In Recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, October 2005

IN RECOGNITION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH, OCTOBER 2005

Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. As we mark the 11th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, VAWA, which has given a voice to the thousands of women and children who had silently suffered the effects of domestic violence, we must continue to build on these protections for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

The enactment of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act symbolized a significant Federal response to the problem of violence against women. The original act rewrote Federal criminal law in several respects, including creating penalties for interstate stalking or domestic abuse, strengthening penalties and requiring restitution for repeat sexual offenders, rendering a victim's past sexual behavior inadmissible in Federal cases, and allowing a Federal judge to order HIV testing of alleged rapists. VAWA also created a grant program to improve law enforcement in cases of violent crimes against women, rape prevention and education programs, and funds for battered women's shelters. Earlier this year, my home State of Washington received a grant of over $2.3 million through this program to help victims of domestic violence get access to needed services and to enhance the partnership between criminal justice agencies, victim services providers, and community organizations which respond to domestic violence.

Since passing VAWA, local communities around the United States have made significant strides toward eradicating domestic violence. Between 1993 and 2001, the rate of nonfatal domestic violence dropped 49 percent. States have passed over 660 laws pertaining to domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault. Yet, despite our progress, a woman in the United States is still more likely to be assaulted, injured, raped, or killed by a male partner than by any other assailant. Three to four million American women continue to be battered by their husbands or partners every single year. At least a third of all female emergency room patients are battered women. A third of all homeless women and children in the U.S. are fleeing domestic violence. At least 5,000 women are beaten to death each year. This is unacceptable and we need to continue our efforts to eradicate domestic violence.

As we consider all issues of domestic abuse, we need to also be aware of the advent of for-profit international marriage brokers--companies that operate solely to connect men and women of different nations with the intent of getting married. Today, experts put the number of international marriage brokers at nearly 500 worldwide. Based on the 1999 statistics, there are between 20,000 and 30,000 women who have entered the U.S. using an international marriage broker in the past 5 years. While many of these matches result in long, happy unions, there is an unfortunate growing epidemic of domestic abuse among couples who meet through a broker. The risk of foreign women being abused and in some cases murdered by men they meet through these mail-order bride agencies is heightened greatly when they do not have access to vital information about their potential husbands or their rights in the United States. In my home State of Washington, we know of at least 3 cases of serious domestic violence, including 2 murders of women who met their husbands through Internet-based brokers.

On October 4, my colleagues unanimously passed legislation to reauthorize and improve the Violence Against Women Act once again. This legislation includes language I authored that will make information available to foreign women about the marital and violent criminal history of their prospective American husbands, in addition to requiring international marriage brokers to provide foreign fiances with information about the rights and resources available to domestic violence victims in the United States. Under current practice, American clients can get all the information they want about foreign fiancées, while foreign clients only receive information that the Americans choose to share, and have no way to make sure what they are told is true. By providing foreign women who meet their potential American spouses with ability to access their potential spouse's marital and criminal history, we are taking a further step to curb domestic violence. The decisions we in Congress chose to make concerning the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 sets in place the priorities and funding levels that will directly affect how we respond to and prevent domestic violence in the coming years.

Because of its occurrence behind closed doors, many Americans are unaware of the severity of this problem. While domestic violence most directly affects women, it hurts us all, no matter our sex, race, religion, or economic status. As our Nation recognizes Domestic Violence Awareness Month, let each of us consider what we can further do to prevent its continuation.

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