[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 39 (Thursday, March 22, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H1065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

  (Ms. CARSON of Indiana asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, historically domestic violence 
has been a silent epidemic. According to a recent study conducted by 
the Commonwealth Fund, almost 4 million women are physically abused 
each year in the United States.
  Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women in this 
country, where they are more likely to be assaulted, injured, raped or 
killed by a male partner than any other type of assailant.
  However many politicians, intentionally or unintentionally, have not 
dealt with this serious and destructive epidemic. In my district alone, 
judicial levels have been totally insensitive to the plight of victims 
of domestic violence to the extent of sending perpetrators home on home 
monitors, with ankle bracelets; and they eventually go out and kill the 
victim without being noticed by the system until it is way too late.
  We need to expand the Call to Protect program, continue funding 
through VAWA and demand that the Violence Against Women Office in the 
Department of Justice becomes permanent.
  We can tackle the undiagnosed treatment of women before it matures 
into violence by conducting early prevention to teach young people the 
importance of supporting and respecting one another.

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