110 HRES 590 IH: Supporting the goals and ideals of National U.S. House of Representatives 2007-07-31 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

110th CONGRESS 1st Session

H. RES. 590

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 31, 2007

Mr. Poe (for himself, Mr. Costa, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mr. Markey, Mr. Moore of Kansas, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Holden, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Filner, Mr. Jefferson, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Ellison, Mrs. Drake, Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida, Mr. Allen, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Michaud, Mrs. Biggert, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Berman, Mr. Reichert, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Braley of Iowa, Mr. Carney, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mr. Wynn, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Linda T. Sánchez of California, Mr. Ruppersberger, and Mr. Shays) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

RESOLUTION

Supporting the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should raise awareness of domestic violence in the United States and its devastating effects on families and communities.

Whereas one in four women will experience domestic violence sometime in her life; Whereas domestic violence affects people of all ages, racial, ethnic, economic, and religious backgrounds; Whereas women ages 16 to 24 experience the highest rates, per capita, of intimate partner violence; Whereas 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 into performing sexual acts by her partner; Whereas 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; Whereas the annual cost of lost productivity due to domestic violence is estimated as $727,800,000 with over $7,900,000 paid workdays lost per year; Whereas homicides were the second leading cause of death on the job for women, with 15 percent of the 119 workplace homicides of women in 2003 attributed to a current or former husband or boyfriend; Whereas landlords frequently deny housing to victims of domestic violence who have protection orders or evict victims of domestic violence for seeking help, such as by calling 911, after a domestic violence incident or who have other indications that they are domestic violence victims; Whereas 92 percent of homeless women experience severe physical or sexual abuse at some point in their lifetimes; Whereas Americans suffer 2,200,000 medically treated injuries due to interpersonal violence annually, at a cost of $37,000,000,000 ($33,000,000,000 in productivity losses, $4,000,000,000 in medical treatment); Whereas people aged 15 to 44 years comprise 44 percent of the population, but account for nearly 75 percent of injuries and 83 percent of costs due to interpersonal violence; Whereas 40 to 60 percent of men who abuse women also abuse children; Whereas male children exposed to domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners; Whereas children exposed to domestic violence are more likely to attempt suicide, abuse drugs and alcohol, run away from home, and engage in teenage prostitution; Whereas adolescent girls who reported dating violence were 60 percent more likely to report one or more suicide attempts in the past year; Whereas 13.7 percent of the victims of murder-suicide cases were the children of the perpetrator and 74.6 percent were female while 91.9 percent of the perpetrators were male; in 30 percent of those cases the male perpetrator also committed suicide; Whereas a 2001 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on homicide among intimate partners found that female intimate partners are more likely to be murdered with a firearm than all other means combined; Whereas according to one study, during court ordered visitation, five percent of abusive fathers threaten to kill their spouses, 34 percent of abusive fathers threaten to kidnap their children, and 25 percent of abusive fathers threaten to physically hurt their children; Whereas homicide is the third leading cause of death for Native American women and 75 percent of Native American women who are killed are killed by a family member or an acquaintance; Whereas 88 percent of men think that our society should do more to respect women and girls; Whereas men say that the entertainment industry, government leaders and elected officials, the sports industry, schools, colleges and universities, the news media and employers should be doing more to prevent intimate partner violence; Whereas there is a need to increase funding for programs carried out under the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (VAWA 2005), Public Law 109–162, aimed at intervening and preventing domestic violence in the United States; and Whereas individuals and organizations that are dedicated to preventing and ending domestic violence should be recognized: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1)supports the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month; and (2)expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should continue to raise awareness of domestic violence in the United States and its devastating effects on families and communities.