CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript

Interview

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COSTELLO: OK, so here's a question for you. Did you join an office pool and are you sure your fellow employees will share that jackpot if you guys win? We're going to talk to a lawyer who will explain how to make sure you're not cut out of your fair share. It's something you don't hear every day from a congresswoman on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. But Congresswoman Gwen Moore decided she had to share a painful personal story of sexual assault and rape.

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REP. GWEN MOORE (D), WISCONSIN: Well, it really brought up some terrible memories for me of having boys sit in a locker room and sort of bet that I, the egg head, couldn't be had. And then the appointed boy when he saw that I wasn't going to be so willing completed a date rape and then took my underwear to display it to the rest of the boys.

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COSTELLO: Congresswoman Moore shared her story to convince Republicans to renew the Violence Against Women's Act, a bill that provides money for emergency shelters, counseling, rape crisis centers and legal services for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking.

Congresswoman Moore is in Washington, she joins us now. Welcome.

MOORE: Hi Carol, how are you?

COSTELLO: I'm good.

Your story on the floor of the U.S. House touched so many people. Why did you feel you had to share that story with your fellow lawmakers?

MOORE: Let me tell you. I think, you know, I experienced this before the Violence Against Women's Act was enacted. And it was just one in a plethora, unfortunately, for me of assault and violence against me, my family, my friends, everyone that I knew. Because there was a time when there was just -- there was not adequate law enforcement. There were not services. There were not resources for women.

I think that my story, while it's sad, is not rare. And you know, you get on the floor of the House of Representatives and everybody reads their talking points. And I think that they get too far away from the reality that something like VAWA has been bipartisan in the past and it in fact saves lives.

COSTELLO: How specifically would be -- would this bill -- I mean if it was in place when you were experiencing this trouble, how would it have helped you?

MOORE: Well you know one aspect of this is education. You know, this particular incident, I don't think that any of the boys thought they were doing anything wrong. I think that they thought it was just a sort of a rite of passage. And I think ignorance has really perpetuated violence against women. Violence against women is as American as apple pie. You know, that man that feels that he has a right to abuse his wife and to beat her, you know, ask the pastor where do I find that passage, wives obey your husbands, in the Bible. And -- and we see a preponderance of teen violence, an explosion of teen violence right now. And I think education is extremely important.

I think that my example was an extreme one, but I do think that many girls think that it's -- it's perfectly ok to have boys slap them around a little bit or -- or control them with their cell phones and go through their cell phones. And -- and all of this is violence.

COSTELLO: Well, some Republicans object to this Democratic version of the law because it includes lesbians, gays and illegal immigrants. How would you respond to that? Why put that in the bill when you know, Democrats, that Republicans are probably going to object -- object to it because these things are inserted?

MOORE: Well Carol, these things have been put in is because people have learned from this practices that these things are necessary. It's not just heterosexual women and men for that matter who find themselves victims of violence. Immigrant women are very vulnerable because of their immigrant status. And we do have new visas that could and should be used for that purpose.

Native women, there's an explosion of violence against women on native lands. And men, some of whom are -- are not native men, have free rein on battering, beating, raping them because there is no law enforcement. The tribes are not able to enforce laws on their lands.

And then we find that they are -- they are not prosecuted outside of those -- those lands. So it's just free -- free you know -- free violence against women on those lands. And so the best practices have shown that these things are necessary.

You know the National Association of District Attorneys, the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Sheriffs Associations, all of them have supported the Violence Against Women's Act. And -- and like I said, the need to expand this legislation has come after a lot of research about what's needed to protect all women.

COSTELLO: Congresswoman, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it.

MOORE: And thank you.

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