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December 14, 2011
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Page 7
Victims of Violence Not
Congress
dithers on
providing help
by
M artha B urk
While members
of Congress waste
time naming post
offices and devis
ing ways to get se
niors to pay for bil
lionaires'tax breaks
th ro u g h cu ts in
Medicare and Social Security,
other important business is slip
ping through the cracks.
S p e c ific a lly , if C o n g ress
doesn't reauthorize the Violence
Against Women Act, signed by
President Clinton in 1994 after a
four-year battle, by the end of
the year many valuable programs
will end.
It is a fact that women are the
most frequent victims of domes
tic violence, rape, and murder by
spouses. Despite its name, how
ever, this act has never been just
about women. The Penn State
scandal has chillingly reminded
us that kids, both boys and girls,
are very much at risk.
Most people don't know that
according to the Justice
Department, children un
der 18 comprise 67 per
cent of all sexual assault
victims reported to law
enforcement, and that only
counts those reported. If
the act isn't renewed, many
services and prevention
programs that help these young
victims will go away.
The Violence Against Women
Act began with discretionary
grant programs to stem domes
tic violence and child abuse by
funding battered women's shel
ters, rape prevention, and edu
cation, and by strengthening pen
alties for repeat sex offenders.
When Congress renewed the
act in 2005, new programs were
created to prevent sexual as
saults on campuses and to pro
vide resources for young victims
of sexual assault.
According to Justice Depart-
ment statistics, in a typical three-
month period the various pro-
gram s serve alm ost 140,000
people, more than 10 percent of
Obama supports the A ct’s pro
grams, and the stimulus package
he signed into law in early 2009
contained $225 million in in
creased funding for the Violence
Against Women office at the
Department of Justice. We know
It is a fact that women are the
most frequent victims o f domestic
violence, rape, and murder by
spouses.
them children. Virtually every
one who asks for services, in
cluding men and boys, gets them,
ranging from temporary shelter
to rape crisis counseling and vic
tim advocacy.
Given this track record and
ongoing scandals like the one at
Penn State, renewing the law
ought to be a no-brainer. But it
ain't necessarily so with the
present state of Washington's
gridlock.
First of all, President Barack
I
how that plays with Republi
cans, whose first priority, ac
cording to Senate M inority
Leader Mitch McConnell, is to
defeat O bam a in 2012, the
country's needs be damned.
Second, conservatives have
always attacked the program as
a handout for "national feminist
groups." They ignore the fact
that almost all of the money goes
to local resources and also sup
port the National Domestic Vio
lence Hotline. Some want to do
away with the law altogether.
And even though most of the
statistics come from the federal
government, conservative advo
cacy groups actively try to debunk
the numbers. As a result, funding
for the legislature is under inces
sant attack, and women's advo
cates must constantly defend the
law and the national statistics on
violence that are its underpinnings.
Those on the front lines, crisis
line workers, rape counselors,
social workers serving abused
boys and girls, and shelter per
sonnel, know how important this
legislation is.
Congress has until Dec. 31 to
show that it can do something
besides dither while a frighten
ing number of women and chil
dren are raped, beaten, and
abused.
Martha Burk is a political
psychologist, women's issues
expert, and director o f the
Corporate A ccountability
Project fo r the National Coun
cil o f Women's Organizations.
A Moral Outrage and Wake
Child poverty
in America
by
M arc H. M orial
The Census Bureau
d e liv e re d d istu rb in g
news this month about
how the Great Reces
sion and its aftermath
are affecting the most
v u ln e ra b le am o n g us -
A m erica’s school children.
Out of a total of 3,142 coun
ties in the United States, 653
saw significant increases in pov
erty among school-aged children
from 2007-2010, an increase of
20 percent. Nationally, 19.8 per
cent of school children are now
living in poverty.
This poverty increase has hit
large, urban school systems the
hardest with 96 of the 100 big
gest school districts
reporting increases in
the number of poor
children. In Detroit,
47 percent of school
children are poor. In
New York, the pov
erty rate rose to 29
percent, up from 26.6
percent in 2007. This is a moral
outrage.
W hile the debate drags on in
W ashington, D.C. about the
right balance of spending cuts
and taxes, a real and prevent
able tragedy is unfolding be
fore our eyes. T hrough no fault
of their own, m illions more
children, w hose parents have
school lunches, are going w ith
out health care and, as d e
picted in a recent “60 M in
utes” segm ent, are hom eless
and even living in cars.
The new Census Bureau re
port comes on the heels of news
in September that the number of
poor people in America has risen
to 46.2 million. T hat’s 15 per
cent of all citizens and the larg
est number in 52-years.
M any p re v io u sly m iddle
class families are finding them
selves standing in line at food
banks and hom eless shelters.
A ccording to the C hildren’s
D efense Fund, one in three
A frican A m erican and H is
panic children are living in
poverty. This should be a loud
and urgent wake-up call to Con
gress and policym akers.
By the end of this year, if
Congress fails to act, already
struggling families face the end
of the payroll tax cut. This would
add about $1,000 to a family’s
tax bill. The extension of unem
ployment benefits is also in jeop
ardy.
According to the non-parti
san Center for Budget Policy
and Priorities, unemployment
benefits together with supports
like the Earned Income Tax
Credit and the Child Tax Credit
are keeping seven million people
out of poverty.
Beth Davalos, who runs Fami
lies in Transition in Seminole
County, Fla., was interviewed
for the “60 Minutes” segment on
children living in cars. She ex
plained in stark terms the impact
poverty is having on a kindergar
ten child she was trying to help:
"That little 5-year-old was so
troubled over where she would
be sleeping, she was not thinking
about 2 + 2.”
The fact is, we should not
even be talking about child pov
erty in the richest nation on
earth. We have the m eans.
We sim ply need to summon
the will to end it. If we can find
the money to bail out Wall
Street and give tax breaks to
the w ealthy, surely we can find
the resources to provide food,
shelter, health care and a good
education for our children.
Marc H. Morial is president
and chief executive officer o f
the National Urban League.
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