIAL PROTECTION FALSE CONCERN FOR RAPE VICTIMS

San Jose Mercury News (CA)

Joanne Jacobs column

April 18, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

JOE Biden is against rape, and he's not afraid to come out and say it.

Why does this guy irritate me so much? I guess it's my suspicion that Biden is positioning himself politically as the Women's Best Friend, more specifically, Poor Little Dear's Protector. The most touted measures in his "Violence Against Women Act of 1991," (he's against violence against women) are largely symbolic, and the symbolism is questionable.

Rape is already a crime, as is assault, so that left Senator Biden with a dilemma: How do you criminalize crime?

His solution is to make "gender-motivated crimes" violations of the victim's civil rights, defining rape as an anti-female bias crime, like painting a swastika on a synagogue, or burning a cross in a black family's front yard.

''We must realize that rape is a crime of hate, not of sexual desire," the Delaware Democrat said during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings last week on S 15.

Under Biden's bill, rape victims could bring civil suits in federal court against attackers. Of course, they can sue for civil damages in state courts now, if the rapist is caught, and if he has any money. Biden also doubles penalties for rape -- but only if the attack occurred on federal property.

This echoes the '60s, when Southern whites were charged in federal court with "violating the civil rights" of civil rights workers. The civil rights violation in question was murder. The logic was that all-white state juries would never convict white men for killing black men, so the case had to be tried in federal court to achieve justice.

What's the logic of federalizing rape?

Biden's own wife objected to the civil rights extension at first, saying it relegated women to a status of those needing special protection, the senator said at a hearing April 9, but she later accepted the idea.

I'm with Mrs. B, before she recanted. I don't want to be defined by virtue of my sex as a victim of men. I don't want to be treated as a child, in need of protection from the big bad world.

Women often are victims of violence, because of their relative lack of power, both physically and economically.

But why should violence against women be more of a crime, or a different sort of crime, than violence against men, violence against children, violence against the elderly, violence against the disabled? Rape is a particularly vicious form of assault; it is not more traumatic for female victims than for boys or men who are sexually assaulted.

Biden wants to spend $300 million on law enforcement efforts to fight crimes against women, with $100 million aimed at 40 cities judged most dangerous for women. Why not simply invest in preventing violence against everybody? Why label this "safe streets for women," instead of "safe streets"?

Biden says rape is "epidemic," because reported rapes rose 6.3 percent in 1990. This contradicts a Department of Justice survey, which analyzed both interview data and police statistics, and found an 18.3 percent drop in rape and attempted rape.

The problem with Biden's data is that the rate of reporting can change over time; one would hope that it would increase in response to society's growing understanding that rape is not the victim's fault. So it's not clear whether an increase in reported rape is a welcome trend, showing more women feel able to come forward, or a frightening indicator that rape is increasing.

Promoting the theory that sexual assault is way up, rejecting evidence to the contrary, scares women out of their independence, telling them they're in ever-increasing danger, more in need of a sensitive senator's protection.

Finally, the symbolism of making rape a "hate crime" rather than a sex crime is undercut by the symbolism of funding commissions and education programs to prevent rape.

Rape education implies that rape is a matter of ignorance rather than malice. Presumably, it can teach men who don't want to hurt women how to interpret sexual communication, which is often a lot more ambiguous than "yes" or "no." But for a man who hates women and rapes to display his power, education is not the issue.

The bill also requires colleges that receive federal funds to report any form of sexual assault, and to treat sexual assault as a violation of the student disciplinary codes.

Why should a student disciplinary code treat rape differently from any other behavior offensive enough to be a crime? If the bill implies that the student discipline code is an adequate substitute for the criminal code, are we still talking about rape? Are we taking rape seriously?

Biden's bill contains some useful provisions, particularly in dealing with domestic violence. Tripling federal funds for battered women's shelters would make it possible for more women to leave abusive homes.

Others are small potatoes: Requiring states to pay for women's medical exams after a sexual assault is nice, but surely the hospital bill is not the critical factor that leads women not to report rape.

The way to change societal attitudes toward rape is not to define it as a crime against women, but to think of rape as an especially brutal, devastating assault, whatever the attacker's motivation.

DOES PROPER BEHAVIOR TOWARD WOMEN REQUIRE A LAW?

Richmond Times-Dispatch

April 21, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

Senators and congressmen typically tout their legislation as the miracle cure for society's problem du jour.

Pass my bill to reform welfare . . . reduce the deficit . . . fight drugs, the politicians plead, and the problem will vanish. Too often, though, when the bill passes, nothing changes.

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware takes a different approach. The chairman of the Judiciary Committee freely concedes that his "Violence Against Women Act" won't end wife-beating or rape. But he hopes it will make men -- and women -- rethink what is acceptable behavior.

"It's to stop what you see in public when a man wants to go one way and the woman another and he'll grab, twist an arm or squeeze," Biden said the other day during a hearing. The bill is slated for a vote in committee this week.

Passing it will send a clear message to men "why it's so wrong to grab and shake," he said.

It may seem hard to believe that such a message is necessary in the United States in the 1990s. But the Judiciary Committee has heard ample testimony about the prevalence of violent crimes against women and the inadequacies of the criminal justice system. The committee staff reported that rape is epidemic nationwide and worsening.

The number of rapes reported to U.S. authorities last year exceeded 100,000, the most ever. Women were twice as likely to have been raped last year than in 1970. Rape was four times more likely than in 1960.

The statistics are only part of the story. Rape remains the least reported crime, authorities say. It's estimated that of every 100 rapes, only seven victims go to the police.

Ironically, as women make progress toward equality on the job, they're finding their after-work lives increasingly curtailed because of the fear of crime.

Three of four women surveyed recently said they never go out alone at night to see a movie because they fear rape and other violent crimes, Biden said.

Women are nine times more likely than men not to walk in their own neighborhoods after dark. About half the women surveyed said they never use public transportation after dark.

Biden hopes to change this "climate of fear." His bill would double the penalties for rapists and authorize spending $500 million more annually on police, prosecutors, public lighting and rape prevention programs.

The bill's most intriguing provision would expand civil rights laws to cover gender-motivated crimes of violence. Victims would be permitted to sue for damages.

The bill got through Biden's committee last year but was never taken up by the full Senate. Even if the bill makes it through Congress this year, the Bush administration opposes it. The Justice Department sent an eight-page letter of objections.

"Providing a federal cause of action against the rapist . . . is not likely to be an effective deterrent, as you candidly acknowledged," the letter to Biden states. It quotes him saying, "I hear commentators on television and the press saying, `Well, will this stop violence against women by making it a civil rights violation?' The answer is no. That is not my intention. My intention . . . is to change the nation's attitude."

Some efforts are under way to change attitudes.

In Iowa, the state is putting up billboards warning, "Battering Women is a Crime."

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., a former prosecutor, seemed shocked by the billboard campaign.

"It's so fundamental," Specter said. "It's hard to see why it has to be stated."

Bonnie Campbell, Iowa's attorney general, responded: "For many centuries we have believed what happens inside a family is simply a family affair. We just don't want to talk about what happens behind a closed door."

Ms. Campbell grew up in rural Iowa where, she said, men controlled all they saw, including their wives, with force if necessary.

"It's now a new day and it's no longer appropriate to beat wives," she said.

Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill., said "the cultural aspect of this is very, very real." A lawyer back home once told Simon, "' You know, you need to beat up your wife every once in a while if you're going to have a good domestic situation."'

In Illinois, one in every three women admitted to hospital emergency rooms is there because she has been beaten, Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris said.

Burris said one Illinois judge dismissed a rape case because the victim said the attack occurred at 10 a.m. The judge decided that nobody would break in at that hour and risk being seen by neighbors. "So the victim must have been lying."

Burris recalled that when his sister "first got married the mentality was the man does rule, and if the woman got out of line he just whacked her upside the head. That mentality must be changed."

Biden agrees. "My goal here . . . is not to remedy the situation. I wish I could. I want to raise the awareness of the public."

WILL ANTI-VIOLENCE BILL HELP WOMEN? NO

Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)

Joanne Jacobs

April 23, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

Joe Biden is against rape, and he's not afraid to come out and say it.

Why does this guy irritate me so much? I guess it's my suspicion that Biden is positioning himself politically as the Women's Best Friend, more specifically, Poor Little Dears' Protector. The most touted measures in his ``Violence Against Women Act of 1991,'' (he's against violence against women) are largely symbolic, and the symbolism is questionable.

Rape is already a crime, as is assault, so that left Sen. Biden with a dilemma: How do you criminalize crime?

His solution is to make ``gender-motivated crimes'' violations of the victim's civil rights, defining rape as an anti-female bias crime, like painting a swastika on a synagogue, or burning a cross in a black family's front yard.

This echoes the '60s, when Southern whites were charged in federal court with ``violating the civil rights'' of civil-rights workers. The civil-rights violation in question was murder. The logic was that all-white state juries would never convict white men for killing black men, so the case had to be tried in federal court to achieve justice.

What's the logic of federalizing rape?

Biden's own wife objected to the civil-rights extension at first, saying it relegated women to a status of those needing special protection, the senator said at a hearing April 9, but she later accepted the idea.

I'm with Mrs. B, before she recanted. I don't want to be defined by virtue of my sex as a victim of men. I don't want to be treated as a child, in need of protection from the big bad world.

Women often are victims of violence, because of their relative lack of power, both physically and economically.

Biden says rape is ``epidemic,'' because reported rapes rose 6.3 percent in 1990. This contradicts a Department of Justice survey, which analyzed both interview data and police statistics, and found an 18.3 percent drop in rape and attempted rape.

The problem with Biden's data is that the rate of reporting can change over time; one would hope it would increase in response to society's growing understanding that rape is not the victim's fault. So it's not clear whether an increase in reported rape is a welcome trend, showing more women feel able to come forward, or a frightening indicator that rape is increasing.

The way to change societal attitudes toward rape is not to define it as a crime against women, but to think of rape as an especially brutal, devastating assault, whatever the attacker's motivation.

WILL ANTI-VIOLENCE BILL HELP WOMEN? YES

Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)

Joan Beck

April 23, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

Biden has introduced in Congress a ``Violence Against Women Act'' that would raise criminal penalties for rape, provide more help for women victims of rape and increase government spending to make public areas safer for women.

The legislation redefines rape and other ``gender-motivated crimes'' as hate or bias crimes, as forms of illegal discrimination and therefore violations of federal civil-rights laws. If the measure is passed, Title III would give rape victims another legal tool - and an easier one - to use in seeking justice against their attackers and allow them to do so in the federal court system.

Of all the provisions in this bill, the most important may simply be calling rape what it really is - a hate crime against women. It's not just sexual urges out of control or mistaking a date's ``no'' for ``yes if you make me do it'' or just an easy-to-forget little unpleasantness.

Recently, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported that more women were raped in the United States in 1990 than in any year in history - a 6 percent increase, the biggest jump in a decade. For the first time, the number of rapes known to police topped 100,000.

But the total is admittedly squishy. Women report rape in only about 7 percent of instances, the committee says. The actual toll is more likely to be as high as 2 million a year.

What Biden proposes isn't likely to make America much safer for women. His bill would increase the penalties for rape prosecuted in federal court. It would require states to pay for women's medical examination after rape. It would authorize more money for law enforcement, especially in high-rape areas. It would create special units of police, prosecutors and counselors to deal with rape. And it would provide money for increased lighting and camera surveillance by public transit facilities and for rape prevention education.

This is a beginning. But the funding Biden is asking for won't go far. The increase in legal penalties may have little deterrent effect. The task of making America safe for women is enormous and growing more difficult as the tide of violence increases everywhere.

MEDIA THAT NAME RAPE VICTIMS COULD BE SUED UNDER PROPOSAL

USA TODAY (Arlington, VA)

April 24, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

Rape victims could bring suit in federal court against news media that disclose their names without their consent, under an amendment that Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said he will propose this week.

Grassley said Tuesday he will try to attach the amendment to the "Violence Against Women Act" expected to be debated by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday.

"We're trying to ... give victims rights to privacy so their names won't be published in the media without their permission," Grassley said.

"We need to do it because of First Amendment privacy rights," he said.

Grassley's moves come as controversy rages over whether the news media should have named a woman who accused a member of the Kennedy family of raping her at the family's Palm Beach, Fla., home. Press reports of rape traditionally have not included the name of women who said they have been raped.

NBC News, The New York Times and several newspapers around the country - including The Des Moines Register - cited the woman's name in news accounts.

Grassley noted that some New York Times staffers protested that newspaper's naming of the woman as well as the tone of an article written about her.

"It's all a part of a goal of encouraging responsible behavior," Grassley said of his amendment.

Grassley said he has thought about his amendment for some time, and was not spurred into action by the Kennedy case. He said he came up with it after talking with Nancy Ziegenmeyer, a woman from Grinnell, Iowa, whose rape ordeal was detailed in Pulitzer Prize-winning articles in The Des Moines Register.

Ziegenmeyer volunteered to have her name used in the articles in an attempt to help reduce the stigma of rape. But Ziegenmeyer also has lobbied on behalf of a bill moving through the Iowa Legislature that would keep secret the names of rape victims in Iowa.

Grassley said his amendment says victims shall have a right to privacy and confidentiality and any person who discloses the victim's identity shall be liable for compensatory and punitive damages in civil action in federal courts. However, law enforcement officials or government officials who disclose the victim's name would not be held liable.

The bill being debated Thursday, drafted by committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., would allow victims of rape to sue their assailants for damages in federal court. Grassley said his amendment takes that concept one step further and allows them to sue if their names are disclosed.

"This will set a national standard," Grassley said.

BILLS ADDRESS RAPE, SPOUSAL ABUSE

The Kentucky Post

May 2, 1991

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Rape and spousal abuse are addressed in federal legislation sponsored by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Delaware, and Rep. Connie Morella, R-Bethesda, Md.

The Kentucky FOP lodge has endorsed the bills by both lawmakers and will push its national organization to lobby for passage in Congress this summer.

Sen. Biden's bill:

Biden's bill, entitled the "Violence Against Women Act," is expected to be voted favorably out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 9. The committee unanimously endorsed the bill last October, but it never came to a vote in the full Senate.

Rep. Barbara Boxer, D-San Francisco, has introduced the bill in the House.

Biden's bill would:

Make rape a "hate" crime, or "bias" crime as defined by civil rights laws, allowing victims to bring civil rights cases against perpetrators.
Double the minimum penalties from six to 12 years for rape committed on federal property and from nine to 18 years for rape that involves injury, a weapon or kidnapping.
Create new penalties for repeat sex offenders.
Make perpetrators pay victims' restitution for medical, psychological or rehabilitation costs and lost income. Provide $325 million in grants to combat gender-related crimes and to shelter battered women. Those grants would go to police, prosecutors, victims advocacy groups and spouse abuse shelters. Cities with the highest percentage of such crimes would get the most money.
Create federal penalties for spouse abusers who cross state lines to continue abuse.
Create a national commission on violence against women.

Rep. Morella's bills

Rep. Morella's package of bills focuses on spousal abuse. The bills, introduced March 5, are in a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. Her package of bills would:

Provide $10 million in Section 8 funds to offer emergency housing to families fleeing domestic violence.
Promote the use of expert testimony on "battered woman syndrome" as part of a woman's defense in a criminal trial. Some states do not allow such testimony as part of a woman's defense.
Provide $600,000 to assist low-income women in obtaining such expert testimony.
Provide $600,000 to investigate judicial decisions that award spouse abusers custody of their children.

NATIONAL ACTION IS NEEDED TO STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

THE SEATTLE TIMES

June 6, 1991

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THE recent Seattle Times series, "Trust betrayed," graphically illustrates the crisis of domestic violence in this country.

Violence against women has become an epidemic - one out of two may expect to encounter it in some form. No woman is immune, because the violence reaches into the streets, homes, and work places of every community.

One million women seek medical help each year for injuries due to battering. More than half of all homeless women and children are on the street because they are fleeing violence in the home. More women than Vietnam veterans suffer from assault-related post-traumatic stress disorder.

In the past decade, rape rates have risen four times as fast as the total crime rate. Survivors of sexual assault face a long road to recovery; according to one expert, the average rape victim waits five years after an attack to seek assistance. Meanwhile, one of every five rape victims attempts suicide.

For many women, getting out of a violent domestic situation and stopping the abuse often can be even more difficult than attempting to endure it.

Resources remain strained, and our national consciousness remains dulled. Our hearts went out to the Kuwaitis and the Kurdish refugees in Iraq. So did our pocketbooks - Congress recently passed half a billion dollars in emergency aid to the Kurds, and the United States may shell out some $15 billion for the Gulf War.

But here at home, we provide a miserably inadequate $10 million for family violence prevention. And yet women are brutalized, held hostage in their own homes, or forced to flee as surely as the refugees of other wars.

Seattle and King County are far ahead of the rest of the country in providing support for victims and law-enforcement efforts. Yet, as The Times' series so poignantly reveals, even the groundbreaking efforts undertaken here hardly scratch the surface of need; the system is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of this problem.

Clearly, national action is required.

The Violence Against Women Act (S.15/H.R.1502) offers some hope. Introduced last year by Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., it seeks to overhaul and expand our efforts to stem this tide of violence. In the House, Rep. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has introduced companion legislation, which I have co-sponsored.

The bill triples federal funding for battered women's shelters.

It enacts the first federal laws prohibiting spousal abuse. It makes protective court orders issued by each state valid throughout the country.

It encourages states to adopt arrest policies for spousal abuse, as Washington has done, and authorizes $25 million for courts and prosecutors to develop special spouse-abuse units. And it requires the Postal Service to ensure the confidentiality of abused women's addresses.

The bill also addresses the devastating abuse of women from sexual assault. One of the myths about rape is that it is committed by psychotic men lurking in the bushes; in fact, 60 to 80 percent of all rapes are committed by a friend, relative or colleague.

These cases of "trust betrayed" are particularly difficult for victims to report and for the authorities to prosecute. It is easy to see just how completely the system fails these women when 9 of 10 rapes continue to go unreported.

The Violence Against Women Act increases federal penalties for convicted rapists, and mandates restitution to victims, including the costs of medical treatment, lost wages, and attorneys' fees. The House version also mandates treatment for offenders.

The act authorizes $300 million for training and educating police officers and prosecutors about domestic violence and sexual assault; $65 million for education and prevention grants to rape-crisis centers and other victim programs, and $35 million for safety improvements to prevent assaults, such as better lighting, emergency telephones, and increased security in public parks and public-transit areas.

Title IV of the bill is devoted to programs for campus rape prevention and education, since young women are especially at risk.

The legislation also reforms the rules of evidence in federal cases to prohibit irrelevant testimony about a woman's clothing or sexual history.

Training and education for judges and other court personnel about domestic violence and assault are provided, as well as funds for school-based programs for children.

Most important, this legislation identifies violence against women as the crime that it is - not an act of passion or provocation, but a crime of hatred, anger and power against women.

The bill classifies such acts of violence as "bias" crimes that violate their victims' civil rights, allowing women to file civil suits against their assailants.

Battering and sexual assault are lonely, isolating crimes whose victims have been forced to suffer in silence and fear. It is time that we, as a nation, help these women to come in from the cold.

Federal legislation can offer more and better protection and services, and can declare unequivocally that harassment, aggression and violence against women will not be tolerated in our society.

But we cannot legislate away the shame and stigma of these crimes. That will require the decency and determination of us all - in our own homes, schools and communities.

As with other epidemics, education and prevention offer the best hope for stopping abuse. All of us must encourage survivors of violence to speak up - and all of us must be willing to listen, to understand, and to support them when they do.

All of us must help teach men, women and children that abuse of women is neither a private nor a trivial matter - it is a criminal act for which offenders will be held accountable. And all of us must ensure that when women do reach out to their government for help, it responds.

The author represents Washington's 7th Congressional District.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: A COMPLEX PROBLEM WITH NO QUICK FIX

Dayton Daily News (OH)

July 2, 1991

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"It doesn't seem like the problem is getting any better," says Dayton City Prosecutor Vince Popp, speaking about domestic violence in our community. "Maybe something needs to change . . ."

Experts, however, warn against looking for the single answer, the quick fix, to this complex and deeply ingrained problem that's often passed from one generation to another as a bizarre and destructive family heritage.

Even the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP) in Duluth, Minn., an inter-agency program that has been the model for more than 100 other communities, has had marginal success in deterring battering, admits Ellen Pence, DAIP's training coordinator.

"I don't think it has reduced domestic violence in this community," she says. "It's so discouraging."

Most experts believe the solution begins with recognizing thatdomestic violence is a crime. There's evidence that is beginning to happen.

Hollywood has taken a cinematic glance at violence among intimates in movies like Sleeping With the Enemy and The Burning Bed. The first national domestic violence bill has been introduced to the U.S. Senate. And Miss America 1991, Marjorie Judith Vincent, chose domestic violence as her platform centerpiece during her reign.

Kathleen Krenek, policy development coordinator for the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, warns against regarding laws as a way to change people's behavior. Does a law against murder stop people from killing, she asks. She says laws are useful in sending strong messages about the seriousness of domestic violence.

In 1989, Wisconsin joined a dozen or so states that have mandatory arrest laws requiring police officers to make an arrest if they have a reason to believe (bruises, bleeding) that a crime has occurred.

"All we ever wanted to say is 'This is a crime, damn it, treat it as one.' Mandatory arrest, at best, makes that statement," Krenek says.

Victim advocates also favor legislation that requires prosecutors to operate under strict "no drop" policies that require them to proceed with criminal prosecution once a complaint has been filed even if the victim later changes her mind.

Advocates say both measures take the onus off emotionally torn or intimidated victims. But they're not without drawbacks.

Police say mandatory arrest policies make them too vulnerable to lawsuits and prosecutors say "no-drop" policies require them to pursue no-win cases with reluctant witnesses.

The Domestic Violence Prevention Act, introduced to the U.S. Senate by Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., on Jan. 15, and a similar bill entitled the Violence Against Women Act, introduced Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., may help standardize approaches to domestic violence throughout the nation. This legislation would:

Establish a National Commission on Violent Crimes Against Women.

Require states to enforce protection orders.

Authorize $25 million for prosecutors and courts to develop special spouse abuse units.

Triple funding for battered women shelters.

Create school-based programs to teach children about domestic violence.

Provide for the education of state and federal judges about domestic violence

In the meantime, Nancy Grigsby, director of Artemis House, a Dayton resource center for victims of domestic violence, believes our community needs a task force on domestic violence consisting of police, prosecutors, judges, victim advocates and treatment professionals.

Members could share perspectives, create a climate of cooperation and explore implementation of an inter-agency approach to handling domestic violence cases in our community.

"What's great about the Duluth program is that it's predictable. Here, anything goes - you try to tell a victim what will happen and it's impossible," Grigsby says.

Other advocates believe the court system should deal with first-time convicted batterers the same way it deals with drug abusers or drunk drivers - by levying strong and immediate penalties that place a heavy emphasis on education.

A model for this proposal is the Weekend Intervention Program (WIP) operated by Wright State University for people convicted of DUI (driving under the influence) offenses. This program is an alternative to the mandatory jail time that's required by Ohio law, says Phyllis Cole, WIP program manager.

A recent WIP study found this intensive counseling and educational weekend is more effective than either incarceration or fines in reducing recidivism rates, especially among repeat offenders. Cole, who says about half of the WIP clients go on for therapy, believes this type of intervention program could be effective for batterers.

Tania Abdulahad, with the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, recommmends that every community have a civilian review board to monitor the behavior of police, prosecutors and judges. "There has to be some accountability," she says.

Dayton Municipal Court Judge John Pickrel thinks communities have to tackle the "underlying factors" that can lead to domestic violence.

"I don't think tougher, longer (jail) sentences are the answer. I think there are too many underlying factors involved and going to jail isn't going to make them go away."

From his vantage point after six years on the bench, Pickrel believes substance abuse and economic hardship are the conditions that breed family violence.

"We need to expand support and counseling services and make them more available. If we could do that, we'd give judges more tools."

Tim, a Dayton man who was physically abusive to his wife during their 10-year marriage, believes every batterer who is not remorseful should be sent to jail. "I think jail is necessary but without therapy and education, they will be violent again."

Many believe the real challenge is to change the way society views domestic violence through education.

Steve Piatt, founder of The Batterers' Group, thinks there's a prevailing attitude that violence is OK as long as it's between intimates. But he's optimistic this attitude can change just as society has lost its tolerance for drunk driving.

"DWI (driving while intoxicated) wasn't that big of a bust," says Piatt. "But now, through the work of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other groups, all that's changed.

"It's my hope that domestic violence goes the same way."

BILL WOULD LET WOMEN SUE THEIR ATTACKERS

Greensboro News & Record

July 19, 1991

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A bill that would entitle sexually assaulted women to sue their attackers in federal court was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday.

The Violence Against Women Act, approved unanimously by a voice vote, would allow women who are raped to file civil rights suits to collect damages from their attackers. It declares that rape is a ``bias'' or ``hate'' crime that violates federal civil rights law.

The measure, sponsored by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del, the panel's chairman, would also authorize $500 million to help state and local authorities combat crimes against women.

LEGISLATIVE ANTI-VIOLENCE BILL OK'D

Rocky Mountain News (CO)

July 19, 1991

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A bill that would entitle sexually assaulted women to sue their attackers in federal court was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. The Violence Against Women Act, approved unanimously by a voice vote, would allow women who are raped to file civil rights suits to collect damages from their attackers. It declares that rape is a "bias" or "hate" crime that violates federal civil rights law.

Machtley, Reed offer bills to help protect women from assaults

Providence Journal (RI)

July 28, 1991

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Rhode Island's two representatives are co-sponsoring different bills to protect women from sexual assaults.

Republican Rep. Ron Machtley has joined Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., in sponsoring the Campus Sexual Assault Victims' Bill of Rights.

The bill would amend the Higher Education Act to require schools that get federal aid to draw up written policies guaranteeing victims of sexual assaults on campus the same rights as women attacked elsewhere.

Rep. Jack Reed supports the more comprehensive Violence Against Women Act, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

The Boxer bill would increase rape penalties, encourage women to prosecute, strengthen campus security, create a $20 million rape-prevention grant program and require colleges to tell rape victims what penalties are imposed on their attackers.

EXAMINING RAPE BY THE LIGHT OF THE HEADLINES

The Record (New Jersey)

August 2, 1991

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Members of the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault had a lot to talk about at their annual convention in Virginia last weekend.

In the week preceding, headlines proclaimed the acquittal of a group of Long Island college students accused of sexually abusing a female student. Three women, including a New Jersey medical student, came forward to accuse William Kennedy Smith, already charged with raping a woman at the Kennedy mansion in Palm Beach last March, of similar or attempted attacks.

"Those issues are definitely important; that's what our members were talking about," said Cassandra Thomas, president of the 500-member coalition and director of the rape crisis program of the Houston Area Women's Center.

Thomas and other professionals who deal with sexual assault said these latest developments indicate positive and negative ways in which awareness of date or acquaintance rape is increasing in American society.

Women are coming forward to identify their alleged attackers, education programs are springing up on college campuses and in communities, and the Senate is expected this fall to debate a proposed bill aimed at decreasing violent crimes against women.

But myths about rape as a sexual act and stereotypes of the victim as the guilty party remain and are even perpetuated by these cases, professionals said.

"What's increasing is that women are recognizing, `Yes, it's rape, " said Bernice R. Sandler, an associate at the Center for Women Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., who has done research on acquaintance and date rape. Sandler called the new accusations against Smith, who was never formally charged by the three women, "a stunning development. "

Publicity surrounding the Smith case is causing people to reconsider rape not as a crime perpetrated by an unknown "monster" but as someone the victim knows, and often trusts, said Thomas, who did not comment on the case itself. Smith's trial, set to start Monday, was delayed for at least three months until publicity surrounding the case dies down.

"It's usually not some guy who is hiding behind a bush," said Jill Greenbaum, director of the YWCA of Bergen County Rape Crisis Center in Hackensack. "And it crosses all social boundaries. "

There were more than 100,000 reported rapes in 1990, according to a Judiciary Committee report released in March. And 40 to 60 percent of all rapes involve people who know each other, Thomas said. "It can be as casual as the guy who delivers your pizza regularly to someone you're intimate with," she said.

Education is needed to make women, and men, more aware of this kind of rape, according to rape counselors. Education and prevention are key elements of proposed Senate bill The Violence Against Women Act of 1991. Authored by Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., it would provide $300 million to fight violence against women; provide grants for campus rape education and prevention programs; and allow sex assaults to be considered a federal civil rights violation, according to a committee spokesman.

But stereotypes about rape, especially acquaintance rape, continue, said Thomas, who cited a recent song by country music writer Holly Dunn called "Maybe I Mean Yes. " Warner Bros. pulled the record because the song which includes the lyrics, "When I say no, Maybe I mean maybe, Or maybe I mean yes" may have been misinterpreted as encouraging date rape, according to the Associated Press.

"When it is someone you know, the issue of credibility is there: Why did she let it happen? If we understand it wasn't sex but about power and control, women would come forward to the criminal justice system," Thomas said.

The publicity surrounding the Long Island case and the Smith case may discourage some women from coming forward, experts said. Darlene Jimenez, the sexual assault counselor at the Passaic County Women's Center, said several women felt discouraged from filing rape charges because of the acquittal of the students at St. John's University in Queens. The three men were accused of pressuring the woman to drink a mixture of soda and vodka and then forcing her to have sex at an off-campus house, according to published reports.

"A few women have expressed that to me. They said, `This lady goes through all this humiliation and then they go free. It's not worth it, " Jimenez said. "The victims don't want to become the accused, and that's what happens. "

Greenbaum said she felt more women would call hot lines and seek counseling because of the recent cases, but she doubted that more women would press charges because it would entail scrutiny of their lives.

REID'S ANTI-VIOLENCE BILL WINS SENATE APPROVAL

USA TODAY (Arlington, VA)

September 11, 1991

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Every 15 seconds a woman is abused by her husband or companion, studies have found.

The Senate, at the urging of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., took a step toward ending some of that abuse Wednesday by approving $21.4 million to fight domestic violence.

"Money for domestic violence services will provide shelters and counselors for the more than 3,000 women who are abused every day," Reid said in a statement released by his office.

Last year, the federal government spent $10.7 million to fight domestic violence.

Reid stood on the Senate floor Tuesday to explain the need for the money, which will be used for shelters, community outreach programs, counselor training and transportation to shelters.

Between 3 million and 4 million women are battered each year, but there are only 40,000 beds in 1,300 shelters across the country, Reid said.

"The more shelters there are in regions, statistics show, the fewer partner-related homicides there are because women have a place to go," Reid told senators before they approved the bill.

The money is part of a bill that sets funding for the Department of Health and Human Services.

In February, Reid held a hearing in Reno to get testimony from victims and groups trying to help abused women.

During the hearing, the Sparks-based Committee to Aid Abused Women said 65 percent of Reno-area women staying in shelters are unemployed. They want the federal government to provide job training help and child care assistance for the women.

A study by the Reno-based National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges found that women are more likely to suffer injuries from abuse than from rapes, muggings or auto accidents.

Since the hearing, Reid co-sponsored a bill, called the Violence Against Women Act, seeking $450 million in federal funds to fight domestic violence. About $300 million would go toward law enforcement under his proposal.

Part of the $450 million would also go for rape prevention programs.

FEDERAL JUDGES ASSAIL 'DISASTROUS' CRIME BILLS

Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)

September 16, 1991

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Bills pending in Congress would make federal crimes out of such acts as gun murders and domestic violence, requiring that they be tried before U.S. District Court judges while state courts would have the final word on almost all criminal appeals.

"If those bills are passed, and I have to tell you that there's a very good chance of it happening, then the whole thing would become topsy-turvy. It would flip-flop the responsibilities of the federal and state court systems," said Judge John Gerry, the chief judge of New Jersey's federal courts.

"The federal judiciary would be in chaos. It would be a disaster," the usually mild-mannered Gerry said. Gerry disclosed that he and three other U.S. district judges from different sections of the country were appointed three weeks ago by Chief Justice William Rehnquist as an ad hoc committee to try to make Congress understand the negative effect on the courts of three key pieces of legislation, two of which have already passed the Senate.

"We spent considerable time on Capitol Hill in the last few weeks," Gerry said, "and I have to tell you, this Congress is scary. Everyone is so scared to death of not getting re-elected that they'll vote for anything if it sounds like the voters would like it.

"I got the impression from some congressional staffers that anything that hits the floor for a vote will pass, no matter how Draconian or dangerous it might be to the system," Gerry said.

"The problem is that a lot of these folks in Congress don't realize the full implication of what these bills would do. Unfortunately, too many of them may not have read the legislation," Gerry said.

A provision of the Violent Crimes Act of 1991 would make a federal crime of any act of murder that is committed with a firearm that had either been purchased or at some point been taken across state lines.

"Do you know what that would do? It would make 95 percent of the more than 12,000 gun murders a year federal crimes," said Gerry.

The gun murder provision is but one small part of an enormous piece of legislation that has already been passed by the Senate, Gerry explained.

The Violence Against Women Act, which is out of committee and is expected to be brought up for a vote in the Senate in the next several weeks, "has the potential to turn the federal courts into a domestic relations court," said Gerry.

"There are potentially 12,000 gun murder cases a year that could come to the federal courts. There are 50,000 spouse abuse and other family violence cases a year that could fit into the federal courts under the definition of the bill, sponsored by Sen. (Joseph) Biden (D-Del.)," Gerry said.

"When we eventually get all of our new judges in place, we will have 17 U.S. District Court judges in New Jersey. How in the world would we ever be able to handle New Jersey's share of gun murders and domestic violence with 17 judges when we already have an annual per-judge load of close to 500 cases?" he asked.

Gerry said Biden and Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) have been discussing a Thurmond amendment that would bring the death penalty for domestic murder. The tradeoff would be Republican support for Biden's bill.

"It's a terrible bill with clumsy and loose definitions, but what scares me the most is that because of the temper of the times in Congress, it could very well pass," Gerry said.

"Where are all the state's rights people? Why aren't they out there yelling about Congress being on the verge of taking away matters that have been tried traditionally in the state courts for 200 years? Or maybe it's just that the principle is not as great as the potential for re-election," Gerry said.

He said Rehnquist asked the four-member committee of federal judges to study the bills and try to make it known to Congress what they would do to the courts.

"The third provision would end habeas review except for extraordinary circumstances," Gerry said, explaining that this would limit almost all appeals to the state courts.

"Again, 200 years of tradition would be removed with one fell swoop and without a full understanding of what it would do or how many times mistakes in criminal convictions in the state courts have occurred and been reversed in the federal courts," he said.

The bill that would limit criminal appeals to the state courts has already been passed by the Senate.

U.S. District Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, a member of another federal court committee, said the latest she heard is that "there will be an attempt to ram the bill through the House within the next few weeks and without hearings."

Weehawken defense attorney Joseph Hayden Jr., a past president of the New Jersey Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and a former assistant attorney general, said, "The linchpin of the problem is legislative grandstanding. It's the kind of legislation that's supposed to make federal legislators look good, but what they don't realize is just how unworkable it is.

"Any one of those bills could paralyze the federal courts. All three would be an absolute disaster," Hayden said.

Judicial Conference opposes Violence Against Women Act

UPI (USA)

September 26, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

The policy making body of the federal judiciary announced its opposition to legislation that would in some instances make violence against women a federal crime.

The Judicial Conference of the United States, headed by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, said Wednesday while it agrees with strengthening laws to deter domestic violence and sexual assault, legislation being considered by Congress could flood the federal courts with cases better handled in state courts.

The Judicial Conference, which held its twice yearly meeting this week in Asheville, N.C., announced its opposition to the Violence Against Women Act. The group also said it opposes passage of the Violent Crime Control Act for the same reason.

The bills, were they to become law, would result in 'thousands of new cases being filed in federal courts,' the conference said in a statement.

The Violence Against Women Act, which has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and is pending before the full Senate, would allow a victim of violent crime based on gender to sue for compensatory and punitive damages in federal court.

It would make the civil rights penalties apply to such assaults. Thus, rape could be classified as a civil rights offense and a rape victim could sue her attacker in civil court.

The conference said the bill could involve federal judges in 'domestic relations disputes,' and could be used as leverage in divorce proceedings.

In 1989, more than 3 million domestic relations cases were filed in state courts. Were 10 percent of those to have sought federal relief under the proposed law, the number of new cases entering federal courts would be more than the total number of cases pending in all federal courts, the conference said.

The conference also opposed a provision in the bill to make it a federal crime for someone to travel across state lines to intentionally hurt a spouse or lover.

The conference's opposition to the crime bill was first expressed last week in a letter from Rehnquist to the House Judiciary Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee and congressional leaders.

Rehnquist said expanding federal criminal law jurisdiction to include homicides involving firearms -- if the firearm crossed state or foreign boundaries -- would 'swamp' federal courts.

The crime bill already has passed the Senate and is before the House.

The Judicial Conference is headed by the chief justice and includes the chief judges of 13 federal appeals courts and a district judge from each of the nation's 12 geographical federal circuits.

It makes policy for the federal courts and advises Congress of its position on legislation involving the federal judiciary.

KEEP THIS ISSUE IN STATE COURTS

Deseret News, The (Salt Lake City, UT)

October 13, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

Most reasonable and moral people in America are tenaciously opposed to violence against women and want stronger laws that will severely punish those who are guilty of such heinous crimes.

But the legislation currently being considered by Congress making violence against women a federal crime seems wrong-headed because it could quickly flood the federal courts with cases that are better handled at the state level.

The Judicial Conference announced its opposition to both the Violence Against Women Act and the Violent Crime Control Act during its recent twice-yearly meeting.

The council said that if these bills were to become law they would result in ``thousands of new cases being filed in federal courts.''

The Judicial Conference is headed by the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and includes the chief judges of 13 federal appeals courts and a district judge from each of the nation's 12 geographical federal circuits. It makes policy for the federal courts and advises Congress of its position on legislation involving the federal judiciary.

The Violence Against Women Act has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and is pending before the full Senate. It would allow a victim of violent crime based on gender to sue for compensatory and punitive damages in federal court.

It would also make civil rights penalties apply to such assaults. Thus, a rape could be classified as a civil rights offense and a rape victim could sue her attacker in civil court.

In 1989, more than 3 million domestic relations cases were filed in state courts. If only 10 percent of those were to have sought federal relief under the proposed law, the number of new cases entering federal courts would be more than the total number of cases pending in all federal courts, the conference said.

Getting speedy justice in our system based on the Bill of Rights is already a chancy proposition.

If the creation of more stringent laws to control violence in our society would simply further clog our courts, it would represent a hollow victory.

Congress should go back to the drawing boards.

'Broader Efforts Needed to Fight Home Violence'

Omaha World-Herald (NE)

December 5, 1991

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/

The recent shooting death of Sandra Wells by her boyfriend after 911 was called, led to a series in The World - Herald on 911 delays. I don't think most people are aware of how massive the problem of domestic violence is.

The 911 series said that city officials "said their employees are complacent about 911 calls concerning domestic quarrels." Charles Parker, deputy police chief, said, "a man - beating - woman call is not a serious call, we got kicked in the . . . this time".

Jim Schmidt, 911 communications chief, said, "I've never seen a man - beating - woman call end up like this. . . . Ninety - five percent of the time these are settled long before the officers get there."

Dr. C. Everett Koop, former U.S. surgeon general, called domestic violence one of the major public health problems in Amerian society. The Center for Disease Control has designated interpersonal violence as a major public health problem with the same loss of life and cost as cancer and heart disease.

It has been estimated that 2 million women in the United States are severely assaulted (on an aggravated assault level) by a male partner during an average 12 - month period. It has been estimated that over the course of intimate relationships, between 25 and 30 percent of women are assaulted by their male partners.

Battering is thought to be the single leading cause of injury to women in the United States; more than car crashes, muggings and rapes combined. Of the 12,582 American women homicide victims, between 1980 to 1984, 52 percent, were killed by their husband, boyfriend or former partner.

A study in Kansas City showed that women killed by their partner had at least 5 police contacts prior to the slaying.

And it's not just the women. About 8 percent of pregnant women are battered. These women are two times likely to miscarry, four times as likely to have low birth weight infants, and these infants are 40 percent more likely to die in their first year.

One third of spouse abusers are also child abusers. Children growing up in violent homes have six times greater likelihood of attempting suicide, a 74 percent greater chance of committing crimes against another person, a 50 percent higher chance of abusing drugs or alcohol and were 24 times as likely to commit sexual assault crimes. Boys who have witnessed domestic violence are 10 times more likely to batter their female partners as adults.

When the community and police fail to provide an adequate response, children often take it upon themselves to make their homes safe for themselves and mothers. In 1985, 63 percent of the young males between the ages of 11 and 20 who are doing time for homicide killed their mother's batterer.

Given this information, why does society consider domestic violence as "not a serious call"? Why are there three times the number of shelters for homeless animals (3,200) in the U.S., than for homeless women and children (1,200)? Why do people continue to blame the victim, rather than blame the system for its lack of response?

This is clearly not just a police problem. Why should the police bother to make an arrest when they now the city prosecutor probably won't prosecute? Even if a prosecution is successful, judges are lax in holding the batterers accountable for their actions?

This is the situation in Douglas County as I understand it from discussions with women who have tried to work through the system.

Solutions are available. A Violence Against Women Act (S 2754) has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. Part of that bill would aid each state to develop a comprehensive response to domestic violence. Other cities (San Francisco, Duluth, Seattle, for example) have developed successful court and police programs that Omaha should consider modeling.

I support any effort to get more police onto the streets to respond to all calls, but until the medical, social work, law enforcement, legal and judicial communities develop a coordinated effort to protect women and children, the fastest response times, without arrest, are going to do little to prevent or resolve the problem of domestic violence in Omaha.

Friday, December 21, 1990

12211990 - Saginaw County Commissioner Al Holiday - Arrested For Leaving Scene Of Accident At His Ex-Wife's Residence

The Untouchable Saginaw County Commissioner/Housing Commissioner Al Holiday

01011985 - Saginaw County Commissioner Al Holiday - Confrontation With Police And Teenager

09011990 - Saginaw County Commissioner Al Holiday - Arrested For Domestic Violence

12211990 - Saginaw County Commissioner Al Holiday - Arrested For Shooting In Vicinity Of Ex-Wife's Home

12211990 - Saginaw County Commissioner Al Holiday - Arrested For Leaving Scene Of Accident At His Ex-Wife's Residence

01011996 - Saginaw County Commissioner Al Holiday - Charged W/Disturbing The Peace

08232004 - Saginaw County Commissioner Al Holiday - Doused His Wife In Gasoline - Arrested With Intent To Commit Murder

05102005 - Saginaw County Commissioner Al Holiday - Sentenced For Intent To Commit Murder [08232004]: House Arrest

10242011 - Saginaw Housing Commissioner Al Holiday - Ousted For Misspending $2 Million HUD Funds

In 1990, Al Holiday was charged with malicious destruction of property, when his van collided with another vehicle in his ex-wife's driveway.

Ex-county leader Al Holiday jailed
THE SAGINAW NEWS
August 25, 2004
http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1093443715283640.xml

A former Saginaw County Board of Commissioners chairman who wants a seat on the proposed Saginaw City Charter Commission may have to put his bid on hold.

Police arrested Al Holiday, 50, at his home Monday and booked him in the County Jail on suspicion of assault with intent to commit murder against his 40-year-old wife.

Police said she told them she was sitting in the bedroom of their home on Carter when Holiday walked in and started arguing about money and threatened to kill her.

Holiday left the room and returned a short time later and poured on her what she thought was water, she told police. When she realized it was gasoline, she fled the room as Holiday chased her with a lighter in his hand, police reported she said.

The woman ran to a neighbor's home and called police, they said.

Detectives today still were trying to gather additional information to take to the prosecutor's office to possibly bring charges, police said. Holiday remained in jail this morning.

Holiday, a former United Auto Workers employee assistance coordinator at Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems, served on the Board of Commissioners from 1980 to 1994, including a two-year stint as chairman in 1989 and 1990.

Holiday, who is now vice president of the Saginaw Housing Commission, has taken out nominating petitions to appear on the Nov. 2 ballot for the proposed Saginaw City Charter Commission.

Holiday has had previous brushes with the law. In January 1985, Holiday tangled with police over a confrontation witha 17-year-old man in a pool hall on East Holland. Holiday said he followed the teen there after the youth struck him in the face with asnowball earlier in the evening. Police made no arrests and prosecutors filed no charges.

Police also arrested Holiday on Sept. 1, 1990, after his wife filed a domestic violence complaint, but prosecutors did not charge him.

Dec. 21, 1990, Saginaw police arrested Holiday after receiving reports of a shooting in the vicinity of his now-former wife's home on Sheridan. A District Court jury found Holiday not guilty of malicious destruction of property but guilty of leaving the scene of an auto crash in which his 1988 Chevrolet van collided with another car in the driveway of his wife's home.

In 1996, he paid a $300 fine for disturbing the peace at the KFC restaurant at Hess and Dixie in Buena Vista Township. Witnesses said a dispute over parking between Holiday and another man led to the confrontation.

Holiday unsuccessfully challenged then-state Rep. Michael J. Hanley for the 95th House District in the 1996 Democratic primary.

In 1998, Holiday suffered a stroke in Washington, D.C., while attending the National Association of Counties' legislative conference. He was representing the Region VII Area Agency on Aging when he became ill.