[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 178 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 178


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             October 27 (legislative day, October 13), 1993

  Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
   Designating October 1993 and October 1994 as ``National Domestic 
                      Violence Awareness Month''.

Whereas it is estimated that a woman is battered every 15 seconds in America;
Whereas domestic violence is the single largest cause of injury to women in the 
        United States, affecting 6,000,000 women;
Whereas rural and urban women of all racial, social, religious, ethnic, and 
        economic groups of all ages, physical abilities and lifestyles are 
        affected by domestic violence;
Whereas increasing evidence indicates that there are large numbers of immigrant 
        women trapped in violent homes, isolated by abusive spouses who use the 
        threat of deportation to maintain power and control over them;
Whereas violence escalates in both frequency and severity over time, becoming 
        greatest at and after separation, when women are 75 percent more likely 
        to be killed;
Whereas 40 percent of female homicide victims in 1991 were killed by their 
        husbands or boyfriends;
Whereas in 1991, at least 21,000 domestic crimes against women were reported to 
        the police each week;
Whereas one-fifth of all reported aggravated assaults--assaults where the victim 
        suffered serious bodily injury--occur in domestic violence situations;
Whereas 74 percent of employed battered women are harassed by their abusive 
        partners at work, causing 54 percent to miss at least 3 full days of 
        work a month and 20 percent to lose their jobs;
Whereas 35 percent of medical emergency visits by women are the result of 
        domestic violence, and 25-45 percent of all battered women are battered 
        during pregnancy;
Whereas one-third of the domestic violence incidents involve felonies such as 
        rape, robbery, and aggravated assault;
Whereas in 50 percent of families where the wife is being abused, the children 
        of that family are also being abused;
Whereas some individuals in our law enforcement, medical, religious, mental 
        health, and judicial systems continue to think of spousal abuse as a 
        ``private'' matter and are hesitant to intervene and treat domestic 
        assault as a crime;
Whereas in 1991 over 450,000 women, plus their children, were provided emergency 
        shelter in domestic violence shelters and safehomes;
Whereas 40 percent of women in need of shelter may be turned away due to lack of 
        shelter space;
Whereas the nationwide efforts to help the victims of domestic violence need to 
        be expanded and coordinated;
Whereas there is a need to increase the public awareness and understanding of 
        domestic violence and the needs of battered women and their children; 
        and
Whereas the dedication and successes of those working to end domestic violence 
        and the strength of the survivors of domestic violence should be 
        recognized: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That each of the months 
October 1993 and October 1994 is designated as ``National Domestic 
Violence Awareness Month''. The President is authorized and requested 
to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to 
observe this month by becoming more aware of the tragedy of domestic 
violence, supporting those who are working to end domestic violence, 
and participating in other appropriate efforts.

            Passed the House of Representatives October 26, 1993.

            Attest:

                                           DONNALD K. ANDERSON,

                                                                 Clerk.