(TriceEdneyWire.com) – If asked to justify violence of any kind directed against their mothers, wives or daughters, I’m pretty certain most men of good character who’re psychologically well-adjusted would reject that possibility in its entirety. While I make this assumption freely and in complete belief of its accuracy, U.S. statistics challenge my belief or suggest that the number of men of good character is an ever-shrinking commodity.
The November 2000 National Violence Against Women Survey indicates that in the U.S.:
· 17.6 percent of women have survived a completed or attempted rape. 21.6 percent were younger than 12 when they were first raped, and 32.4 percent were between the ages of 12 and 17.
· 64 percent of women reporting being raped, physically assaulted, and/or stalked since age 18 were victimized by a current or former husband, cohabiting partner, boyfriend or date.
· About 25 percent of women and 8 percent of men said they were raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, or date in their lifetimes. The survey estimates more than 300,000 intimate partner rapes occur each year against women 18 and older.
The following statistics are presented by the referenced sources:
· The FBI estimates only 37 percent of rapes are reported to the police. U.S. DOJ statistics are even lower, with only 26% of all rapes or attempted rapes being reported to law enforcement officials.
· Factoring in unreported rapes, about 5 percent - one out of 20 - of rapists will ever spend a day in jail. Nineteen out of 20 will walk free. (Probability statistics based on US DOJ statistics).
· About 81 percent of rape victims are White; 18 percent Black; 1 percent other races. About 1/2 of all rape victims are in the lowest 3rd of income distribution; 1/2 are in the upper 2/3. (Violence Against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. DOJ, 1994.)
· Almost 2/3 of all rapes are committed by someone known to the victim. 73 percent were by a non-stranger (38 percent were a friend or acquaintance of the victim, 28 percent were an intimate partner and 7 percent were a relative.) (National Crime Victimization Survey, 2005)
· The costs of intimate partner violence against women exceed an estimated $5.8 billion. These costs include nearly $4.1 billion in direct costs of medical and mental health care and nearly $1.8 billion in indirect costs of lost productivity and present value of lifetime earnings. (DHHS, CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, GA, March 2003).
· Domestic violence occurs in approximately 25-33 percent of same-sex relationships. (NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, October 1996.)
· Boys who witness their fathers' violence are 10 times more likely to engage in spouse abuse in later adulthood than boys from non-violent homes. (Family Violence Interventions for the Justice System, 1993).
· About 50,000 women and children are trafficked into the U.S. annually for sexual exploitation or forced labor. (U.S. CIA, 2000)
· A woman is battered, usually by her intimate partner, every 15 seconds. (UN Study On The Status of Women, Year 2000)
Despite these statistics, the Republican led House is refusing to reauthorize VAWA. Opposition seems to be motivated by extremely short-sighted and unrealistic reasons, such as
objection to provisions to include same-sex couples and undocumented immigrants.
When unfettered violence is in the forefront of the national dialogue, I cannot reconcile refusal to support this law to any reasonable thought-process.
For 18 years, VAWA has not been a partisan issue. Now, a law that has clearly been effective in saving lives, preventing violence, holding offenders accountable, and redefining the moral fabric of our society, is in question!
Don’t allow VAWA to lay dormant providing service to none of the victims it’s designed to protect. Contact your House Member at 202/225-3121 and express your support for reauthorization of VAWA.
(Dr. E. Faye Williams is Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, 202/678-6788
www.nationalcongressbw.org.)