[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 86 (Thursday, June 30, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

  (Ms. HARMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, the tragic murder of Nicole Simpson has 
raised our consciousness about domestic violence. If a man beats a 
woman in the middle of the street, no ones debates whether it is a 
crime. But when an assault is committed against a woman by her husband 
in her own home, behind closed doors, some view the facts differently. 
Even the victims in many cases--including Nicole Simpson--choose not to 
report acts of violence or not to press charges.
  We must raise awareness that domestic violence is indeed a horrible 
crime; unreported domestic violence is a crime unpunished. And we must 
help the women who cry out for help.
  In the last 2 weeks since the Simpson murder, calls to shelters in my 
district from battered women have increased dramatically. The day after 
the murder, Rainbow Services Ltd., a shelter for battered women in San 
Pedro, received over three times the normal number of requests from 
battered women for restraining orders against their husbands. The 1736 
Family Crisis Center hotline in Redondo Beach has received 25 percent 
more calls. This month alone, they received around 350 calls from women 
needing immediate shelter--they have only 33 beds. For the last 3 
weeks, the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women hotline has 
received three times its normal number of calls on domestic violence. 
Domestic violence calls to the Community Helpline of the South Bay have 
increased 30 percent in the last 2 weeks.
  In the last 5 years, domestic violence calls in L.A. County have 
increased by 36.9 percent. In 1993 alone, 67 women were murdered by 
their spouse, live-in, ex-spouse, or boyfriend. Spurred to action by 
the Simpson murder, The city of Los Angeles is responding to the 
increasing number of domestic violence calls to police agencies and 
hotlines with the creation of the Domestic Violence Task Force and 
increased funding. The city council has just agreed to spend $5 million 
a year to develop more shelters, and the county board of supervisors 
approved spending $1.1 million on the 18 shelters that already exist. I 
applaud these efforts, but we must do even more.
  I recently visited the Hexagon House and Madison Emergency Shelter in 
Washington, DC, with several other Members and Health and Human 
Services Secretary Donna Shalala. There we saw some happy outcomes: 
women and children who had sought refuge from violent partners or 
fathers, and who received shelter, counseling, and transition 
assistance. Many battered and abused women aren't so lucky.
  The Congress has an important opportunity to help save the lives of 
women and children suffering from domestic violence, and to help 
support shelters that provide refuge and help for many battered women. 
As the crime bill conferees reconcile the House and Senate versions, I 
urge them to include the provisions of the Violence Against Women Act, 
and to provide the full $1.8 billion funding. Inclusion of the Violence 
Against Women provisions in the crime bill will help women across the 
United States--women who cannot wait any longer.

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