[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 26784-26785]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      IN RECOGNITION OF NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 30, 2003

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of October 
being the month to increase awareness of domestic violence, and educate 
individuals about the services available to assist victims. Therefore, 
it is significant that we recognize October as the National Awareness 
Month for Domestic Violence.

[[Page 26785]]

  According to the United States Department of Justice, domestic 
violence can be defined as, a pattern of coercive behavior designed to 
exert power and control over a person in an intimate relationship 
through the use of intimidating, threatening, harmful, or harassing 
behavior. Partners may be married or not married, heterosexual, gay, 
lesbian, living together, separated or dating.
  Over the last thirty years, there has been a radical change in not 
only the understanding of domestic violence, but also the 
acknowledgement of responses from individuals and society. According to 
the most recent report from the' Department of Justice, there were 
almost 700,000 incidents of domestic violence in 2001. Approximately 
one-third of women who are murdered each year are killed by their 
current or former husband or partner. Children who are subjected to 
domestic violence too often grow up to inflict violence on others, 
creating a cycle of violence that must be stopped.
  Nearly one in every three adult women experiences at least one 
physical assault by a partner during adulthood. Approximately four 
million American women experience a serious assault by an intimate 
partner each year. Six times as many women who experience violence by 
an intimate partner, 18 perecent, as by a stranger, 3 percent, do not 
report the crime. Several types of violence and abuse usually occur 
within the family; men who batter their intimate partners are more 
likely to abuse their children too. Unfortunately, every fifteen 
seconds in the United States, a woman is brutally battered by her 
partner. As you hear these words, a woman is being beaten.
  Despite the increase reports of domestic violence in Chicago, the 
police and other related agencies receive an average of 560 domestic 
violence calls each day. About half the murders involved domestic 
disputes and approximately fifty percent of homicides are attributed to 
a domestic situation.
  To bring attention to this horrendous issue, October has been 
designated as the National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Mr. 
Speaker, let all of us renew our Nation's commitment to prevent and 
punish the perpetrators of this despicable crime and bring hope and 
healing to those affected by it.

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