Love it or hate it, we’re in a brand new election year. What with the lowest rating for Congress in history and the gridlock on Capitol Hill, this may seem like less than the greatest news.
But women ought to be pretty enthusiastic. After all, we’re the majority — not only the majority of the population in general, but the majority of registered voters and of those who actually show up at the polls. That means women can control any election, and the candidates know it.
The gender gap in national elections is alive and well. Since 1980, women have voted differently than men — most often going for the Democrats, while men mainly stick with the ol’ boys in the Republican party.
The Republicans want to fix this of course. Well, sort of. On the one hand they’ve launched an initiative to train candidates in how to talk to women. No more stuff like blaming #MeToo women and military sexual assaults on - well, you know - boys just being boys.
But in the “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” department, they’ve kicked off multi-pronged assaults on birth control and abortion. Multiple state legislatures have passed punitive anti-abortion and anti-birth control measures in hope one will reach the Supreme Court and Roe v. Wade will be overturned.
Democrats are counting on the female vote to elect strong women to the Senate to get rid of neanderthals like Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Getting the female vote is just not that complicated. Here’s a blueprint for candidates of both parties:
Being the majority of the poor, women need the safety net more than men do. When times are tough, food stamps are crucial in filling in the gaps. Since the majority of women work outside the home, paid family leave and decent child care would be nice. So would a raise in the minimum wage, because the majority of minimum wage workers are adult women, many of them single parents. And since they make less than men all their working lives, women need better equal pay laws and a strong Social Security system in their old age. Women also live longer, meaning good Medicare coverage is high on the list.
And one more little thing. Women, regardless of ethnicity,age, or religion, strongly support access to birth control, and they want abortion to be legal. So maybe staying out of their bedrooms would be good advice for those who want their votes.
Like I said, it’s real simple.
Category: "Home Page"
Every time these Republican tools get up and talk about the 63 million Americans disenfranchised by impeachment, I want to remind them of the 66 million Americans disenfranchised by the electoral college.
Take the time to read them. Given the magnitude of the problem, one or more of these statistics probably applies to you. Even if not, you can recognize the pain and suffering these facts represent. If you are a victim/survivor, the scars are probably still there.
But the point right now is the legislation we desperately need. Too many of our legislators either don’t see the need and/or don’t care enough to do anything about it.
Here are the statistics:
- In the United States, an average of 20 people experience intimate partner physical violence every minute. This equates to more than 10 million abuse victims annually.
- 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner contact sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking with impacts such as injury, fearfulness, post-traumatic stress disorder, use of victim services, contraction of sexually transmitted diseases, etc.2 This is commonly considered “domestic violence”.
- 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. This includes a range of behaviors and in some cases might not be considered “domestic violence”.
- 1 in 7 women and 1 in 25 men have been injured by an intimate partner.
- 1 in 10 women have been raped by an intimate partner. Data is unavailable on male victims.
- 1 in 7 women and 1 in 18 men have been stalked. Stalking causes the target to fear she/he/they or someone close to her/him/them will be harmed or killed.
- On a typical day, domestic violence hotlines nationwide receive over 20,000 calls.
- An abuser’s access to a firearm increases the risk of intimate partner femicide by 400%.
- Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime.
- Intimate partner violence is most common against women between the ages of 18-24.
- 19% of intimate partner violence involves a weapon.
- 1 in 7 women and 1 in 25 men have been injured by an intimate partner.
- 1 in 10 women have been raped by an intimate partner. Data is unavailable on male victims.
- 1 in 5 women and 1 in 59 men in the United States is raped during his/her lifetime.
- 9.4% of women in the United States experience intimate partner sexual assault in their lifetimes.
- 19.3 million women and 5.1 million men in the United States have been stalked.
- 66.2% of female stalking victims reported stalking by a current or former intimate partner.
- 1 in 3 female murder victims and 1 in 20 male murder victims are killed by intimate partners. A study of intimate partner homicides found
- 20% of victims were family members or friends of the abused partner, neighbors, persons who intervened, law enforcement responders, or bystanders.
- 72% of all murder-suicides are perpetrated by intimate partners.
- 94% of murder-suicide victims are female.
- Victims of intimate partner violence are at increased risk of contracting HIV or other STI’s due to forced intercourse and/or prolonged exposure to stress.
- Intimate partner victimization is correlated with a higher rate of depression and suicidal behavior.
- Only 34% of people who are injured by intimate partners receive medical care for their injuries.
- Victims of intimate partner violence lose a total of 8,000,000 million days of paid work each year, the equivalent of 32,000 full-time jobs.
- Intimate partner violence is estimated to cost the US economy between $5.8 billion and $12.6 billion annually, up to 0.125% of the national gross domestic product.
- Between 21-60% of victims of intimate partner violence lose their jobs due to reasons stemming from the abuse.
- Between 2003 and 2008, 142 women were murdered in their workplace by former or current intimate partners. This amounts to 22% of workplace homicides among women.
It took nearly four years to draft and pass but the first Violence Against Women Act, co-authored by Sen. Joe Biden and Rep Louise Slaughter, became law in 1994. It was the first comprehensive national legislation to deal with violence against women including domestic abuse and sexual assault. It had widespread bipartisan support and has been reauthorized roughly every five years since.
That is until now.
With bipartisan support the House passed an updated bill in early April of this year. Sponsored by Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), the only Republican sponsor, this updated version expands several tenets of the older bill. It provides additional financial aid for women who have experienced domestic violence to stay in their homes and it increases punishment for cyberbullying. But it also includes one that the NRA doesn’t like and because of which they tried to block passage in the House. The bill bans all intimate partners who have been convicted for abuse and stalking from purchasing a firearm. The NRA failed.
The Republican-controlled Senate has failed to act on the House version. They have a problem with that part of the House bill the NRA objects to. So Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Joni Ernst are working on a bipartisan version of the reauthorization. It is not known if any of the House updates to the legislation will be included.
Given the cold, hard statistics listed above, is there any doubt the provision banning gun purchases should be included in the bill? How much more violence are we going to allow in this country? Apparently the NRA and its’ supporters/protectors think a gun is more important than the life of a woman or child.
It’s time to inundate your Senators with calls, letters and emails: pass the House reauthorization of VAWA.
Statistics from NCADV (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence)
www.ncadv.org Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE(7233) or www.TheHotline.org
- Black, M.C., Basile, K.C., Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G., Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J. & Stevens, M. (2011). The national intimate partner and sexual violence survey: 2010 summary report. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf.
- National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.). Infographic based on data from the national intimate partner and sexual violence survey (nisvs): 2010-2012 state report. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/NISVS-infographic-2016.pdf
- Black, M.C., Basile, K.C., Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G., Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J. & Stevens, M. (2011). The national intimate partner and sexual violence survey: 2010 summary report. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- National Network to End Domestic Violence (2017). Domestic violence counts national summary. Retrieved from https://nnedv.org/mdocs-posts/census_2016_handout_national-summary/.
- Campbell, J.C., Webster, D., Koziol-McLain, J., Block, C., Campbell, D., Curry, M. A., Gary, F., Glass, N., McFarlane, J., Sachs, C., Sharps, P., Ulrich, Y., Wilt, S., Manganello, J., Xu, X., Schollenberger, J., Frye, V. & Lauphon, K. (2003). Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: Results from a multisite case control study. American Journal of Public Health, 93(7), 1089-1097.
- Truman, J. L. & Morgan, R. E. (2014). Nonfatal domestic violence, 2003-2012. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ndv0312.pdf.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Black, M.C., Basile, K.C., Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G., Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J. & Stevens, M. (2011). The national intimate partner and sexual violence
- Bridges, F.S., Tatum, K. M., & Kunselman, J.C. (2008). Domestic violence statutes and rates of intimate partner and family homicide: A research note. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 19(1), 117-130.
- Smith, S., Fowler, K. & Niolon, P. (2014). Intimate partner homicide and corollary victims in 16 states: National violent death reporting system, 2003-2009. American Journal of Public Health, 104(3), 461-466. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301582.
- Violence Policy Center. (2012). American roulette: Murder-suicide in the United States. Retrieved from www.vpc.org/studies/amroul2012.pdf.
- Ibid.
- World Health Organization (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/85239/1/9789241564625_eng.pdf?ua=1.
- Ibid.
- Truman, J. L. & Morgan, R. E. (2014). Nonfatal domestic violence, 2003-2012. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ndv0312.pdf.
- Rothman, E., Hathaway, J., Stidsen, A. & de Vries, H. (2007). How employment helps female victims of intimate partner abuse: A qualitative study. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12(2), 136-143. doi: 10.1037/1076-8998.12.2.136.
- World Health Organization (2004). The economic dimensions of intimate partner violence. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/42944/1/9241591609.pdf.
- Ibid.
- Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., Ormrod, R. & Hamby, S. (2011). Children’s exposure to intimate partner violence and other family violence.
Note: We used the word lobbying instead of “contacting”. When you are contacting your legislator, you are lobbying her/him. Think of yourself in this way. If enough of us lobby a legislator, we can do in numbers what paid lobbyist do with money. This is why every call, email and letter you generate carries such importance. Following the steps below we will prepare you with the information you will need for your lobbying. It will not take long to follow these steps and will make it easier for the work ahead. Use it often and persuade as many others as you can to do the same.
FIRST STEP: If you are not registered to vote, DO SO! Your vote is your primary way of making your wishes known.
It is YOUR VOICE.
STEP TWO: Go to www.govtrack.us . Enter your address to find your two U.S. Senators and Representative. The page will list them with their Washington phone numbers. Click on “website” to access district addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses.
STEP THREE: Go to openstates.org/findyourleislators/ . Enter your address to find your state legislators. Click on the name to go to a page listing their state capitol and district addresses and telephone numbers.
STEP FOUR: Save all this information in computer files that are easy to access when you need them.
STEP FIVE: Put the telephone numbers in your phone.
STEP SIX: At least once a week call one or more of them expressing how you feel about any issues you are hearing or reading about. Be sure you let them know you are a VOTER in their district. Be polite.
FYI: Both of the sites listed above are worth exploring for the current legislative information they provide. Bookmarking them would be a good idea.
In May Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a so-called “heartbeat” bill banning abortions as early as six weeks. It was the fourth such bill passed by state legislatures this year. What all of these bills, and similar ones passed prior to this year, have in common is they are based on model legislation written by Faith2Action, which bills itself as “the nation’s largest network of pro-family groups”.
While the bills do not cite a specific gestational time limit for abortions, they amount to a ban at about six week’s gestation. That’s when a doctor can detect a “flicker of cardiac motion” on a transvaginal ultrasound according to Dr. Catherine Romanos, a doctor who performs abortions in Ohio and is a fellow with the group Physicians for Reproductive Health. There are legal penalties of up to ten years for any doctor who performs an abortion after detecting a ”so-called heartbeat” unless it is necessary to save the life of the woman. There is no exception for a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest.
There is considerable speculation surrounding the issue of what charges could be brought against a woman who performs her own abortion with drugs or other means. What if she travels to another state and has a legal abortion? Could she be charged in her home state? Unless these bills specifically exempt such women, no one is sure how far the states will go in prosecuting women, perhaps even for murder.
“Personhood” language in the Georgia bill makes it a part of the battle as to whose rights mean more, a zygotes or a woman? This creates potentially large ramifications. It is the criminalization of pregnant people. While other state’s “so-called heartbeat” bills do not contain “personhood” language, other states have unsuccessfully attempted to pass such bills, as well as the U.S. House. A number of states are considering “personhood” bills.
In the current climate how long will it take for women to be held accountable for the termination of a pregnancy whether or not she did anything deliberate to bring it about? The answer: already at least two cases have been documented. Purvi Patel spent several years in prison before her lawyers were able to get her conviction vacated and released for time served. She had been charged with feticide and felony neglect of a dependent for pursuing a self-induced abortion. Bei Bei Shuai was charged with feticide after she attempted suicide by ingesting rat poisoning. After 435 days in jail she pled guilty and was released for time served.
Women are already dying because of lack of health services in states like Georgia. Laws like these contribute to the loss of yet other services. O course marginalized groups of women will suffer even more – women of color, poor women, LBGTQ women, women in prison.