[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 20, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 20, 2001

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues in 
the Women's Caucus who have been organizing weekly special orders 
around topics of great concern to women during the time when we 
celebrate Women's History Month.
  Today's topic is violence against women. Violence against women is a 
profound and extremely pervasive problem, striking across borders, 
across economic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and across all the 
age groups. It is an epidemic that affects not only women, but their 
children and families as well.
  We, in Congress, should be proud that we were able to reauthorize the 
Violence Against Women Act last session. Now, we must live up to our 
promise and appropriate full funding to the programs included in this 
bill.
  Furthermore, pervasive discrimination continues to deny women full 
political and economic equality, and is often at the root of violations 
of their basic human rights. This is reflected in the various 
manifestations of violence women endure: domestic violence; female 
genital mutilation; sex trafficking; rape during times of armed 
conflict; sexual assault; ``honor'' killings; sex-selection or gender 
preference abortions; and other manifestations, including neglect in 
areas of education and nutrition women and girls endure, both here and 
abroad.
  The statistics are appalling. Globally, 1 out of every 3 women has 
been beaten or sexually abused in her lifetime. In the United States, 1 
out of every 6 women has been beaten or sexually abused. There are 
somewhere between 1 to 2 million women and girls who are illegally 
trafficked around the world, with at least 50,000 coming into the 
United States. Some 130 million girls and young women have undergone 
female genital mutilation and it is estimated that in the United States 
there are at least 10,000 girls at risk of this practice.
  Women's lives are endangered by violence which is directed at them 
simply because they are women. We must stop what I believe has become 
too accepted and tolerated in our society. Violence against women is 
not acceptable and we must get that message out to both the 
perpetrators of the violence and the women who endure it.
  We recently witnessed a landmark moment in international justice, 
when three Bosnian Serbs were convicted for the rape, torture, and 
sexual enslavement of Muslim women during the Bosnian war. For the 
first time in the international justice system, sex crimes against 
women are being specifically identified and punished. In the past, UN 
war crimes tribunals ignored mass rape and sexual enslavement and 
considered these crimes to be a natural occurrence in war. Crimes 
against women such as forced prostitution and rapes that took place 
during WWI were never even prosecuted in the international tribunals 
that followed the war. Today, perhaps most significantly, the judges 
ruled that mass rape is a crime against humanity, the most serious 
category of international crimes after genocide.
  However, while there is still even one woman out there who endures 
violence, our work will not be complete. We need more money for 
services such as transitional housing and job placement and training to 
support women while they seek to escape abusive situations. We also 
need to provide trainings to educate boys and girls against violence so 
the problem stops.
  We must change our attitudes to come up with remedies to cure this 
epidemic, not just treat its symptoms. We as women must be empowered to 
challenge the culture of violence. Our work can not be complete until 
the women of the world live free from an ever present fear of violence.

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