Violence Against Women

I will:

  • Aggressively work to end sexual violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women by creating and funding a task force to work in  collaboration with American Indian and Alaska Native women to obtain a clear and accurate understanding about the prevalence and nature of sexual violence against Indigenous women; by ensuring that American Indian and Alaska Native women have access to adequate and timely sexual assault forensic examinations without charge to the survivor, and by providing resources to Indian tribes for additional criminal justice and victim services to respond to crimes of sexual violence against Native American and Alaska Native women.
  • Push for the passage of the groundbreaking International Violence Against Women Act which addresses gender-based violence, including rape, domestic violence, sexual violence, genital mutilation, forced and child marriage, “honor” killings, dowry related violence and human trafficking.   This legislation would streamline federal efforts by centralizing all U.S. policy and programs related to international women’s issues in a new Office for Women’s Global Initiatives at the State Department. The bill requires the department to develop a five-year comprehensive strategy to fight violence against women in 10 to 20 countries. It authorizes an annual funding stream of $175 million to support coordinated programs in the areas of legal reform, health care, economic empowerment, educational opportunities and public awareness. The bill also strengthens the protection of women and girls when violence is used as a weapon of intimidation and abuse in situations of armed conflict.  This legislation streamlines federal efforts by centralizing all U.S. policy and programs related to international women’s issues in a new Office for Women’s Global Initiatives at the State Department. The bill requires the department to develop a five-year comprehensive strategy to fight violence against women in 10 to 20 countries. It authorizes an annual funding stream of $175 million to support coordinated programs in the areas of legal reform, health care, economic empowerment, educational opportunities and public awareness. The bill also strengthens the protection of women and girls when violence is used as a weapon of intimidation and abuse in situations of armed conflict.
  • Treat prostitution as violence against women.  Outlaw the buying of sex; decriminalize prostitution (the “Swedish model”).
  • Allow persons harmed by specific works of pornography to bring civil lawsuits  for damages against those who have created and/or trafficked in those specific works.
  • Push for the passage of the National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Network Act which would provide adequate legal aid for victims of domestic violence.
  • Push for the passage of the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdictional Expansion and Enforcement Act of 2007 which would close the loopholes of the 2000 Act and would allow for prosecution of defense contractors and corporations abroad for rape and acts of violence against and harassment of employees by employees and staff members.
  • Push for the passage of the Jamie Leigh Act of 2008  requiring contractors abroad to  disclose statistical data in annual reports of the violations and criminal acts committed at each housing and work location in each country to employees and prospective employees.
  • Appropriate funds for anti-violence, anti-rape education in the public schools, beginning in fifth grade.
Domestic Violence

I am a survivor of domestic violence. My first husband, who died in 1997, attempted to kill me by beating me with a tire iron in September of 1975, fracturing my skull and eyesockets. I have worked with and been committed to domestic violence victims and to ending domestic violence since that time. I have been a witness to the feminist creation of, and development of, the shelter movement since around the time of my own severe battering.

The domestic violence shelter and anti-rape movements in the United States are faltering, in part because DV/rape organizations and shelters are increasingly operated by religious organizations and male professionals rather than those most affected by domestic violence and most vested in ending it– survivors themselves and the women who support them. Ending male violence against women is central to American women’s economic well-being and quality of life. Domestic violence and rape devastate women of any age, and all racial, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. Domestic violence is a leading cause of injury to girls and women and can lead to difficulties on the job, job loss, depression, substance abuse.

I support

  • Returning control of the domestic violence/shelter/rape crisis movement to women, as opposed to government bureaucrats and men;
  • Funding domestic violence, rape crisis shelters, and men’s domestic violence shelters via a $100 yearly tax on all adult men whose annual incomes are above the poverty level (the “Man Tax”);
  • Supplementing funding for domestic violence, rape crisis shelters, and men’s domestic violence shelters via taxes on pornographic magazines, films, websites, strip bars, “gentlemen’s” clubs, brothels, establishments which appeal to male clientele via the objectification of female employees (i.e., Hooter’s), and music featuring violent misogynist lyrics and imagery (i.e., Eminem);
  • Requiring domestic violence shelters to create and to be accountable to governing boards comprised of former domestic violence victims or advocates for victims for decisions about policies, budgets and hiring of staff and directors;
  • Requiring domestic violence shelters to clearly, visibly and transparently disclose any and all affiliations with religious or faith-based groups in their advertising and informational materials;
  • Creating a list of domestic violence shelters nationwide denoting which are faith-based and which are secular;
  • Requiring domestic violence shelters to clearly disclose in their promotional and informational materials whether they have male directors, male owners or male staff members;
  • No government funding of faith-based domestic violence shelters;
  • No faith-based “partnerships” with government- or independently-funded secular domestic violence shelters;
  • Allowing experience working with domestic violence victims to substitute year-for-year for college degrees in staffing government-funded shelters;
  • Creating a grievance process for victims of rape and domestic violence who believe they have been mistreated in shelters, with grievances heard by governing boards comprised of former domestic violence/rape victims and their advocates as described above;
  • Requiring those accused of domestic violence who are under court-ordered restraining orders to wear ankle bracelets so that their movements and location can be tracked. Thousands of women are assaulted and/or killed every year despite having obtained restraining orders against their abusers;
  • Transitional housing is essential in order for domestic violence survivors to take control of and move forward with their lives. Congress should fund this transitional housing and should give this project its own line item in the budget. Transitional housing should include co-housing and community housing for greater protection of domestic violence survivors moving out of shelters;
  • Women should be permitted to refuse child support from abusive men so long as those men are willing to relinquish parental rights;
  • Fathers’ parental rights should be terminated where both mother and father agree;
  • Men convicted of murdering, battering or raping their children’s mothers should have their parental rights terminated;
  • Battered women charged with assault or murder as a consequence of defending themselves against their batterers should retain parental rights to their children;
  • Child support for children whose fathers have voluntarily given up their parental rights should be paid for via the Man Tax described above.