Obama For Illinois:  Combating Domestic and Sexual Violence

Violence against women is an epidemic with vast social, economic, and individual costs.  According to recent estimates, there are over one million acts of domestic violence each year, and the victim is a woman nearly 85% of the time.  Roughly 25% of women will be raped and/or physically assaulted in their lifetime by an intimate partner.  The costs of domestic and sexual violence are immense: the National Institute of Justice has estimated the total annual costs of rape to be $127 billion; the Bureau of National Affairs has estimated that domestic violence costs American employers as much as $5 billion annually in lost time and productivity, not to mention the direct impact on victims and families.  A problem of this magnitude and complexity demands public policies that consider both its causes and consequences. 

Barack Obama will lead the fight to reduce the incidence and alleviate the effects of violence against women.  Here are his legislative priorities in this area:

Economic Security and Safety:  The financial independence that a job provides is often critical in breaking the cycle of domestic violence. 

 

·                    Between 25 to 50% of domestic violence and sexual assault victims lose their jobs or are forced to quit as a result.

·                    Nearly 75% of employed battered women are harassed at work by their abusive partners.

·                    Approximately 11% of all rapes occur in the workplace.

 

In the most recent session of the Illinois legislature, Obama was the chief sponsor of the Victim’s Economic Security and Safety Act, which won unanimous passage in the General Assembly.  VESSA allows eligible employees to take unpaid leave from employment for medical needs, victim services, counseling, safety planning or legal assistance. It also prohibits employer discrimination in income, hiring, termination, promotion and bars harassment or retaliation of any kind based on an employee’s status as a victim of sexual assault or domestic violence. 

Obama will lead the charge for comparable and even stronger federal legislation mandating unemployment compensation for individuals who lose their jobs due to domestic or sexual violence, providing tax credits to employers who provide paid leave to victims of domestic violence, and establishing a national clearinghouse on domestic and sexual violence.

Shelters and Housing:

Of all homeless women and children, 50% are fleeing domestic violence.  Women who leave their abusers lack adequate emergency shelter options: one third of requests for shelter by homeless families go unmet.  Even worse, policies against criminal activity in public housing are sometimes perversely applied against the victims of domestic violence.

Obama will fight to increase funding for battered women shelters at least to the level already authorized by Congress, which is $51 million higher than President Bush’s FY2004 budget provides.  Obama will also support legislation prohibiting public and private housing discrimination against victims of domestic violence, protecting victims and their families against eviction, and providing them with transitional housing options.

Training and Education:  Although Congress authorized money for training judges and court personnel, federal victim counselors, and a domestic violence task force, President Bush’s proposed budget devotes not one penny to any of these important programs.                   

·                    Each year, roughly 250,000 pregnant women are battered by the men in their lives.

·                    Medical services for abused women cost an estimated $857 million every year.

·                    Only 10% of primary care physicians routinely screen for intimate partner abuse during new patient visits.

In addition to fully funding these programs, Obama will support legislation such as the Domestic Violence Screening and Services Act to train health care professionals and staff to screen for and respond to domestic violence. 

Welfare Reform:

Studies show that a large proportion of the welfare caseload, between 15 and 25%, consists of current victims of serious domestic violence.  Furthermore, as many as 60% of welfare recipients are survivors of domestic violence.  Obama will advocate welfare reform that promotes economic self-sufficiency, not an idealized conception of marriage.  The Bush administration proposes to spend $300 million each year on heavy-handed and misguided marriage promotion initiatives.  One such program cited as an example by HHS is a $2,000 bonus to TANF recipients who marry.  Pressuring poor women to marry or stay married will not solve the problem of poverty and will exacerbate the plight of women and children trapped in abusive relationships. 

Obama will support alternative legislation like the Building Secure and Healthy Families Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on marital status and make clear that participation in relationship counseling programs must be voluntary.