Congress Passes Resolutions Recognizing Domestic Violence Month

On October 26, the House passed, by voice vote, a resolution (H. Res. 817) in support of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The Senate passed a similar resolution (S. Res. 327), by unanimous consent, on October 28.

Sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Rep. Al Green (D-TX), the resolutions contain a number of findings, including:

domestic violence affects people of all ages as well as racial, ethnic, gender, economic, and religious backgrounds;
women ages 16 to 24 experience the highest rates, per capita, of intimate partner violence;
one out of three Native American women will be raped and six out of ten will be physically assaulted in their lifetimes;
the cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year, $4.1 million of which is for direct medical and mental health care services;
one-quarter to one-half of domestic violence victims report that they have lost a job due, at least in part, to domestic violence;
the annual cost of lost productivity due to domestic violence is estimated at $727.8 million with over 7.9 million paid workdays lost per year;
some landlords deny housing to victims of domestic violence who have protection orders or evict victims of domestic violence for seeking help after a domestic violence incident, such as by calling 911, or who have other indications that they are domestic violence victims;
nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experienced physical abuse from a dating partner in 2003;
13 percent of teenage girls who have been in a relationship report being hit or hurt by their partners and one in four teenage girls has been in a relationship in which she was pressured by her partner into performing sexual acts;
there is a need for middle schools, secondary schools, and post-secondary schools to educate students about the issues of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking; and
eighty-eight percent of men in a national poll reported that they think that our society should do more to respect women and girls.

The resolutions also express the sense of the House of Representatives and Senate that “Congress should continue to raise awareness of domestic violence in the United States and its devastating effects on families and communities, and support programs designed to end domestic violence.”