In the past few months, I’ve read a lot about rising crime levels. Reports of increased gun violence and murder have captivated audiences and led national conversations. It was even a hot topic of debate during the primary elections in New York City. Why am I not as worried as perhaps I ought to be? Is it because I have limited my hours away from the safety of my home during the COVID pandemic? Or is it because I have been raised as a woman, constantly conscious of risk, unmitigated by a sense of entitled protection? I want to be alarmed by the thought of my city becoming more dangerous, but I am all too aware of the dangers that already exist and have persisted for decades. Let’s talk about some hard facts.
Somewhere in America, a woman is raped every two minutes. One out of every five women in the U.S. has been the victim of completed or attempted rape. One out of every six women in the U.S. has been a victim of stalking. One in four women has experienced intimate partner violence. (CDC, 2018)
These figures are distressing. They are disappointing. They are unacceptable. Yet, none of these issues are a topic of national debate. I am more interested in understanding why we are not outraged by persistent violence against women than in being outraged by the recent rise in crime.
Being a woman, I have learned to be acutely aware of my surroundings at all times. There is a constant fear of being the victim of a violent crime that I know many women also have. This fear goes beyond the possibility of a crime occurring - it extends to how we are handled after the crime has been committed. We have been forced to watch in horror as women are ridiculed with accusations of being provocateurs of violence. What were you wearing? Were you drinking? Did you fight back? These questions have become a sort of mantra. I have a different question. What if we were just living? Why is our society teaching girls it is our responsibility to protect ourselves from ‘boys being boys’? Should the male be asked whether he felt inadequate? Was showing off? Is a pathetic creep? It is far past time that violence and assault are written off as a hazard of womanhood. We need protection. We need the Violence Against Women Act.
VAWA was initially passed in 1994 and has been reauthorized in 2000, 2005, and 2013. When passed in 1994, this piece of legislation was the first federal acknowledgment of domestic and sexual violence as crimes, a fact that truly dumbfounds me and is emblematic of the lack of widespread concern regarding violence towards women. The main goals of VAWA are to enhance the investigation and prosecutions of offenders and provide funds to holistically address the issue of violence against women. The funds authorized under VAWA go towards domestic violence shelters, legal support for victims, and training for police officers and prosecutors. Since its passing, it has dramatically reduced instances of violence against women, proving its importance. Why the need for this piece, then? Because VAWA is being threatened.
VAWA is back on the table, having expired during the 2018 government shutdown. While it passed through the House with bipartisan support in March, it has been languishing in the Senate, fending pushbacks. This is due to a new provision in the bill that will bar individuals who have been convicted of misdemeanor assault or stalking from purchasing a gun. Let me reiterate that. While the country is concerned about rising crime levels and gun violence, there are people actively opposing a bill because it dares to ban convicted assaulters from purchasing the very weapons they are raising concerns about. A Republican representative had this to say of the bill, “This legislation makes it clear that Democrats consider gun ownership a second-class right.” The pushback against this gun provision sends a pretty clear message to me: owning a gun is a more important right than a woman’s freedom from violence and assault.
I am tired of women being blamed for being targets of assault and violence. We should no longer have to bear the burden of this issue because it is uncomfortable or inconvenient to address. If you haven’t already, write to your Senators and tell them to pass the Violence Against Women Act. Women’s lives depend on it.
Follow the link below to use our OneClickPolitics tool, which prefills a message to send to your Senators.
https://www.nfbpwc.org/event-4394130
Smith, S. G., Zhang, X., Basile, K. C., Merrick, M. T., Wang, J., Kresnow, M., & Chen, J. (2018). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2015 data brief – updated release. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
