[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 87 (Friday, July 1, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               SUPPORT FOR THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

                                 ______


                         HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 30, 1994

  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, we shouldn't need the sad story of O.J. 
Simpson's marriage to show us why we need the Violence Against Women 
Act. Every day and every night, thousands of men abuse their wives and 
girlfriends. Most of the men aren't former football stars, and most of 
the women they hurt don't look like models. But the pattern of 
obsession and violence is often the same.
  Wife and girlfriend beating isn't the only kind of domestic violence 
against women. According to the Justice Department, girls under the age 
of 12 account for 16 percent of reported rapes. In 90 percent of these 
rapes against girls under 12, relatives and family acquaintances were 
the perpetrators.
  In 1993, 43 people died as a result of domestic violence in 
Massachusetts alone. That's one murder every 8 days. As a former 
prosecutor with extensive experience in domestic violence cases, I know 
that this is more than an alarming statistic--it's an accounting of 
real people dying senselessly, and many of them could have been saved 
if the system had acted in time.
  Here are some of the women who died last August in my State:
  August 1: Patricia Aquino, 33, of Dorchester.
  August 4: Mary Ellen Rhodes-Rice, 49 of West Barnstable.
  August 9: Tina Mcleod, 26, of Lawrence.
  August 14: Kelly Richards, 27, of West Springfield.
  August 23: Ann-Marie Yukovitch, 39, of Watertown.
  August 31: Cindy Squailia, 27, of Wareham.
  In memory of these women, I hope the House will support funding for 
the Violence Against Women Act.

                          ____________________