September 7, 2001

Briefing of the

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

WASHINGTON : 2002

107th CONGRESS Printed for the use of the

1st Session Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

IN THE OSCE REGION
COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

234 Ford House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515-6460

(202) 225-1901

csce@mail.house.gov

http://www.csce.gov

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS

EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS

(VACANT), Department of State

(VACANT), Department of Defense

(VACANT), Department of Commerce

COMMISSION STAFF

RONALD J. MCNAMARA, Chief of Staff

DOROTHY DOUGLAS TAFT, Deputy Chief of Staff

BEN ANDERSON, Communications Director

OREST DEYCHAKIWSKY, Staff Advisor

JOHN FINERTY, Staff Advisor

CHADWICK R. GORE, Staff Advisor

ROBERT HAND, Staff Advisor

JANICE HELWIG, Staff Advisor

MARLENE KAUFMANN, Counsel

MICHELE MADASZ, Office Administrator

MICHAEL OCHS, Staff Advisor

ERIKA B. SCHLAGER, Counsel for International Law

H. KNOX THAMES, Staff Advisor

MAUREEN T. WALSH, General Counsel

ii

HOUSE

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey

Co-Chairman

FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia

JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania

ZACH WAMP, Tennessee

ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama

STENY H. HOYER, Maryland

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland

LOUISE MCINTOSH SLAUGHTER, New York

ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida

SENATE

BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado

Chairman

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas

SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas

GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio

CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut

BOB GRAHAM, Florida

RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York
iii

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION ON

SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

The Helsinki process, formally titled the Conference on Security and Cooperation

in Europe, traces its origin to the signing of the Helsinki Final Act in Finland on August

1, 1975, by the leaders of 33 European countries, the United States and Canada. As of

January 1, 1995, the Helsinki process was renamed the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The membership of the OSCE has expanded to 55 participating States, reflecting the breakup of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.

The OSCE Secretariat is in Vienna, Austria, where weekly meetings of the participating States permanent representatives are held. In addition, specialized seminars and

meetings are convened in various locations. Periodic consultations are held among Senior Officials, Ministers and Heads of State or Government.

Although the OSCE continues to engage in standard setting in the fields of military

security, economic and environmental cooperation, and human rights and humanitarian

concerns, the Organization is primarily focused on initiatives designed to prevent, manage and resolve conflict within and among the participating States. The Organization

deploys more than 20 missions and field activities located in Southeastern and Eastern

Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. The website of the OSCE is: <www.osce.org>.

ABOUT THE COMMISSION ON SECURITY

AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki

Commission, is a U.S. Government agency created in 1976 to monitor and encourage compliance by the participating States with their OSCE commitments, with a particular emphasis on human rights.

The Commission consists of nine members from the United States Senate, nine members from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of

State, Defense and Commerce. The positions of Chair and Co-Chair rotate between the

Senate and House every two years, when a new Congress convenes. A professional staff

assists the Commissioners in their work.

In fulfilling its mandate, the Commission gathers and disseminates relevant information to the U.S. Congress and the public by convening hearings, issuing reports that

reflect the views of Members of the Commission and/or its staff, and providing details

about the activities of the Helsinki process and developments in OSCE participating

States.

The Commission also contributes to the formulation and execution of U.S. policy

regarding the OSCE, including through Member and staff participation on U.S. Delegations to OSCE meetings. Members of the Commission have regular contact with parliamentarians, government officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and

private individuals from participating States. The website of the Commission is:

<www.csce.gov>.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN THE OSCE REGION

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2001

PARTICIPANTS

Page

Rep. Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman, Commission on Security and

Cooperation in Europe......................................................................................................... 1

Robin Phillips, Director, Womens Human Rights Program, Minnesota Advocates for

Human Rights ....................................................................................................................... 3

Winnie Bartel, Executive Chair, Commission on Womens Concerns, World

Evangelical Fellowship ........................................................................................................ 6

Nancy Murphy, Executive Director, Northwest Family Life and Counseling Center.... 11

APPENDICES

Prepared Statement of Rep. Christopher H. Smith ........................................................... 28

Prepared Statement of Robin Phillips ................................................................................. 30

Prepared Statement of Winnie Bartel ................................................................................. 33

Prepared Statement of Nancy Murphy ................................................................................ 38

Addressing Domestic Violence Through Ethnic and Religious Communities in

Russia, Report Submitted by NCSJ................................................................................. 44

Statement Submitted by Elizabeth Andersen, Executive Director, Europe

and Central Asia Division, Human Rights Watch .......................................................... 46

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1

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN THE OSCE REGION

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2001

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

WASHINGTON, DC

The briefing was held at 10:30 a.m. in Room 2200, Rayburn House Office Building,

Washington, DC, Honorable Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman of the Commission on

Security and Cooperation in Europe, moderating.

Witnesses present: Winnie Bartel, Executive Director, World Evangelical Fellowship

Commission on Womens Concerns; Nancy Murphy, Executive Director, Northwest Family Life Learning and Counseling Center, Seattle, Washington; Robin Phillips, Director,

Womens Human Rights Program, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights.

Mr. SMITH. Good morning. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank all of you for coming

out to this very important briefing on domestic violence in the OSCE region. My name is

Chris Smith. Im the Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in

Europe. I have been on the Commission now for 10 of my 11 terms as a Member of the

House.

This issue of domestic violence and violence against women, in general, including the

egregious issue of trafficking, has been an issue that we have tried to address, not only

through hearings, but also through legislation. We have put on the table a copy of the

Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, of which I was the prime sponsor last

Congress, which has now been signed into law. The bill had several major components.

The first dealt with trafficking and the exploding issue of women being trafficked, mostly

into prostitution, and treated as slaves.

The second part of the bill deals with the reauthorization of the Violence Against

Women Act, a 5-year, $3.3 billion piece of legislation that had a number of new components to it, including an emphasis on stalking, a form of violence that happens on our

college campuses increasingly.

There is also a Megan-type law where there has to be disclosure. Megan Kanka, the

young girl who was exploited and violently killed several years ago, lived in my district.

We now have in that legislation a similar disclosure provision so that a known predator

on a college campus has to be made known so that at least a warning signal goes out.

We also have a new provision in the law dealing with immigrant women, women who

are being exploited, who may be here illegally. They find themselves at a loss to disclosing

that and bringing action against a perpetrator because of fear of deportation. Copies of

that legislation are over there if youd like to take a look at it.

In 1991, and again in 1999, the 55 participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE] committed themselves to addressing violence

against women. Despite these long-standing commitments, to date, the issue has not had

a high profile in the work of the OSCE, and more important, in many OSCE countries

themselves. In June of this year, the OSCE convened, for the first time, a one-day meeting
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in Vienna, Austria, to raise among the national delegations an awareness of the scope and

severity of the problem of violence against women, including domestic violence, in OSCE

countries.

Domestic violence is a serious problem in every country where it has been studied,

including in OSCE participating States. Research shows that women of all ages and socioeconomic and educational backgrounds are subject to domestic violence. Statistics regarding

the prevalence of domestic violence are staggering. According to the Department of Justices

National Violence Against Women Survey published in July 2000, of the women who reported being raped and/or physically assaulted since the age of 18, three-quarters were

victimized by a current or former husband, cohabiting partner, date or boyfriend. Approximately 1.5 million women, and nearly 835,000 men, are raped and/or physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States.

Data from other researchers indicates that around the world, at least one in three

women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime. In this

country, on average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends every day, according to the statistics. In a national survey of more than 2,000

American families, 50 percent of the men who frequently assaulted their wives also frequently abused their children.

In other OSCE countries, the problem is just as bad and perhaps even worse. In Russia, for example, the governments statistics reveal that 14,000 women died in one year

alone, 1997, due to domestic violence. In Hungary, non-governmental organizations estimate that 150 women die each year at the hands of their husbands or boyfriends and

hundreds more take their own lives to escape an abusive relationship.

As appalling as these statistics are, research in the United States and worldwide

indicates that many, perhaps most, instances of domestic violence are never reported to

legal authorities. So the statistics may not even tell how pervasive the problem is. I think

were looking just at the tip of the iceberg. Domestic violence infringes upon an individuals

right to life, to security of person, and to freedom from torture, cruel, or inhuman and

degrading treatment.

Despite the shocking statistics and the obligation of governments to respond when

an individuals human rights are under attack, individuals in many countries minimize

the problem of domestic violence or even consider it a matter of private concern outside

the purview of the legal system. Police routinely discourage women from making complaints against abusers, and abusers are rarely removed from their homes or jailed. The

overwhelming response to domestic violence by the police, prosecutors and the courts is

to urge women to reconcile with their abusers despite the danger this poses for the battered woman.

In many countries, legal and social services for victims of domestic violence are severely lacking. We have today a number of very important spokeswomen, people who

have been on the cutting edge of trying to mitigate and, God willing, end this terrible

practice. First, we will hear from Robin Phillips, the Director of the Womens Human

Rights Program at Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights.

Ms. Phillips is an attorney and has conducted fact-finding missions to document violations of womens human rights in the context of domestic violence in Romania, Bulgaria,

Albania, Macedonia, Poland, Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Ms. Phillips

has written on a variety of topics related to womens human rights including trafficking in

women, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and she has
3

taught a course on womens international human rights at the University of Minnesota

Law School.

Next, we will hear from Winnie Bartel, who serves as the Executive Director of the

World Evangelical Fellowship Commission on Womens Concerns and its Task Force to

Stop Abuse Against Women. Ms. Bartel has a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Tabor

College and a degree in Biblical Counseling from Scope Counseling Institute in Oklahoma

City. She has worked as a marriage and family counselor for more than 25 years, and is a

frequent guest speaker at womens conferences and other gatherings.

Finally, we will hear from Nancy Murphy who is a licensed mental health counselor.

Ms. Murphy has worked in the field of domestic violence for 11 years. She is currently the

Executive Director of the Northwest Family Life Learning and Counseling Center in Seattle as well as an Adjunct Professor at local Seattle universities and host of a daily radio

program addressing the issue of family violence.

Ms. Phillips, if you could begin.

Ms. PHILLIPS. Thank you all for coming. I want to thank the Helsinki Commission for

allowing me to come and speak to you about issues that are really important to me. As

Congressman Smith said, Im Robin Phillips and Im here to talk to you about Minnesota

Advocates for Human Rights work on domestic violence in OSCE countries.

We document domestic violence as a human rights abuse, which means we document

the prevalence of the problem. We do an analysis of the legal system and the government

response. Then we review whether the response is consistent with the countrys international obligations under the treaties it has ratified. I left some reports out on some countries where we have studied domestic violence.

Domestic violence is a serious problem in each country where we have done research

and I will be bringing up specific examples from countries where we have worked but it is

important to point out that the problem of domestic violence is universal. Generally speaking, no country should be singled out for greater violations than any other country. That

being said, no countrys human rights violations should be ignored just because they happen everywhere.

Women are being seriously injured and killed by their husbands and intimate partners in countries around the world. Womens human rights are being systematically violated. Governments of these countries are not responding appropriately to the problem.

These governments are not complying with their international human rights obligations

to protect the human rights of every person in their countries. The United Nations has

clearly outlined the responsibilities of governments to protect against human rights violations and to provide adequate remedies when human rights are violated.

Governments are also required to meet the health and social needs of the victims in

compliance with their treaty obligations. However, today, I will focus on the civil and

political rights violations associated with domestic violence and the lack of appropriate

legal remedy. At the end of the presentation, well take questions. I would be happy to

answer questions about any of these issues.

Although each country in the OSCE region is unique, there are many similarities in

their approaches to domestic violence. Often the first and only opportunity for the state

to intervene in a domestic violence dispute is when a woman calls the police to seek assistance. The police response in the countries we have studied is lacking.

The police often do not take the problem seriously. They do not respond to calls for

assistance and if they do, they do not remove the perpetrator from the home. For example,
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in Macedonia, a woman I interviewed had made several complaints to the police about

beatings by her husband. She went to the police station with a broken jaw and blood all

over her face. The police ignored her and refused to arrest her husband. They only arrested her husband when he attacked the womans cousin when he was trying to protect

her.

Also, in Macedonia, several women in prison were also victims of domestic violence.

They were either forced to commit crimes such as prostitution or theft by abusive partners or they killed their abusers to protect themselves. Several women reported that

police had raped or beaten them while they were in custody. These women said they were

much more comfortable being in prison because they didnt have to worry either about

their husbands or being harassed by the police. The warden of the prison in Macedonia

said that he ran the only shelter in the country.

When we asked the Chief of Police in Skopje and the Deputy Minister of Internal

Affairs to respond to these allegations, they simply denied that any domestic violence

existed, and they said that all of the stories we heard were simply untrue. In many countries where we documented domestic violence, people who provide services to women

identified police and military officers as perpetrators of the problem. Many pointed out

that when perpetrators have connections to the police, the police are even less likely to

intervene.

In many countries, the police also face a serious lack of resources. For example, in

both Moldova and Ukraine, many police officers have not been paid for several months,

and they do not have money to put gas in their police vehicles. Several officers described

riding the bus to answer police calls, and when we asked what the police officer did when

he believed a serious crime was in progress, he said, I run.

With limited exceptions, police training does not include instruction on proper intervention in cases of domestic violence. Police are not trained about the unique issues domestic violence victims face or the human rights implications of failing to appropriately

respond to a call. Women also run into obstacles when they attempt to pursue prosecution

of domestic assaults. The greatest obstacle for many is the forensic medical system.

Generally, the only evidence the court will accept of an injury is an official certificate

from a forensic medical expert. The purpose of the certificate is to document the extent of

an injury a woman has sustained. In some countries, the offices of the forensic doctors are

at inconvenient or inaccessible places. The office hours are extremely limited or the doctors charge fees that can be as high as an average months salary for a woman. One example is Moldova: the Forensic Institute is located 10 minutes beyond the last bus stop,

and women generally do not have money for cabs, and families do not routinely have cars.

There is just no way for a victim of violence to get there.

In other countries, forensic medical doctors will consider the circumstances of an

assault and modify the description of the injuries based on their opinion of whether the

woman provoked the assault. For example, in Romania, we reviewed court files of domestic assault cases. In one, a forensic doctor graded an injury as minor and described it as

taking 14 days to heal. The injuries the woman sustained included a broken leg. When we

asked why they would grade a broken leg as taking 14 days to heal, the judge said the

doctor likely asked the woman questions and because he believed she provoked the assault, he downgraded the injury. The consequence of grading an injury at this level in

Romania is that the woman is left to prosecute the case on her own, with no assistance

from a state prosecutor.
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The legal system in each of these countries where Minnesota Advocates has worked

allows a crime victim to pursue a private criminal prosecution if the state does not prosecute.

In the case of domestic violence, women face additional burdens because of their fear of

the abuser and the expense of prosecuting a case against someone upon whom the woman

may be financially dependent.

In Poland, several forensic doctors expressed extreme skepticism of women victims

of violence. They said that they viewed their first responsibility as determining whether

the injuries could have been caused in the manner the victim described. They expressed

the opinion that a woman would lie to achieve an advantage in a court case, although none

of the doctors interviewed could give specific examples in which a woman actually did lie.

Doctors universally expressed this mistrust of women.

The actual laws also present an obstacle. For example, in Bulgaria, the criminal code

divides assault into three levels, grave, medium and light. Pursuant to the criminal procedure code, the state does not prosecute light injuries and only prosecutes medium injuries

if the victim and the perpetrator are not related. The result is that if a woman is stabbed

walking down the street and does not sustain permanent injuries or permanent disabilities, the state will prosecute that crime. However, if she walks into her own home and

sustains the same injuries from her husband, the state will not. Though the injuries result

in a criminal offense based on the criminal code, the woman is again left to prosecute the

crime on her own.

Besides the failure of the state to assist in prosecution, the courts often fail to assess

proper penalties. Dozens of judges in countries in the region express reluctance to harm

the family relationship by sentencing a batterer to serve jail time.

One judge in Bulgaria said that there is little public interest served by sentencing

men who beat their wives to serve time in jail because these men do not pose a danger to

society in general. Often men receive only a suspended sentence or fine. With a fine,

married women are legally responsible for insuring that the fine is paid because of their

relationship to the perpetrator. In Armenia, women expressed reluctance to pursue prosecution of domestic assault because they didnt want to jeopardize their limited family

resources.

In many countries, the legal system response is focused on reconciliation. In Albania,

women experienced a complete lack of support at all levels of the legal system. Prosecutors, judges and police all view their role as convincing a woman to pardon her husband.

The result is that in a 5-month period, 150 to 300 women presented their cases to the

prosecutors office in Tirana and only 10 cases were actually filed in court. All ten were

dismissed on the first day at the womens request pursuant to the urging of the judge.

Many government officials in the countries in which we work express opinions about

domestic violence based on myths that are common in the United States and in countries

all over the world. The most common is that alcoholism causes domestic violence. Although alcohol may exacerbate a particular beating, data shows that many perpetrators

continued to abuse after theyve stopped drinking.

In Poland, the entire government intervention is based on the myth that alcoholism

causes domestic violence. The intervention programs focus on alcohol treatment for the

man and not on holding the man accountable for committing a crime and violating his

wifes human rights. In fact, the domestic violence intervention program is run out of

Polands agency for solving alcohol related problems.

Although the situation is grave, there are reasons to be hopeful. I was privileged to

attend a police training workshop in Moldova. A high-level official of the Ministry of In-
6

ternal Affairs stood in front of a room of first-line police officers and told them that domestic violence violates the fundamental human rights of women. He said, What that

means is when you do not respond to a call, you are violating international human rights

law and that is unacceptable.

This statement is powerful. Directives from top officials are critical to improving the

state response to domestic violence. The United Nations has taken the lead in recognizing

domestic violence as a human rights abuse. Many countries in the OSCE region are very

concerned with improving their respect for human rights. As a result, many states are at

the beginning stages of recognizing the problem of domestic violence as a human rights

abuse. Although this recognition has not necessarily translated yet into improved state

response, it is a necessary first step.

Whenever I have a chance to address this issue publicly, I like to close by encouraging

people who work on advocacy efforts for women and people who make policy for women,

to listen to women, to listen to their stories, and to remember always that we do this work

because women are being beaten and killed. We want to protect them. We need to listen to

their stories to determine the best solutions and the most effective responses to the problem. Thank you for your time.

Ms. BARTEL. Thank you, Robin, for sharing this morning. And I want to thank all of you

for coming. There are those of us who sit here in this row that are working in the trenches

of this every day. To get a listening ear for the hundreds and thousands and millions of

women we represent is awesome. I want to thank, first, Maureen Walsh from the Helsinki

Commission for putting this together today. This encourages me beyond words because

we sit there and wonder is anybody ever hearing what were seeing as we travel around

the world.

I want to thank Representative Smith. Congressman Smith was with me in Beijing in

1995 when we were at the UN Conference on Women. We trenched through the mud,

spent weeks there speaking for the human rights of women, and he continues to be our

advocate. We are so thankful for him, and we are appreciative of his efforts. Also, I want to

thank the gentleman for being in this room. I wondered how many gentlemen would be

here to hear the issues of the suffering of women, because of the fact when I travel around

Im told, Oh, Winnie, it is a really good thing. You women should address these issues.

That is your thing. You need to do it. We feel sorry for you. Never do they realize that

theres another part of this equation that is missing: the perpetrator.

I know full well, gentlemen, as a marriage and family counselor, women abuse men, and

I apologize. I apologize immensely to you on that behalf. But the statistics are far more severe

on the other ratio. So thank you for being here.

The problems of abuse against women have been around for centuries. What is truly

becoming a universal phenomenon is that it is becoming evident things are worsening. I

can document this from the U.N. Conference in 1995 where we tried to address the issues.

Things have gotten worse 6 years later. In our modern world today, women are increasingly filling significant roles in business and society as well as in the church and in the

home.

However, along with these greater responsibilities has come a proverbial onslaught

of all forms of abuse. As a world leader in the evangelical church, I sadly share with you

that battered and bruised, hundreds of thousands of women quietly fill houses of worship

around the world keeping silent about the secret that rules their lives. They are victims of

domestic violence and abuse.
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As Executive Chair of the Task Force on Abuse Against Women sponsored by the

Commission on Womens Concerns for World Evangelical Fellowship, I must report to

you that no society is exempt from domestic violence just as my sister here, Robin, did. As

I travel around the world, I have witnessed firsthand the immense injustice against women

which challenged me to appoint this international task force on abuse and injustice against

women.

The task force is made up of the World Evangelical Fellowship [WEF] leaders from

every region of the world: Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Middle East,

North America and the South Pacific. It also includes women of expertise, such as medical

doctors, sociologists, and psychologists, as well as theologians. We began our study by

developing a Biblical affirmation of human dignity and value and a biblical response to

preventing abuse against women. This was the foundation for our work.

The 3-year study concluded its research this spring by publishing our report titled No

Place for Abuse. I brought a few extra copies for you. If there isnt enough, you may see me.

I will send you this report. This is our complete analysis and our research, our findings

and our suggested programmatic changes.

Our survey was conducted in each region of the world through the WEF framework

of regional and national alliances which covered approximately 114 nations. In the OSCE

region, we have two representatives on our task force, one from Croatia and one from

Bulgaria. I must confess that we have found, as a whole, the church has not wanted to

believe that this perpetration exists in the Christian home.

Pastors have not spoken about this issue in the pulpit and leaders have not been

willing to discuss this element within their sphere of influence. As I have been speaking

with women around the world, it has become very evident that abuse and injustice against

women is one of the cruelest and greatest challenges women face going into the 21st century. As recent as 2 weeks ago, I received a report from one of my European contacts that

women in Afghanistan have now lost all hope of anyone ever coming to their aid. Hope is

gone.

In Europe, a report received on August 20 showed clearly that in eastern European

states, more and more women are being trafficked into sex slavery. This is a growing

phenomenon. Criminal gangs lure tens of thousands of young women from poverty in the

former Soviet bloc, sending them into nightmarish underground sex slavery in Europe. I

was there a year ago and witnessed first-hand the sex slave trade markets. I was aghast.

The good news is were beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. Hope is on the

horizon. At the 11th General Assembly of the World Evangelical Fellowship in Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia, 3 months ago, where hundreds of world leaders gathered, they unanimously approved the resolution to stop abuse against women. Copies of that resolution

are being made for you and you may have one of these resolution copies. The resolution

clearly denounces abuse and injustice as an evil, calling it a sin. It clearly states they will

offer healing for those wounded in body, mind, and soul, and protect and provide help for

those in need of safety. It also clearly states that they will admonish offenders in cooperation with civil authorities.

The churches failed in this matter, says Reverend Gregory Kivanguli, from the Pentecostal Church in Nairobi, Kenya. We need to talk about this matter, he told me, and

condemn it from the pulpit. More church leaders and members are acknowledging that

there is a problem but there is still much work to do. The church must make a stand about

abuse and domestic violence against women. We must begin to speak out so that the voice
8

of the religious community is loud and clear: violence cannot be tolerated, and there is no

religious, Biblical, or theological justification for domestic violence or any other abuse.

In the faith community, there is nothing in religious teachings of any faith or tradition that

justifies abuse. As a marriage and family counselor myself, I have found that religion is

often the missing component in secular counseling programs for battered women. Many of

my peers feel as I do. Many counselors and social workers in domestic violence programs

are beginning to recognize that it is a critical component of recovery, and we are now

seeing a few communities of faith who are working and collaborating to respond to abused

women. It is important for counselors to understand the role that religion plays in the

lives of many abused women.

Spiritual issues are a crucial dimension of most womens experience of personal violence. The vast majority of women in the world today have some affiliation with a faith

tradition. It cannot be overlooked when we address violence against women. A womans

religious beliefs will be a factor in how she responds to violence in her life, says Reverend

Thelma Watson, an ordained Presbyterian minister who heads up a center for the prevention of sexual and domestic violence. They will either get in the way of her finding ways to

protect herself and her children or they will be a resource to her.

Women are more likely to disclose their violation and abuse within the community of

faith. A woman may be afraid to utilize community services and worry that a shelter will

not respect her beliefs. She may go to a spiritual leader and be told to go home and be a

better wife, putting her in danger of further and more serious abuse.

Women are silenced if their disclosure does not receive practical and emotional support. Churches, synagogues and mosques have been silent on the issue largely because of

their emphasis on family and denial that people of religious conviction would abuse their

loved ones, say some clergy. The church sees itself as an institution that is supposed to

preserve marriage and families. So that is what they think they are supposed to do. We

have heard it said by Christian leaders that they didnt have the problem of domestic

violence in their congregation or denomination because they teach that families are people

who treat each other well. So they are extremely shocked to find that statistics prove

otherwise.

Let me share a few of those statistics. Some of them have already been stated. Domestic violence is a leading cause of injury and death to women worldwide. The World Health

Organization says one in five women around the globe is physically or sexually abused in

her lifetime. The American Medical Association, which was Rep. Christopher Smiths statistic, claim it is one in three. Their records prove it. Our study throughout the 114 nations and throughout the evangelical and faith-based communities show it is one in four.

Our study verified the secular, or the American Medical Associations, findings in third

world countries.

 The American Medical Association says 1.8 million women are assaulted by their

husbands every year. Gender violence causes more death and disability among women

ages 15 to 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war combined. Between 50 and 70

thousand women are smuggled into the United States as sex slaves. A report just received

by the University of Texas on the 18th of August reveals that an increasing number of

women from Russia are smuggled into the United States and forced to work as topless

dancers and sex agents.

The head of the Women in War Project for the International Red Cross said to me in

a report that she sent, that women and girls are the subject of innumerable acts of vio-
9

lence during situations of armed conflict. In Croatia, I just talked Monday to our leader

from Croatia, the woman on our task force, Ksenjia told me, she said that in her research,

again, she said, I wanted to find anything fresh and new that I could find for you for your

report, Winnie. She said in the capital city of Zagreb, she said they found one, one, one,

safe house. She also found only one group that is beginning to address this issue of abuse

and injustice, a small initiative called the Center for Womens Studies.

She states there are no laws or mechanisms in place protecting women and when

police receive the calls from women for help, the response is always the same. That is a

family issue and they do not intervene in family issues. Theres no legal support. However, again, let me state, ever more church leaders and members are beginning to acknowledge the problem. Im pleased to share with you that religious leaders and faith

communities in some parts of the world have begun to seek solutions for this violence.

Heres just a sampling.

I shared previously with you about the whole World Evangelical Fellowship international response in May, 3 months ago, making this resolution to do everything within its

power to stop abuse against women. I want you to know what this represents and how big

an influence this is. This represents 114 national fellowships plus 105 associate member

bodies which make up 1.6 million churches worldwide with a membership of more than

165 million evangelicals. That is huge in number.

Im also happy to report to you that the WEF task force is currently focusing our

newest initiative, a pilot project, in Croatia. We are partnering with the Evangelical Theological Seminary there to begin teaching and training courses beginning this November of

this year. These courses will focus on Biblical and practical resources to counteract abuse.

We will be there in November. Im most proud to share with you that September 1921 of

this year, in 2 weeks, there will be held in the Houston, Texas, Astrodome, the Global

Celebration for Women. An historic event never before attempted. Thirteen international

womens organizations and more than 120 national organizations are gathering to unite

their efforts in raising awareness of the immense suffering and injustice to women around

the world and the need for the churches and the faith-based organizations to begin to

respond.

What is significant is that each of the 13 world organizations, the fact that they are

bringing together all of their world leaders to work together on this immense global state

of emergency. Im happy to share with you there will be a good representation from the

states represented by the OSCE region of the world.

In Bulgaria, our WEF task force member reported this week to me that there is beginning to be a small, yet concerted, effort by faith-based organizations to join to address

abuse because there is more and more public attention drawn to the severity of this problem. I talked to the Seventh-day Adventist Churchs Director of Womens Ministries worldwide, Ardis Stenbakken, and she says that at every retreat and conference that they are

holding, they talk about this issue and they educate their clergy. That is the commitment

made by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The Presbyterian Church, as well, has formed a U.S. task force on healing domestic

violence, and the task force is completing a policy statement which recommends that pastors, volunteers, and church officers must be trained to recognize and respond to family

violence. They also recommend that pastors address this issue from the pulpit. Each church

is to maintain a listing for referrals to the local government agencies for help. I could tell

you more but I will go on.

Several interesting and very critical points must be made in closing regarding this
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serious issue of abuse. From my personal and painful journey of recovery from sexual and

psychological abuse as a child, I have come to the full knowledge of the immense importance of clergy involvement. Clergy hold tremendous power in their hands. The journey to

healing is made extensively shorter in peoples lives when the faith-based community gets

involved.

Therefore, the Task Force on Abuse Against Women sponsored by the WEF Commission on Womens Concerns current initiatives are as follows: first, we are educating clergy.

Our commitment is to educate clergy and make churches safe places to disclose abuse.

When abuse is addressed from the pulpit, in the pastoral study, in womens Bible study

classes, in Sunday school or in premarital workshop, things begin to happen within the

church community. The implicit message rings out loud and clear: this church or this

pastoral staff is a safe place to share experiences of being hurt. The first step on the road

to recovery for women suffering abuse is to disclose the pain and humiliation they have

endured to someone who is willing to listen in an environment that is safe and supportive.

That is critical.

Second, to ensure coordinated appropriate response to the abuse victims. Once a

womans safety is assured, a plethora of practical needs surface. The provision of emergency

financial assistance or permanent lodging or child care or legal counsel or transportation or

help for ongoing emotional needs or medical attention or spiritual counseling.

Third, were seeking to pave the pathway from the steeple to the shelter. Victims of violence experience a multitude of practical and spiritual questions and dilemmas. They need

multi-faceted support, religious and secular, emotional and practical, yet workers trained in

very different disciplines and ways of thinking often find it hard to cooperate to achieve a

single goal. Secular workers, like social workers, do not often refer religious clients to clergy

because they feel that the counsel offered in a pastoral study will thwart their clients healing

journey.

Clergy, on the other hand, are reluctant to refer their parishioners to secular resources of

help because they fear the counseling offered in a community health setting will break up the

family and thwart a womans spiritual development. Violence is a multi-faceted community

problem with social, psychological, spiritual, legal and economic aspects. It cannot be eradicated by any one segment of society, however well intentioned. Working in isolation from the

broader community, churches and clergy have a unique role to play in responding to the

needs of abuse victims and their families. Faith communities can raise awareness of abuse

and support violence-free family living by offering educational programs for men, women

and children during their weekly routine of church life.

Holding abusers accountable while offering hope for those wanting to change their violent behavior is another avenue of intervention by congregations. The task force suggests

restorative measures in its report, however, realizing that it is exceedingly difficult for abusers

to alter their patterns of behavior. Our report suggests that the church take firm action in dealing with abusers referring to group intervention programs which force the abuser to take

responsibility for his abuse. Spiritual leaders have a valuable, distinct role in the fight to end

violence in the family, but their practical and emotional assistance is far more effective when

offered alongside the resources of other professionals and agencies. Working together, combining expertise and mission, augments the healing journey of victims and has a potential to

transform the neighborhoods that churches serve, ultimately affecting an entire city and the

nations of the world.

In closing, I would like to make an additional statement. I must address the current imprisonment of women who are aiding the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban, in its
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deliberate violation of basic human rights and total domination of Afghan women and

girls has, in truth, declared a war against women including more than half the worlds

population. The Talibans unwarranted severity against our American workers demonstrates not religious prejudice but their unrelenting disrespect for all women.

On behalf of millions of women in World Evangelical Fellowship, whom I serve, and

the female members of the 13 founding partner organizations sponsoring the Global Celebration for Women, I commend the service of these heroic women and renounce those

who persecute them. We ask that the articles of the Geneva Convention protecting religion and gender be invoked and that we plead for mercy that Afghanistans ruling council

drop all charges and that the international community refuse to tolerate those who conspire with such aggregation toward women. Thank you very much.

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Ms. Bartel. Ms. Murphy.

Ms. MURPHY. Good morning. Im from Seattle, Washington. It is about 8:00 Pacific time and

Im not a morning person. Nevertheless, it is very touching to hear each of your comments

and for this invitation today to speak about something that is so dear to so many of our hearts.

Obviously it is dear to yours because you are here, so thank you.

Im going to give a perspective on domestic violence services in the United States. Im

quite ignorant about the OSCE. But when I read about what is being done, Im very excited. Because our worlds getting smaller and smaller, I think the efforts we make in any

part of the country impact all of us. So thank you.

Im the Executive Director of Northwest Family Life, a domestic violence center that provides advocacy and support for victims and treatment for batterers. We are a little hole in the

wall agency, however, I believe that we represent growing work that is happening and

needs to happen around the world. We have 600 men in a treatment program; men who

are court-ordered to a minimum of a year-long treatment for domestic violence. We have

40 women. We have court-ordered teenagers in a fresh start program. They are mandated to attend our treatment program through the courts. As well, we provide victim

services for hundreds of adults and offer a child witness program for children who witness violence.

We werent very popular 10 years ago. We were really looked at as though we were

part of the problem. It was assumed that we were trying to do family reconciliation, keep

everyone together, and there was a lot of bias. We have made mistakes. But, one thing we

know is that people care about their families. Women love their husbands. Husbands love

their wives, or they love women. What are we going to do to promote peace in the home? We

have attempted to address this issue in a way that does not polarize the sexes, saying that all

men are bad and all women are good, in a way that does not overlook the needs of children.

We believe healthy families are possible but oppose violence and abuse in the home.

If we can take a moment to think of whom were speaking: Think of the woman who, at

this moment, is suffering abuse. Take a moment to put yourself in her shoes. The shoes of a

woman brutalized in unspeakable ways by the man who pledged to love, honor and cherish

her, til death do us part. You are hit in the face, punched in the stomach, cursed, raped with

a blunt object, called names that sear your mind in front of your small children. If we could

just take a moment to think of her because that is who we represent today. Even if she isnt

being physically assaulted, think of her being yelled at or screamed at or put down so that

those words are seared into your mind like a tattoo.

We speak of domestic violence today as representatives of the battered women who look

after our countrys children.
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I want you to listen carefully, because there is a belief system permeating our world

that allows violence in our homes and keeps us from naming behavior that has hurt so

many women and children. It is the belief that what happens behind closed doors is a

private family matter. It is not our business. I say it is! Violence at home is called domestic violence and it is our business. Imagine you are the woman who says no more and

reaches out for help. Your face is stained with bloody tears like we heard about the woman

in Macedonia. Your heart is broken, and your children are motionless with terror. What

would you hope for? Would you hope for safety? Comfort? Guidance? Maybe revenge?

Would you know where to turn? Or if you stayed with your husband or with your abuser,

would that mean that you liked abuse? That you wanted it? Would it mean that you deserved it? Or could it mean that you were wounded, and you were afraid, and you were

exhausted?

What message would you give your children if they stayed and if you left? How would

you survive? What would your kids do without their father? What would your family think?

Would you ask, where is God? Is there really a God?

We have heard today that domestic violence is the leading cause of injury and death to

women worldwide. One in three women around the globe is physically, sexually abused

once in their lifetime. How many women are here? Say, 40? What does it tell us about even

the group here when we say one in three? Yet, is domestic violence part of our daily

conversations, or is it something that we, too, avoid speaking about?

Gender violence causes more death and disabilities among women age 15 to 40 than

cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war. Primarily, but not always, domestic violence is

a crime committed by men against women. We have heard today that it is global in nature.

In research conducted in several OSCE countries, the following percentages of women

report being physically assaultedonly physically assaulted. Consider the fact that if we

factored in sexual and emotional and spiritual assault, then the numbers would be even

higher than these: United States, 22.1 percent; Canada, 29 percent; Norway, 18 percent;

Switzerland, 12.6; Turkey, 57.6; and in the United Kingdom, 30 percent.

Now, imagine that the battered woman calls you. You know that no one deserves to be

beaten and abused. You know that you need to find her a safe place. You know that without

intervention, violence is not going to stop in this home, but how are you going to respond?

Would you know ways to keep her husband from terrorizing her? Would you know ways to

keep safe?

You knew how to tell her that no one deserves to be beaten by the one they love, that the

home should be a place of safety and that it grieved you that this was not the case for her.

What if you knew of a shelter that had a bed for her and her children and were able to assist

them in finding safety?

What if you knew all the right things to say and do, and you had all the time and money

needed to help her, but her husband kept calling her, full of remorse and promises? Or, the

pastor of their church convinced her that it was her God-given duty to stay faithful to her

husband, to submit to his desires, to continue to take the abuse and to forgive and forget.

What if a family member betrayed a confidence and told the childrens father where you

had carefully hidden his family before his treatment was completed?

What if the judge ruled for joint custody of the children even though the father had

demonstrated, over and over, cruelty and neglect of his very own kids? Now the mother

was required to stay in contact with her abuser.

Would you begin to fear for your life as well for getting involved?

Domestic violence, in most times and places, has historically been a family matter.
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The notion implied in that phrase was that what happens behind closed doors is nobody

elses business. It is a private affair to be handled within the family.

Quite to the contrary. What happens behind closed doors very much impacts our world.

It affects each of us either directly or indirectly and to insist otherwise is ludicrous. March of

Dimes research tells us that domestic violence is the number one cause of birth defects in

newborn children. The number one cause of birth defects in newborn children.

Heres another case that makes what happens behind closed doors our business: children who witness abuse. They havent been abused necessarily, but they have heard it.

They have heard the yelling and screaming. They have seen it. These children are 1000 percent more likely to be our next abusers or our next victims. Imagine that. I have five children

who witnessed abuse. That is a huge responsibility I have as a mother and that our society has

for raising them. Just think of that: 1000 percent more likely to be our next victims, our next

abusers. These children are 6 times more likely to commit suicide, 24 times more likely to

commit a sexual assault, 50 percent more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, 74 percent more

likely to commit crimes against others. Of boys incarcerated for murder between the ages of

15 and 21, 60 percent are incarcerated for having killed their mothers abuser.

Domestic violence is our problem. Just think of the staggering cost to our educational

system, our legal system, our health system, our criminal justice system, our neighborhoods

and the workplace. Beyond the immediate and long-term consequences for the woman

and her children the costs exacted are financial, emotional and spiritual. Violence behind closed doors costs all of us dearly for generations to come.

The first interventions focused on the victims need to become more compliant, more

submissive, to stop provoking him. One of our clients is in his 70s, and he was a very abusive

man for more than 50 years. He was a welder. They never had any children because they

knew that something was so wrong in their marriage that they didnt trust themselves.

Harold said that he always thought that his wife caused the episodes of violence and

abuse. He would blame her for making him do it. One day she said to him, Harold, I want

you to go put your hand on that hot stove right now.

He said, Im not doing that.

Harold, and she said it again, I want you to go put your hand on that hot stove right

now.

He thought, What the heck, you cannot make me. When he said that, it dawned on

him that she couldnt make him do that, so how on earth could she be making him hit her.

For him, that had significance beyond anything else that he ever learned because he stopped

abusing his wife.

In all the literature we read from Europe or from Russia, it talks about domestic violence

being a private matter and about her provoking it. The assumption in the United Statesmy

assumptions began therewas that if she would stop doing what she was doing, then he

would stop doing what he was doing. Women were prescribed medications for depression

and anxiety, symptoms commonly found among victims of violence and abuse. This approach assumed if she would just do something different, he would change. He wouldnt

hurt her. She was identified as the problem.

Of major importance, women who tried becoming more submissive often found that it

had the opposite effect. Interpersonal violence escalated. Confused, they began to speak out

about their abuse. Counseling became the natural next step as women attempted to break

the silence.

In counseling, she started to break the silence and tell about abuse. Then the counselor

would suggest, Well, why dont you bring him in. You know what happened when they
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started doing couples counseling to address domestic violence? She would perhaps share

everything, because they are in counseling, they are getting help. She would be so happy

Were getting helpand start sharing everything. Sadly, many men present their public face

for the counselor and save their private face for home. The woman would share everything

that had happened, only to have it used against her. Encouraged to talk, she had a price to

pay on the way home. That price was more violence in the home.

Couples counseling has turned out to be really costly for many, unless the therapist is

very knowledgeable and skilled on this issue. Theres an assumption in couples counseling

that theres a problem in the relationship, that it is conflict, that theres something in that

dynamic. Often counselors would start with communication, better communication skills,

better conflict resolution, those types of educational tools. Again, have we heard that

approach has helped the cause of ending family violence? No, we havent. It has not helped.

The very name, marital therapy or couples counseling, suggests to some that this is a

shared problem, that somehow others are responsible for the actions of the perpetrator. This

starts the therapy out on shaky grounds and can result in continued subjugation of the victim

and perhaps further injury or death.

Additionally, marital or family therapy is based on an assumption of equal power between members of the couple or of the family. This is simply not the case when one party has

the power to economically control others, forcing them into compliance; or when one reserves the right to threaten or assault others after therapy when they say the wrong thing. Many

of us who are counselors, unfortunately, have had the horrible experience of a couple coming

in only to find out that hes packed a gun to say, Go ahead; you say anything out of line or you

tell about it and youre going to pay when you get home. She is not in a position of safety to

reveal anything.

If she does reveal anything, hes exposed and feels threatened which often puts her at

more risk. Domestic violence may be a problem in the family, but the use of violence and

abuse are strictly an individual problem. It is a problem in the abuser and it must be addressed there if the violence is to end.

The next intervention, and a more current one, is anger management. The simple assumption is that if someone can just manage this angry emotion, then he wont lose control

and hurt others. Recognizing this, anger management has become a step forward in that the

individual with the problem is sent for help alone without his partner. When you refer someone to anger management, you do not insist that the wife and the kids attend as well. It is for

the person who has the problem.

However, think of this. Not all batterers use anger to control others. Not all batterers use

control or use anger to control their victims. Conversely, not all men who have trouble with

anger are batterers. So it has become evident to those of us who work in the field of domestic

violence treatment that anger is one component that an abuser needs to address. It is not the

only one. Jacobson and Gottman are from the University of Washington and they did a tremendous study. Their book is called When Men Batter Women. They found that there are at

least two kinds of batterers who they call the pit bulls and the cobras. The pit bulls are the

men whose emotions quickly boil over. They use physical force to abuse. A cobra is much

more calculating. They are cool and methodical when they are inflicting pain and humiliation

on their partners. They are not yelling and mad and, as we would say, out of control.

Notably, their heart rates even went down as they were battering, according to their studies. Their desire is to control and have domination. When they are actually achieving that,

everythings fine. They were not expressing any angry emotions at all.

The abusers would never get court ordered to anger management. Additionally, Donald
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Dutton from the University of British Columbia has researched the cyclical use of abuse.

He reports that men who are abusers have serious mental health issues in addition to

their problems with power and control that underlie their use of violence. Obviously, for

many other men battering is a learned behavior. They have witnessed abuse, learned this

behavior and learned it well. Their trauma remains. Anger management programs are

not designed to meet the myriads of problems these men need to have addressed.

So, another stage in this whole development of addressing domestic violence has

been the introduction of mandatory arrest laws. This has been probably the most effective

move in the United States. Mandatory arrest laws have been introduced for men and

women who physically assault an intimate partner or make threats, and Washington state

and other states have added stalking.

While the abuser goes to jail, the victim is provided with a packet of information and

resources for shelters and for services designed specifically for her and her children. With the

law taking this problem seriously, many abusers beliefs of entitlement begin to be challenged.

One of our star football players just pounded the window. He was driving home after the

game when he smashed the windshield of his car while his wife and kids were in the car.

When the police pulled them over and arrested him for domestic violence, he said, What, a

man cannot even smash his own property? The police said, Excuse me, sir, but you are

scaring and threatening your family, and he was court ordered to domestic violence intervention.

His wife came in to see us, pleading to have help in getting the charges dropped. She

was quite upset, Oh, man, that is nothing. You should hear all the other things hes done.

This is nothing.

That gave us a good opportunity to educate and provide her with resources for safety.

Many people believe that an arrest and incarceration for domestic violence is the most successful technique for getting violent men to stop the abuse.

It gets their attention, and those who care about their image become quite willing to get

help. It is important to note, others have found that arrests increase physical violence for those

who do not have the need for social conformity. We call them sociopaths, or people who are

above the law. So, as you develop strategies in your own communities, you need to know

what would work best, and then do what comes next. There has to be a coordinated response. Police officers not only need to be trained and equipped, they need vocabulary and

meaningful language, and they certainly need to be able to put gas in their vehicles if they are

going to go out and make an arrest.

So in North America, a new counseling model has developed to stop violence in the

home. In concert with the criminal justice systems, judges can order a batterer, over his objections, to attend approved counseling sessions. Approved means they cannot just be left to

go to counseling, or their pastor, they have to go to a center that has extensive training, and

there are requirements for counselors who understand this issue of family violence.

Men entering these programs are required to attend weekly, single-gender groups. They

are not mixed, men and women. They are single gender for a minimum of a year or they go

back to jail for their crime. In Washington state, they offer a Stipulated Order of Continuance, an SOC, so if someone is arrested for their first time and they complete a program

satisfactorily, then the charge does not go on their record. That is incentive for people to get

into the program. Otherwise, it goes on their record permanently and they go to jail.

Completing treatment has been a difficult thing. How do you measure that someone has

completed it? At our agency, we are really tough. We do not say youve completed treat-
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ment by attending and by paying your fees. They are all required to pay a fee. The way we

terminate someone from our program or say that theyve finished is we contact the people

they live with and say We know they bring their good guy to group, the good guy comes to

group and we have really come to like him. Hes told us this, that and the other thing.

Nevertheless, what are you experiencing at home? If they are not safe at home and if they

are still scared, we find ways to keep him in our program. The ones that stay and, listen to

this, 3 or 4 years, are the ones who really change their behavior. They become safer men.

We work together as a community. Youve heard about the gaps for victims, and were

trying to close them. Every month we meet together. The judges sit with us, the police officers,

the treatment providers, the advocacy shelter workers, the educators. We sit together for training and to strategize to effect changes: For whom? For our women. For those who need to

be safe. Coming together in order to address this issue with a unified voice are the legal

system, advocacy groups, treatment providers, health care providers, religious communities, local governments and educational institutes. Coming together is no small feat. But

it is crucial. As we come to an agreement on the definitions of violence and strategize our

responses, we keep victim safety as our top priority. When we speak with a collective

voice, our message will be neither fragmented nor contradictory, but a clear global call to

stop domestic violence.

What makes the difference? The coordinated community response. As we go to Croatia

and to other countries, were having to start with a vocabularywhat is domestic violence? What is an arrestable offense? Is it calling someone a name? Is it sexually assaulting them? At least for starters, we say a slap or a hit. It is a starting place.

There is no excuse for domestic violence. In addition to being a psychological issue, a

legal issue, a social or religious issue, domestic violence is a human rights issue. If there is no

excuse for domestic violence, if safety in the home is to be our basic human right, then we

must come together to close the gaps that exist to permit such a crime. We must provide

places of safety for women and children where they feel supported and honored. Places

where they can regain their dignity and worth, self-worth. They need places where they can

heal from the degradation of their experience.

We must insist that the problem is resident within the one who does the abusing. The

one who exercises power and control over another in intimate relationships. We must call

abusers to account for their actions and persist in the work of facing them with the consequences of their behavior.

We must get involved, not only with our children but other peoples children so that they

never receive messages that would permit them to carry on the legacy of domestic violence.

We must find ways to work together, to bring hope and healing to our sisters and our brothers

around the world. We must walk in her shoes. Thank you.

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. I would like open the floor to any questions.

QUESTIONER. My name is Zamira Edwards. Im with the Voice of America, Albanian Service.

I will limit myself to two questions. I have one question. You mentioned Albania a little bit, so

I would like you to elaborate on that country since we broadcast to Albania and Albanians in

the region, and then I will follow up with a question for you to include also Kosovo if you have

any statistics. How has the religion institution, whether it is a church or a mosque in Albania,

especially, since Albania has been an atheist country for so many years, how has the religious

institution played any role in this issue in that society. Again, please, a little bit more about

Albania if you have. Thank you.

Ms. PHILLIPS. We published a report on domestic violence in Albania in 1996 and the
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full text of the report is available on our website, which is <www.mnadvocates.org>. I do

not want to monopolize the time by going into a long discussion, but I would like to say

that our research in Albania showed a couple of things: first, the research showed the

complete lack of support from the legal system for battered women in Albania, but it also

showed that women tried to utilize the system. No matter how weak the system was,

when women feel threatened, they try to utilize the legal system, they try to access justice.

I think that is something that is true in Albania and true in all these other countries

where we work. Women know violence is wrong and women rely on the state to protect

them and the state then has a huge responsibility to do so. Of all the countries where I

have worked, I think in Albania there is the most hope. There are amazing groups there

doing really good work, who are putting their own lives on the line to protect human

rights for all people, including women. I think the response of groups in Tirana to the

refugee crisis from Kosovo is really a strong example of their good work. The women in

Albania are some of the most amazing women I have ever met, so while there are serious

problems with a lack of infrastructure and a lack of legal support, I think we can do that

lot to support people there.

That is all I will say, and I will just refer you to the report.

Ms. BARTEL. Out of the ashes of pain and war, were finding hope. With the recent

conflict that has been in Albania, I want you to know that there is a tremendous new surge

to address the whole issue. Because of the recent issue of war in Kosovo and Albania and

what they are dealing with, the whole evangelical alliance was formed in Albania during

this conflict 21

/2 years ago. I sat with the leaders in Albania, members who came there from

Kosovo. During this conflict, it was the churchesmainline churches, all the churches

that gatheredthat began addressing this whole immense need. Out of this pain and

poverty has come an alliance and a working together that we have never seen before in

those nations.

Yes, it has its problems but they are addressing it. Theres hope there because of this

recent crisis and the churches are now working cooperatively together. We have a very

active alliance of faith-based organizations in Albania that are in a small but yet very

strategic way because of what the war caused, the pain and suffering, they gathered their

forces of the various faiths and they are working cooperatively. So, yes, theres great hope.

QUESTIONER. Thank you.

Mr. SMITH. Yes, maam.

QUESTIONER. My name is Brooke Donald at the Associated Press. I was just wondering

if you could speak more to what Congress or the administration can do. I do not know if

Im totally off guard here, but will the faith-based laws being discussed this term affect

any of this?

Mr. SMITH. To some extent, we have tried to be a little ahead of the curve. Partly

because the issues have gotten this kind of exposure, and we have had such tenacious

advocates as youve heard today who are willing to come forward and give us the best

possible insights. The Violence Against Women Act which was originally enacted in the

early 1990s was reauthorized, as I said, last year. We learned a great deal in those ensuing

years. The chronicling of the problemthe collection of information from what was formerly

a very passive collection process to a more active onehas helped us see the scope and the

seriousness of the problem.

I would invite you to look at the provisions of that legislation because it does try to cover

every aspect of this problem. We have found just as in the area of substance abuse, some of
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the greatest achievements have been made where there is a religious response, that is to

say one that is God focused, because the hurt is so deep. This is true for both the victim

and the offender. In terms of trying to cure, if you will, or at least abate the offender, yes,

psychological means can help but very often there is a missing component there as well.

Alcoholics Anonymous even recognizes the missing component in their steps, in terms

of appealing to the other dimension, that would be the spiritual dimension.

In that legislation, we tried to cover every aspect, but were open to further insights

because theres always something that we could have missed. Theres always something

we havent done. What were trying to do with respect to the OSCE is to show this isnt

just an American problem. It is not just a European problem. Violence against women is a

universal problem that has been largely overlooked by design or perhaps by lack of knowledge. But, once OSCE participating States and other governments are aware of the problem, shame on us if we do not act as policymakers and lawmakers. I think Ms. Phillips

pointed out that, the U.N. has tried to bring scrutiny and attention to this. Whether it be

the abuse of trafficking or, as I said, battering in its many forms, more will be done. Theres

no doubt about it. What comes out of these surveys which are conducted is the unmet

need. As was pointed out by Ms. Murphy, not only is domestic violence a learned behavior,

but the propensity to commit abuse goes up a thousand percent among the children. I

hadnt heard that statistic until just now. How do you break that cycle and put a tourniquet on the behavior passing from generation to generation? That needs to be looked at

much more aggressively.

This idea that there are different triggers: mental illness versus learned behavior.

Im sure the mental illness component is far less frequent. That is a question I would have

for our panelists as well, what are the triggers? If you know the triggers, youre more apt

to be able to mitigate the abuse before it happens.

So, we will follow up with more legislation. We need to implement fully this legislation which is an authorizing bill, both domestically and internationally.

We now must, in appropriations bill after appropriations bill, make sure that every

category is met adequately. I will give an example, the Commerce, Justice and State bill,

which obviously does law enforcement but also provides appropriations for the State Department. Chairman Frank Wolf took our legislation, and in every category, fully funded

the provisions. When the foreign aid bill was considered just before our district work

period or recess, I offered an amendment to provide $30 million to fully fund the foreign

assistance provisions. Through U.S.A.I.D., money will be provided in Fiscal Year 2002 to

help women in various countries have shelters.

We need to be tenacious in every aspect, making sure every bill fully funds the provision of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Actthe battered women component and, of course, the trafficking part. We are trying to implement the law fully. I

could give you many more specifics if youd like. We have a good law, and it needs to be

faithfully implemented. I have met with John Ashcroft three times. He was a strong supporter of the bill when he was a senator, and he is committed to implementing it. Colin

Powell has to be committed. Tommy Thompson and his bureaucracy at HHS have to be

committed to implementing this and other laws which created a synergy in our laws. We

must help these battered women, and we must prosecute and hopefully avert the abuse

from happening in the first place.

The reason for this briefing is to see what further we as legislators can do and to

continually enlighten all of us as to the scope of the problem. I hope that I answered that
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question.

Ms. MURPHY. I would like to, if I could, just jump in here. A piece that I missed is that,

while Northwest Family Life does not say were a Christian agency, everyone on our staff,

we have 18, that are Masters level or Ph.D. on staff who work with the abuse program, all

have a faith. Of the 600 men, most say that they have a faith. We are trying to work with

suspicion with the government. You know, if we werent a faith-based organization those

people wouldnt come to us, because theyre our pastors, theyre our lawmakers and our

educators. How do you bridge that gap between faith and government? This is one way

that were trying to address it. Im scared. I have got to admit, Im scared for the religious

organizations to address this issue, because of the reconciliation model with no provision

for divorce that is held so high and yet what happens when our families are destructive. It

is a big issue that I would like to hear conversation about.

Ms. BARTEL. This is one of the thingsI sit on a hot bed because as a World Evangelical Fellowship representative, the spectrum of theological persuasion is from the right to

the left in the evangelical world as well. But we were bold to say in here [in the study on

domestic violence], very unashamedly, that the bottom line is we cannot always hold the

family together and divorce is acceptable. It is an alternative that we know is there. We

cannot, and of course, my sisters and brothers on the extreme right just say, no, not divorce. So we have a lot of work to do in the church to educate people. But we said, you

know, the family is the sacred unit. However, we did say in here the fact that we support

those whom we cannot possibly heal and that sometimes there is no other alternative but

a separation.

QUESTIONER. Thank you for allowing me to present a question. This may be our place or

maybe this is a domestic issue. My name is Lavonna Minor. Im from a Vietnamese St.

Louis community, and we see many problems in domestic violence. Especially it has been

in the culture, especially in the background we came from, and we do not know how to

address it. For example, often men who came from our country, theyve been through

suffering, torture and concentration camps so they came here for a new beginning, yet

they havent had a therapy program to help them to heal the wounds they suffer. So they

take it to their wives and their children, and they do not have the psychology to fix them.

Or, if they go to an American doctor, then the therapy has to go through the translator

the information is lost. So we couldnt help them.

Also, they consider this to be a family issue. We should not butt in. So if you separate

the family, or if you speak up or you go to the police, if you are a worker, they will nail it on

you: that you destroyed the family. Then they investigate the family, and then they put

the father in jail. Then the family does not have the money. So hes a bum, in and out of jail,

and the wife becomes a problem. So there is no way to fix it, and then the children will be

separate from the family. So by trying to fix the problem, we tear the family apart. I do not

know how we should fix it. Theres no solution for it. Were just going through the revolving door with no fixing.

This is my question. On top of that, many domestic problems link to the child molestation problem, and they never address it. The children are the ones who are victims of

this because they say Im causing it and then when they marry someone, the neighbors say

do not marry that girl, shes bad. So how do we fix that problem? I am glad to have an

opportunity to come here. Please address my problem and see what I can bring back to my

community so I can help them in time to get them out of their problem. Thank you so much.

Ms. PHILLIPS. Thank you for your question. I think there are some really important

issues to consider in answering. First, the research that we have done in OSCE countries,
20

in Nepal, Mexico and Uganda, shows dramatic similarities in domestic violence cases.

You can just substitute the names and the places. There is something fundamentally similar about the way that people relate to each other in different countries. Its extremely

important, for developing effective solutions, not to explain things away by a particular

culture. Domestic violence happens everywhere, in every culture, in every socioeconomic

background, in every part of the world. We need to think about that, and we need to be

concerned about that.

That being said, appropriate solutions may be different in different cultural settings.

In the United States, it is important to know that there is domestic violence in communities of people who were born in the United States, and there is domestic violence in our

immigrant communities. We need to be concerned about all people equally and not adopt

stereotypes to allow us to believe it is greater in any particular community. From a human

rights perspective, first and foremost, every community in this country needs to understand

that domestic violence will not be tolerated. That is a fundamental principle in our society:

domestic violence is unacceptable. It violates the human rights of women, and in every state

in this country, it is a crime.

It should be prosecuted. How to deal with healing is a separate issue. We are responsible for making sure that people living in our society are comfortable and that they respect each others human rights. So again, Im not sure that I can address specifically what

should be done in the Vietnamese community, but I believe that all of our communities

must work together. The specific needs resulting from trauma and torture should be addressed separately from crimes being committed in the family.

Ms. BARTEL. Well said, Robin. Very well said. I just want to respond to you on this

issue, too. We look at it from athat is why we formed the Biblical thesisa whole Biblical basis because we have patriarchal cultures that we deal with, and yours is one. Africa,

Asia, these are patriarchal societies yet, most of these countries have matrifocal homes.

The woman is responsible to fund and raise the money and feed the family so she has an

immense responsibility, but she has no rights.

Okay. That is why the religious community needs to partner with the government

and make the difference. When churches and religious communities begin to say this is

wrong and they come in support of this, then the two, which Robin was sharing, domestic

violence is wrong whether it is in Asia, Africa. It is wrong anywhere, it is wrong. It is not

right. Were not going to tolerate it. But when faith-based communities begin to address it

and teach it from a religious perspective and address it within a religious context or working

partnering with the government, it becomes a stronger initiative and a proper teaching, it

is a teaching that violence is wrong in any society. It is an evil and it is wrong. So, it needs

both the government supporting with the faith based.

Mr. SMITH. I just wanted to make one brief comment. Cultures and ethnic norms should

never be used as a pretext to excuse any kind of abusive behavior. It is done routinely by

governments. They suggest that, as a matter of sovereign affairs and sovereign integrity,

we should not speak out against human rights abuses because we do not understand the

cultural context. A similar argument is often used for domestic violence, but we do not

accept that it is a family matter.

I will never forget one night early in my career when I spent all night with the police

force in Trenton just to get an idea of what they do at nighttime becausewho is ever up

at 3 oclock in the morning, or 4 oclock in the morning? We went to an emergency room

where there was a battered woman who was as black and blue and bruised as I have ever

seen anyone. I was absolutely stunned, angered and sick looking at that woman that some-
21

one could have hurt her so much. It seems to me that kind of sensitivity is needed for

everyone. Look at the consequences and then take corrective action.

At the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, three times now I have raised trafficking as

an action item, at St. Petersburg 3 years ago, Bucharest last year and then this year at the

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Paris. These are parliamentarians from all of

the OSCE countries who write the laws in their respective countries. We gave them copies of our new law and said this wasnt written in stone, this wasnt written on Mt. Sinai,

but hopefully it is a good product. We want to know what youre doing and we can learn

from you. Just like we need to have a coordinated effort at trafficking, we need to rid

ourselves of domestic violence and rape and all the other egregious abuses committed

against women but you need laws to accomplish this.

Law is a great teacher. It provides a firewall against abuse, a predictable consequence

for those who abuse and, hopefully, a source of refuge for the victim. In answer to your other

question we have taken that law and disseminated it throughout the country and world. My

wife and I, and our staff, had meetings with members of the parliament from Italy and learned

what they are doing about these issues and said heres what were doing, lets learn from each

other. We sharpen each other, and it all comes down to priority. You can have an interest, but

nothing happens. If you make it a priority among lawmakers, more will happen. Then you get

motivated NGOs and private voluntary organizations, and the faith-based organizations. You

end up with a lessened situation when it comes to abuse and battering. I would reiterate that

I believe the faith-based approach is part of that process.

I did have a question for our panelists. Ms. Phillips, you talked about those women who

themselves have to prosecute their abusers because the government wont assist. You might

want to elaborate on that because in the United States, if a crime has been committed, the

prosecutor takes it and the victim becomes part of the evidence but the burden isnt on the

victim.

Ms. Murphy, you mentioned that famous football star in your area that pounded the glass.

Recently there was another football star who allegedly had his wife or girlfriend killed because

she was pregnant.

Last night, my wife and I watched 48 Hours Unsolved Mysteries about a similar situation where the woman was pregnant. The father wanted her to get rid of the child, but she

didnt want that to happen, and suddenly she disappeared. All fingers point to him, but theres

no body. They cannot find the woman who apparently was murdered because his family

couldnt live with the fact that she was of a different ethnic background. So apparently he

killed her. How often does pregnancy become a factor in the abuse, like alcohol or some

other factor that leads to abuse?

Ms. PHILLIPS. In the countries where we workCentral and Eastern Europe and the former

Soviet Unionthey are often called countries in transition or transitioning countries. They are

experiencing massive changes on every levelsocial, economic, cultural, and political. This

change also involves the legal system. Before the countries began this transition into democracy, the focus of the criminal justice system was not individual protection, individual

human rights, or individual liberties. The role of the state was not to provide redress for

human rights abuses against individuals. The criminal codes in each country were written

so that crimes were prosecuted by the state, and other, generally lower-level, crimes were

left to individuals to bring private actions.

There is a new focus on the role of the criminal justice system. Our research, by

showing the problems that people face when they are left alone either because the crimi-
22

nal procedure code will not allow the prosecutors to get involved or because the prosecutor does not want to get involved, identifies the obstacles to justice for many women.

We also know from research the incredible trauma women going through domestic

violence experience. When the burden of getting the witnesses together, the burden of

paying for the prosecution, the burden of worrying about all the legal details mount up, it

becomes so much more difficult for women to access the legal system. When we help and

support groups in other countries, we need to look at the system and how it works to

understand what the women experience. This understanding is important for legal reform and to help people work within the current systems. I do not know if that answers

your questions.

Ms. MURPHY. Thank you. You used the word alone quite a bit in your statement. That is

one tactic of abuse. I think it is a reason, too, why people cant get help. It is because theyre

alone. They dont have resources. They dont have people who believe in them. They dont

have places to go. Theyre very much alone. When you ask about triggers, often, breaking

the isolation is one of them. An abuser keeps her isolated, keeps her away from other

communities, keeps her away from resources. Even if theyre available, she doesnt have

access to them. If she does, there is trouble. One trigger in pregnancy is that shes not

alone anymore. Shes going to have somebody else to share her life with. Somebody to be

focused on other than him. So pregnancy is very much a trigger. Violence increases as I

mentioned before, when a woman is pregnant, yet is more underreported because, again,

theres a lot of shame involved.

Alcohol is not really a trigger. I think Ms. Phillips said before how studies show that

when people have stopped abusing alcohol, they can continue in their battering ways. I

say that batterers give alcoholics a bad name, because not every alcoholic is an abuser. But

what does happen is the level of abuse can increase in severity. So, especially when drugs

like cocaine are added, abusers may use weapons or knives when they wouldnt otherwise. People stay isolated often because they know theyre not going to be hurt as much.

When they get involved, when they start attending church or womens groups or go to

counseling; then the fear that shes going to tell or that shes going to share her life, threatens

him. Triggers are personal.

Knowing that violence in the home is a learned behavior, that theyve witnessed it.

Often what triggered their dad to abuse is different for them For some, its the way she

dresses. Wearing high heels or makeup could be a trigger and for others, its the way she

doesnt dress. So its quite personal.

Ms. BARTEL. Its also economic. Right now, we find increased domestic violence when

economic conditions are severe and getting worse. Youll find an increase in domestic violence exactly because the pressure of managing finances and making ends meet, youll see a

surge of it. There is a very definite correlation.

Ms. MURPHY. Maureen and I spoke about this briefly, too. The most dangerous time for a

woman is when she decides to leave. Thats the most dangerous time for her to be killed.

Thats another trigger. Its a loss of his personal property rights. Something thats exciting,

really exciting for those of us that are part of the faith-based movement is that were really

challenging theology and doctrine that has at times been used as permission to abuse women.

Really challenging what does it mean when the scriptures very clearly say, wives submit to

your husbands. This book, No Place for Abuse, is a primer, written by a theologian and a

sociologist/researcher. Its what every pastor should read and be tested on but were going

into seminaries and theological settings helping them to put the scriptures in context. So,

when they read the Bible and they live by the Bible, if thats what their text is, they are
23

actually able to interpret the text in a way that does not advance the subjugation of women

and everything that follows.

One trigger is a belief system. If you believe that a woman should do what shes told

and she doesnt, somehow theres permission, at any cost, to put her in her place. Then he

thinks, if she would have done something different, this wouldnt have happened. So we

really need to work on belief systems.

QUESTIONER. I was wondering if youve seen a difference in the willingness of police

departments to take on programs. I know, Im from NCSJ and we had a State Department

grant to do a domestic violence program that involved the Jewish community. It is in

Tulun and Voronezh in Russia, and were interested in getting more police involvement. I

know there are other Jewish groups at least and there are other Christian groups who

trying to get involved with police training.

First, maybe you could give me an overview of willingness in various countries to

participate in such programs and whether youve seen an evolution in peoples attitudes

toward participating in these programs.

Ms. PHILLIPS. Excuse me. I want to make sure I understand your question. Youre

talking about willingness to participate in police training? Our experience, and I can only

speak from our experience, has been that there is an increase in willingness for people to

participate. We are talking about part of the world where there is an extremely high

literacy rate, where people are highly educated. The people are also extremely dedicated.

I have been amazed that police officers who have not been paid for 6 months still get up

every morning, put on their uniforms, and go to work. These are people who take their

jobs very seriously and want to do a good job. Although some people, some police officers,

buy into myths about domestic violence and arent doing the proper thing, I think we need

to start looking at the infrastructure and the willingness of people to be trained. There is

an improvement, I have seen.

I think that is a huge responsibility in the United States: if were going to participate

in foreign aid, we must respect the hard work of people there. When we conduct police

training, we need to know what the police do. You cannot train about an effective response if you do not talk to the police and learn what they do when they respond. When

people are respected and given useful information to help them do their job better, they

are more willing to fully participate in training. This type of training in central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union is really new, from the last 10 years. We need to

take our responsibility seriously when we conduct training so that we can effectively implement the programs that we set up.

Ms. BARTEL. We are beginning to look into this, through our task force, in our next

second and third phases. We finished our research and published our report in May, and

now were going to begin our first international test case in Croatia, where were going to

work with the theological seminary there. However, I have found, in my dealings across

the United States, that the number one call you will get at a police station is a domestic

violence call. The second interesting statistic is that more police officers are killed answering the domestic violence call than any other line of duty.

So, I have purposely made good friends with the police chief in my city, and we work

very closely. He meets with pastors and the leaders together to coordinate efforts to make

this happen. He sees this as the only way for a community finally to combat it. So, he said

there are statistics in other cities that are trying the same. Yes, it is beginning to happen

at least here in the United States but we will be focusing it on other countries as well.

Ms. MURPHY. Thanks. We have made progress only, as you said, in honoring what
24

judges and police have done. Bringing them to the table to discuss this together rather

than saying, Heres what youre doing wrong, Heres what you need to know, This is

what wed like you to know, we say, Can we have a luncheon to thank you for all your

hard work? Can we tell you how much we appreciate that you did make a good call in

this one case? Over time, theyve been able to come back and say, So what is it that youd

like? Or, How would you like us to respond? The trainings have blossomed into huge

annual conferences.

The hard part for us is when our police officers are violent toward their wives, and

they get court-ordered to counselling. That is when the rubber really meets the road. In

the State of Washington, they have to go to group counseling. They have to show up with

everybody. They do not get to do private counseling. We let them do whatever they need

to do to come in and save face and yet do treatment. It is quite a process. One day a police

officer, a chief of police from a town about 40 miles away drove all the way to our center so

that he wouldnt be seen. Yet one of our judges wives comes in for victim reasons but they

are sitting there together in the lobby. It can be difficult to keep clients identity confidential.

We call ourselves Northwest Family Life Learning and Counseling Center. If we called

ourselves a domestic violence project, then it tags everybody. Because of biases, we might

look at every person who comes in the door and think we know why they are here, and judge

them or label them, victim, perpetrator, batterer, etc. So we gave ourselves a neutral name that

does not disclose the nature of our work, and we publish in our literature a wide variety of

services to help keep private the nature of each clients visit.

The police officer could be there to make an arrest, the judges wife to volunteer in

our childcareno one knows.

Congressman Smith, I can imagine your sitting in our waiting room. I would not want

you to be labelled as one of those if we were just planning on meeting for lunch or you were

waiting for me.

 We use labels so that is just a little thing to keep in mind if youre going to start working

extensively in this field. Be very honoring and creative.

Ms. PHILLIPS. I just wanted to add that in the countries where we work, strong alliances are

being formed between the advocacy community and the police. It is a traditional advocacy

technique to convince people to do what you want by figuring out how to help them make

their job easier. For police, when they see women who are in crisis and there is nowhere to

turn in a community, it is very frustrating for them. When they make alliances with groups

who are starting to provide services, they have places to direct the women in crisis. In some of

our research, police have been more responsive to hotline workers than to individual women

who call them directly. In approaching the police, if you think about how you can make their

job easier so they can actually help women victims of violence more effectively, they are a lot

more open to working with you.

QUESTIONER. I wanted to make a short comment. Continuing what you said, Im from the

Romanian Embassy in Washington so Im from Romania, a country that is passing through a

transition, putting more attention into domestic violence.

Last year, the penal code was modified in 12 of its articles through a specific law that

criminalizes domestic violence against both women and children. It provides also for imprisonment or fines, and the court can forbid the abuser to return home if the women of

his family request this. We have then started to address human trafficking as well, and we are

drafting now an anti-trafficking law following the model Representative Smith introduced in

the Congress.
25

So I think there is hope in Romania and as well in the region. We were very honored

to have this year a statement by Congressman Smith that helped to increase the awareness of the other countries in the region to this issue. I wanted to congratulate you for all

your work including in Romania and to say that through your work, you can help women

become more aware, more to realize this problem for themselves. Thank you.

QUESTIONER. I work with the Family Violence Prevention Fund here in D.C., and I sit

on an international subcommittee that deals with violence against women issues. One

thing that I didnt hear anything about today that I thought would be very important to

bring up is the passage of CEDAW here in the United States, the Convention to End

Discrimination Against Women. That U.N. convention has been ratified by 168 countries

but still not the United States. Were the only Western developed country that has not

ratified this. This is another way, besides the Violence Against Women Act, which is fabulous that we have here in the United States, for us to combat violence against women, to

combat sex trafficking and economic disparities and discrimination. I wanted to see if any

of you have worked on CEDAW, if your organization supports CEDAW and maybe how we

could get more support on the policy side and congressionally for CEDAW and kind of

push this as a very important issue in passage of that convention. Thank you.

Ms. PHILLIPS. Well, thank you for that question because I have been trying to figure out

how to work that in because Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights strongly supports

passage of CEDAW. Besides the help it would give in the United States, I think CEDAW

is a very strong statement of a consensus of the international community on what is important for eliminating discrimination against women. The United States failure to ratify

this convention minimizes its impact as a consensus view of womens human rights. This

omission makes our work more difficult in the international community. My organization

and I strongly support passage and work very hard to try to achieve that. We in Minnesota

are in a situation where both of our senators also strongly support ratification so we cannot do too much in our own little neighborhood but we like to work with other groups in

the United States to try to persuade people to support it.

Ms. BARTEL. I would like Congressman Chris Smith to answer that. What do you think

is the problem?

Mr. SMITH. I hate to inject a discordant note but I have looked at the Convention very

carefully. The concern is that the Convention ventures into areas where there is a profound disagreement in this country, and that is particularly in the area of the right to life

of unborn children. We know the CEDAW Committee panel of experts has gone into various countries, I have read the reports personally, and they have chastised certain countries for having pro-life laws. I happen to believe that human rights are all about inclusion, especially the most disenfranchised individuals on earth and that would be unborn

children at this stage in our progress of human history.

It seems to me that other laudable goals contained within CEDAW are compromised

or tarnished by this effort to try to legalize abortion in those countries where the unborn

child happens to be protected. Interestingly enough, there are about 100 countries around

the world where babies are protected before birth. I believe that birth is an event that

happens to every human life. It is not the beginning of life. It is contrary to science to

think otherwise. I believe the actual methods of abortion, like other forms of violence,

constitute violence against children. I happen to believe that is a human rights issue.

I get profound disagreement from certain people, and they are certainly entitled to their

opinion, but if you look at the methods of abortion, chemical poisoning, dismemberment of

an unborn childs body, his or her body, what is it if it is not violence? Dismemberment by
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suction machine, by a D & X, a D & E, or, as we have seen the fight recently in this country,

partial birth abortion where a baby is half delivered and then a draining of the brain, it is not

even a poison shot, in order to depress the cranial cavity so you can collapse the skull, is an

act of violence.

I say this with deep regret: CEDAW is being used to say to other developing countries in particular, who are likely to be more persuaded by U.N. mandates and international law than a more developed democracy like the United States, that if they want to

conform, they need to change their law that protects their unborn children. There are

several countries where the CEDAW experts have come in, done reports and admonished

country X, Y and Z, including Colombia, that they need to change their laws. That is not

what human rights are all about in my view.

Human rights are about inclusion and protection. I gave the speech in 1989 at the

United Nations on behalf of former President Bushs administration in favor of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, emphasizing the preamble of the Convention which

says that the child, by reason of his or her developmental immaturity, is entitled to protection before, as well as after birth.

Regrettably, even with that convention, there were delegates who opposed the language of inclusion. When I made that statement, there were almost boos in the committee

at the United Nations. Why arent we including the baby before birth? We now have ultrasound and prenatal care, the advances that they have made in fetology, and the diagnostic

ultrasounds where you can see with incredible detail the life of an unborn child, hopefully

for benign corrective reasons, not to say, oh, that baby has Downs Syndrome, therefore we

need to kill him or her, the boy or the girl. Rather, the technology allows us to correct a

problem with the heart or some other malady.

One last thing, I saw a video not so long ago of a child undergoing prenatal surgery. In

this case, the child was literally lifted out of the womb. The surgery was performed, and

then the child was gently placed back into the womb. At the end, you could see this incredibly small wrist that had a cuff on it, to measure vital signs, and it was almost waving as

the cuff was taken off and the hand was reinserted in the mothers uterus. The baby needs

to be seen as a patient. One of the leading pro-abortion doctors who founded NARAL, Dr.

Nathanson said that if wombs had windows, it would be the end of abortion. He went from

being an ardent pro-abortion advocate to an ardent pro-lifer, and he came to it as an atheist, not even as a person of faith. He said it is a matter of human rights.

CEDAW, and again I say this with regret, is being used to admonish countries so they

would jettison their protective statutes. The OAS in its Convention on Human Rights

were a part of it although we have not acceded to it fully because we allow abortion on

demandrecognizes life beginning at the moment of conception and has enshrined this as

an internationally recognized human right. In my view, without that problematic provision, CEDAW is likely to fly but right now, that is the sticking point at least from my point

of view.

Ms. PHILLIPS. I would just like to add that the actual language of CEDAW does not

address abortion. There are mechanisms through the ratification process for the United

States to reserve on those issues. So, I hope that in debating whether or not it is being

effectively used for various issues, that the United States would see some of the positive

aspects. If there are real disagreements, they can reserve on those issues. Although I do

not want to be encouraging reservations, I want to point out that there are mechanisms to

explain provisions that the Senate may believe are misused or misunderstood without

completely rejecting the document.
27

Mr. SMITH. I know it is late but I do have one final question that I think is relevant. The

lady from Vietnam, who unfortunately has left, mentioned immigrants who have been

abused. As a country of immigrants and with at least 79 percent of our immigrant flow

being refugees, many of whom have left very dire situations, I work very hard on torture

victim relief and actually have sponsored some laws that create torture victim centers.

Researchers estimate that there are 400,000 people who have been tortured abroad who

are walking on our streets today. Obviously in other countries, particularly in a country

with a despotic government, it is even higher.

We learned from the Vietnam War about the effects of post-traumatic stress. We

learned from many of our wartime veterans that Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is another major trigger that can lead to alcohol abuse but, as Ms. Murphy pointed out, it is not

the alcohol per se, it is whats underlying that contributes to their being alcoholics. What

role does post-traumatic stress play in abuse? Would those kids who have 1000 percent

greater chance of being abusive that you talk about be the victims of post-traumatic stress?

Ms. MURPHY. You do not want to get me talking about my favorite subject but Judith

Hermans written a book called Trauma and Recovery, and it draws a strong parallel between

the Vietnam vets and battered women with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Then Lenora

Walkers just recently published a new work on PTSD and children who witness domestic

violence. Then the DSM IV [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th

edition, published by American Psychiatric Association], which is a mental health diagnostic manual, has added a category under PTSD for children who have witnessed abuse.

So absolutely, victims of post traumatic stress seem pre-disposed to becoming abusive.

We found trauma where our Russian immigrants do not send their children to school.

They have so much distrust of the government and so they see it as a government school, they

wont send their children to school. Then they have belief systems in some of the Orthodox

Churches which give permission to abuse. So they end up with these double issues of getting

charged with child abuse for not sending their kids to school and then wife abuse for hitting

their wives, it is confusing.

Mail-order brides come here. We have had two lose their lives in our community in the

last couple of months. It is very tragic, but when they get away from their abusers, they cannot

go back home, theyve lost their status.

There are many traumas. Witnessing abuse is very definitely traumatic. That is why we

have so many reactive behaviors and that is why I want to make the point that it is not a

problem in the victim and that anger management is part of the solution. Nevertheless, it is

not the solution. We have to look at the whole picture and develop programs and capabilities

in relationships that can help us look at the whole problem. Thank you.

Mr. SMITH. I want to thank our three distinguished witnesses for their great testimony and

for the questions and insights from the audience. It is been very enlightening and we will get

this information distributed to the others. Thank you, and lets keep this dialogue going so we

can hopefully find a solution.

(Whereupon, the briefing was concluded at 12:42 p.m.)
28

APPENDICES

PREPARED STATEMENT OF

HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, CO-CHAIRMAN,

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for joining us today for a briefing on domestic

violence in the OSCE region. The topic of todays briefing is one of first impression for

the Helsinki Commission and is intended to shine a light on what is perhaps the most

pervasive human rights abuse in the world.

In 1991 and again in 1999, the 55 States that participate in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) committed to address violence against women.

Despite the long-standing commitments, to date the issue has not had a high profile in the

work of the OSCE or, more importantly, in many of the OSCE countries themselves. In

June of this year, the OSCE convened for the first time a one-day meeting in Vienna,

Austria to raise among the national delegations awareness of the scope and severity of the

problem of violence against women, including domestic violence, in the OSCE countries.

Domestic violence has been found to be a serious problem in every country where it

has been studied, including many OSCE participating States. Research shows that women

of all ages and of all socioeconomic and educational backgrounds are subject to domestic

violence.

Statistics regarding the prevalence of domestic violence are staggering. According to

the Department of Justices National Violence Against Women Survey, published in July

2000:

 Of the women who reported being raped and/or physically assaulted since the age

of 18, three-quarters were victimized by a current or former husband, cohabiting

partner, date or boyfriend.

 Approximately 1.5 million women and nearly 835,000 men are raped and/or physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States.

Data from other researchers indicates that

 Around the world, at least 1 in 3 women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime.

 In this country, on average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends every day.

 In a national survey of more than 2,000 American families, 50 percent of the men

who frequently assaulted their wives also frequently abused their children.

In other OSCE countries the problem is just as bad or worse. In Russia, for example,

the governments statistics reveal that 14,000 women died in one year (1997) due to domestic violence. In Hungary, non-governmental organizations estimate that 150 women

die each year at the hands of their husbands or boyfriendsand hundreds more women

take their own lives in order to escape abusive relationships. As appalling as these statistics are, research in the United States and worldwide indicates that many, perhaps most,
29

instances of domestic violence are never reported to legal authoritiesso the statistics

may not even tell just how pervasive this problem is.

Domestic violence infringes upon an individuals rights to life, to security of person,

and to freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Despite the shocking statistics, and the obligation of governments to respond when an individuals human

rights are under attack, individuals in many countries minimize the problem of domestic

violence or even consider it a matter of private concern outside the purview of the legal

system. Police routinely discourage women from making complaints against abusers, and

abusers are rarely removed from their homes or jailed. The overwhelming response to

domestic violence by the police, prosecutors and the courts is to urge women to reconcile

with their abusers regardless of the potential danger this poses for the battered woman.

In many countries, legal and social services for victims of domestic violence are lacking.

Last year I worked for the passage of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act which addressed the barbaric practice of trafficking women and children into

forced prostitution and slavery-like labor and which also re-authorized the Violence

Against Women Act. Upon enactment last October, this law authorized the spending of

more than $3.3 billion over five years to protect women from rape, assault, abuse and

battery. The re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act will provide assistance

for victims of assault and abuse, and it emphasizes and expands the federal governments

commitment to helping victims rebuild their lives without fear of retribution and retaliation.

Unfortunately, in spite of these efforts domestic violence continues to be a persistent

problem in the United States as it is in every single OSCE participating State. We are

fortunate to have with us today three individuals with extensive experience and insight

into this problem. Our panelists approach the issue from different perspectives and have

focused on different countries, but each is working diligently to raise awareness about the

problem of domestic violence and to awaken the consciences of government officials and

private citizens alike to address this very real problem.
30

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ROBIN PHILLIPS,

DIRECTOR, WOMENS HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAM,

MINNESOTA ADVOCATES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

My name is Robin Phillips. I am the Deputy Director of Minnesota Advocates for

Human Rights and the Director of the Womens Human Rights Program. I am here to

speak about domestic violence in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

I have participated in research in Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights documents domestic violence as a human rights abuse. This documentation includes extensive

review of the governmental and legal system responses to the problem. We analyze the

effectiveness of the responses and compare them to the commitments a country has made

in the international treaties it has ratified.

Domestic violence is a serious problem in each of the countries in which we have

worked. It is important to point out that the problem is universal and that no country

should be singled out for greater violations than any other country. That being said, no

countrys human rights violations should be ignored just because other countries also commit the same violations. Women are being seriously injured and killed by their husbands

and intimate partners in countries around the world, including countries in the OSCE

region. Womens human rights are being systematically violated and the governments of

these countries are not responding appropriately to the problem. These governments are

not complying with their obligations under international human rights law to protect the

human rights of everyone in their countries.

The United Nations has clearly outlined the responsibility of governments to protect

against human rights violations and to provide adequate remedies when fundamental

human rights are violated. Governments are also required to meet the health and social

needs of victims in compliance with their treaty obligations, however, I will focus today on

the civil and political rights violations associated with domestic violence and the lack of

appropriate legal system response.

Although each country in the OSCE region is unique, there are many similarities in

their approaches to the problem of domestic violence. Often, the first and only opportunity for the state to intervene in a domestic violence dispute is when a woman calls the

police to seek assistance. The police response in each of these countries is lacking and

covers a range of issues. The police do not take the problem seriously. They do not respond to calls for assistance or when they do respond, they do not remove the perpetrators from the home. For example, in Macedonia, a woman I interviewed had made several

complaints to the police about beatings by her husband. She went to the police station

with a broken jaw and blood all over her face to seek help after a severe attack. The police

ignored her pleas and only arrested the abuser when he attacked the womans male cousin

who was trying to help her.

Also, in Macedonia, several women in prison were also victims of domestic violence.

They were either forced to commit crimes such as prostitution or theft by abusive partners, or they killed their abusers to protect themselves. Several women reported that

police had raped and/ or beaten them while they were in custody. These women told me

that they were much more comfortable in prison. They did not have to worry about being

beaten by their husbands and partners and they did not worry about being harassed by the

police. When asked to respond to these allegations, the Chief of Police in Skopje and the

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs simply denied that they ever happened.
31

In many countries where we documented domestic violence, people who provide services to women victims identified police and military officers as perpetrators of the problem. Many pointed out that when perpetrators have a connection to the police, the police

are even less likely to respond to a call for intervention.

In many countries, the police face a serious lack of resources. For example, in both

Moldova and Ukraine, many police officers have not been paid for several months and

they do not have money to put gasoline in their police vehicles. Several police officers

described riding the bus to answer a police call. When asked what he did when a serious

crime was in progress, one police officer in Ukraine said, I run.

With limited exceptions, police training does not include instruction on proper intervention in cases of domestic violence. Police are not trained about the unique issues domestic violence victims face or the human rights implications of failing to respond to a

call.

Women also run into obstacles when they attempt to pursue prosecution of domestic

assaults. The greatest obstacle for many is the forensic medical system. Generally, the

only evidence of injury a court will accept in an assault case is an official certificate from

a forensic medical doctor. The purpose of these certificates is to document the extent of an

injury a woman has sustained. In some countries, the offices of the forensic doctors are in

inconvenient or inaccessible places, the office hours are extremely limited or the doctors

charge fees that can be as high as an average months salary for a woman.

In other countries, forensic medical doctors will consider the circumstances of an

assault and modify the description of the injuries based on their opinion about whether

the woman provoked the assault. For example, in Romania, we reviewed court files of

domestic assault cases. In one case, a forensic doctor graded an injury as minor and described it as taking 14 days to heal. The injuries the woman sustained included a broken

leg. When asked about the file, the judge said that the forensic doctor determined the

woman provoked the assault and therefore, downgraded the level of injury. The consequence of grading the injury at a lower level in this case was that the woman was left to

prosecute her case on her own without the assistance of the state.

The legal systems in each of these countries allow a crime victim to pursue a private

criminal prosecution if the state does not prosecute. In the case of domestic violence, a

woman may face added burdens because of her fear of the abuser and the expense of prosecuting someone upon whom she may be economically dependent.

In Poland, several forensic doctors expressed extreme skepticism of women victims

of violence. They said that they viewed their first responsibility as determining whether

the injuries could have been caused in the manner the victim described. They expressed

the opinion that a woman would lie to achieve an advantage in a court case. Although none

of the doctors interviewed in Poland identified cases in which women lied, they universally expressed mistrust of women.

The laws also present serious obstacles. For example, in Bulgaria, the Criminal Code

divides assault into three levels: grave, medium and light. Pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code, the state does not prosecute light injuries and only prosecutes medium injuries if the victim and the perpetrator are not related. The result is that if a woman is

stabbed by a stranger on the street and does not die or become permanently disabled as a

result of the attack, the state will prosecute the crime. If the woman walks into her home

and is stabbed by her husband, sustaining the same injuries, the state will not prosecute.

Although the injuries make this assault a crime, the woman victim is left to prosecute on
32

her own.

In addition to the failure of the state to assist in prosecution, the courts often fail to

assess proper penalties. Dozens of judges, in countries around the region, expressed reluctance to harm family relations by sentencing a batterer to serve jail time. One judge

in Bulgaria said that there is little public interest served by sentencing men who beat

their wives to serve time in jail because, these men do not pose a danger to society in

general. Often, men receive only a suspended sentence or a fine. In the case of a fine,

women are legally responsible for ensuring that the fine is paid because of their relationships to the perpetrators. In Armenia, women expressed reluctance to pursue prosecution of domestic assault cases because they do not want to jeopardize their limited family

resources.

In many countries, the legal system response is focused on reconciliation. In Albania,

women experience a complete lack of support at all levels of the legal system. Prosecutors, judges, police, all view their role as convincing a woman to pardon her partner for

beating her. The result is that in a 5-month period, 150 to 300 women reported cases of

domestic assault to the prosecutors office in Tirana and only ten cases were actually filed

in court. The women in all ten of these cases dropped the charges on the first day at the

encouragement of the judges.

Many government officials expressed opinions about domestic violence based on myths

that are common in the United States and in countries all over the world. The most common is that alcoholism causes domestic violence. Although alcohol may exacerbate a particular beating, data shows that many perpetrators continue the abuse after they have

stopped drinking. In Poland, the entire government intervention is based on the myth

that alcohol causes domestic violence. The intervention programs focus on alcohol treatment for the man and not on holding the man accountable for committing a crime and

violating his wifes human rights. In fact, the domestic violence intervention program is

operated out of Polands Agency for Solving Alcohol Related Problems.

Although the situation is grave, there are reasons to be hopeful. I was privileged to

attend a police training workshop in Moldova. A high level official with the Ministry of

Internal Affairs stood before a room of police officers and told them that domestic violence violated the fundamental human rights of women. He told them this meant that

when a woman calls the police and they do not respond to her call, they are violating

international human rights law. This statement is powerful and such directives from top

officials are critical to improving the state response to domestic violence.

The United Nations has taken the lead in recognizing domestic violence as a human

rights abuse. Many countries in the OSCE region are very concerned with improving their

respect for human rights. As a result, many states are at the beginning stages of recognizing the problem of domestic violence. Although this recognition has not necessarily translated into improved state response, it is a necessary first step.

Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights reports on domestic violence are posted on

our website: <<www.mnadvocates.org>>.
33

PREPARED STATEMENT OF WINNIE BARTEL,

EXECUTIVE CHAIR, COMMISSION ON WOMENS CONCERNS,

WORLD EVANGELICAL FELLOWSHIP

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN THE OSCE REGION

The problems of abuse against women have been around for centuries. What is truly

becoming a universal phenomena is that it is becoming evident things are worsening. In

our modern world today, women are increasingly filling significant roles in business and

society, as well as in the church and in the home. However, along with these greater

responsibilities has come a proverbial onslaught of all forms of abuse.

As a world leader in the evangelical church, I sadly share with you thatbattered

and bruised, hundreds of thousands of women quietly fill houses of worship around the

world, keeping silent about the secret that rules their lives: They are victims of domestic

violence and abuse.

As Executive Chair of the Task Force on Abuse Against Womensponsored by the

Commission on Womens Concerns for World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF)I must report to you that no society is exempt from domestic violence. As I have traveled around

the world, I have witnessed first hand the immense injustices against women which challenged me to appoint this international Task Force on Abuse and Injustice Against Women.

The Task Force, is made up of WEF leaders from every region of the world: Africa,

Asia, Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America, and South Pacific.

It also includes women of expertise such as medical doctors, sociologists, psychologists, as

well as theologians. We began our study by developing a Biblical affirmation of human

dignity and value and a Biblical response to preventing abuse against women. This was

the foundation for our work. We took Scripture seriously when it said, in Jeremiah 22:3

and Ephesians 5:ll, expose and rebuke the evils of the worldyour light shining on it

will show how evil it really is The 3-year study concluded its research this spring by

publishing our report titled No Place For Abuse. Our survey was conducted in each

region of the worldthrough the WEF framework of regional and national alliances, which

covered approximately 114 nations. In the OSCE region, we have two representatives

one from Croatia and one from Bulgaria.

I must confess that we have foundas a whole, the church has not wanted to believe

that this perpetration exists in the Christian home. Pastors have not spoken about this

issue in the pulpit, and leaders have not been willing to discuss this element within their

sphere of influence.

As I have been speaking with women around the world, it has become very evident

that abuse and injustice against women is one of the cruelest and greatest challenges

women face in the 21st century. As recent as 2 weeks ago, a report was sent to me by one

of our European contactsthe women in Afghanistan have lost all hope of anyone ever

coming to their aid. In Europe, a report received August 20 showed clearly that in Eastern

European States, more and more women are being trafficked into sex slavery. This is a

growing phenomenon. Criminal gangs lure tens of thousands of young women from poverty in the former Soviet bloc sending them into nightmarish underground sex slavery in

Europe.

The good news is, we are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Hope is on

the horizon. At the 11th General Assembly of World Evangelical Fellowship, in Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia, which was held in May of this year, the hundreds of world leaders
34

gathered, unanimously approved the resolution to stop abuse against women. The resolution clearly denounces abuse and injustice as an evilcalling it a sin; it clearly states they

will offer healing for those wounded in body, mind and soul, and protect and provide help

for those in need of safety; it also clearly states they would admonish offenders in cooperation with civil authorities.

The church has failed in this matter, says Reverend Gregory Kivanguli of the Nairobi

Pentecostal Church in Kenya. We need to talk about this matter and condemn it from the

pulpit. More church leaders and members are acknowledging that there is a problem. But

there is still a lot of work to do. The church must make a stand about abuse and domestic

violence against women. We must begin to speak out so that the voice of the religious

community is loud and clear that violence cannot be tolerated and that there is no religious, Biblical, theological justification for domestic violence or any other abuse. In the

faith community, there is nothing in religious teachings of any faith tradition that justifies

abuse.

As a marriage and family counselor myself, I have found that religion is often the

missing component in secular counseling programs for battered women. Many of my peers

feel as I do. Many counselors and social workers in domestic violence programs are beginning to recognize that it is a critical component of recovery and we are now seeing a few

communities of faith who are working and collaborating to respond to abused women.

It is important for counselors to understand the role that religion plays in the lives of

many abused women. Spiritual issues are a crucial dimension of most womens experience

in personal violence. The vast majority of women in the world today have some affiliation

with a faith tradition. It cannot be overlooked when we address violence against women.

A womans religious beliefs will be a factor in how she responds to violence in her life,

says Reverend Thelma Watson, an ordained Presbyterian minister, who heads up a center

for the prevention of sexual and domestic violence. They will either get in the way of her

finding ways to protect herself and her children or they will be a resource to her.

Women are more likely to disclose their violation and abuse within the community of

faith. A woman may be afraid to utilize community services and worry that a shelter will

not respect her beliefs. She may go to her spiritual leader and be told to go home and be a

better wife, putting her in danger of further and more serious abuse. Women are silenced

if their disclosure does not receive practical and emotional support.

Churches, synagogues, and mosques have been silent on the issue largely because of

their emphasis on family and denial that people of religious conviction would abuse their

loved ones, say some clergy. The church sees itself as an institution that is supposed to

preserve marriage and families, so that is what they think they are suppose to do. We

have heard it said by Christian leaders that they didnt have the problem of domestic

violence in their congregations or denominations because they teach that families are

people who treat each other well. So then they are extremely shocked to find that statistics prove otherwise. Let me share a few:

 Domestic violence is a leading cause of injury and death to women worldwide

 World Health Organization says that 1 in 5 women around the globe is physically

or sexually abused in her lifetime. American Medical Association study claims 1 in

3; our study showed approximately 1 in 4.

 1.8 million women are assaulted by their husband each year (AMA)

 Gender violence causes more death and disability among women (15-44) than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, or war
35

 Between 50,000 and 70,000 women are smuggled into the USA as sex slaves. A

report (Univ. of Texas) as recent as August 18 of this year reveal that there is an

increasing number of women from Russia who are being smuggled into the US and

forced to work as topless dancers and sex agents.

The Head of the Women and War Project for the International Red Cross said that

women and girls are the subject of innumerable acts of violence during situations of armed

conflict.

In Croatia, our regional leader found only one safe house and it was located near the

Capitol City of Zagreb. She also found only one feminist group that was addressing the

issues of abuse and injusticesa small initiative called the Center for Womens Studies in

Osijek. She states there are basically no laws or mechanisms in place protecting women

and when police receive calls from women for helpthe response is the same, that is a

family issue and they dont intervene There is no legal support.

However, again let me state, more and more church leaders and members are beginning to acknowledge that there is a problem. And I am pleased to share with you that

religious leaders and faith communities in some parts of the world have begun to seek

solutions to violence against women. Here is a sampling:

I shared previously about the recent World Evangelical Fellowships international

responsemaking a resolution to do everything within its powers to stop abuse against

women. World Evangelical Fellowship represents 114 national fellowships and 105 associate member bodieswhich are made up of 1.6 million local churches with a membership

of over 165 million evangelicals.

I am also happy to report to you that our WEF Task Force is currently focusing on our

newest initiativea pilot project in Osijek, Croatia. We are partnering together with the

Evangelical Theological Seminary to begin teaching and training courses beginning November of this year. These courses will focus on Biblical and practical resources to counteract abuse.

I am most proud to share with you that September 19-21, 2001, there will be held in

the Houston, Texas Astrodome, an historic event never before attempted. Thirteen international womens organizations and over 120 national organizations are gathering together

to unite their efforts in raising awareness of the immense suffering and injustice to women

around the world and the need for the churches and faith based organizations to begin to

respond. What is of significance is that each of the 13 world organization are bringing

together all of their world leaders to work together on this global state of emergency. A

large contingency from the OSCE region will be attending.

In Bulgaria, our WEF Task Force member reported this week that there is beginning

to be a small yet concerted effort by faith based organizations in joining together to address abuse due to the fact more and more public attention is being drawn to the severity

of the problem.

Various publications of the Seventh-day Adventist Church are telling us, At our

womens retreats and congresses, we are talking about it. Were doing education on what

it is and what is acceptable and what is not, says Ardis Stenbakken, director of womens

ministries for their church worldwide.

The Presbyterian Church USA task force on Healing Domestic Violence has completed a policy statement which recommends that pastors, volunteers, and church officers

be trained to recognize and respond to family violence; and that pastors address this issue

from the pulpit; and that each church maintain a listing for referrals to local agencies that
36

can help.

In India, churches are banning together to back legislation dealing with domestic

violence. The mainline churches have extended their support and feel that domestic violence is something the church should protest.

The Methodist Church is working to develop educational materials and training curriculum for clergy of various ethnic groups.

Several interesting and very critical points must be made in closing regarding the

serious issue of abuse. From my own personal and painful journey of recovery from sexual

and psychological abuse as a child, I have come to the full knowledge of the immense importance of clergy involvement. Clergy hold tremendous power in their hands. The journey to

healing is made extensively shorter in peoples lives when the faith-based community gets

involved.

Therefore, the Task Force on Abuse Against Women, sponsored by the World Evangelical Fellowship Commission on Womens Concerns, current initiatives are as follows:

Educate clergy and make churches safe places to disclose abuse. When abuse is addressed from the pulpit, in the pastoral study, in womens Bible-study classes, in Sunday

school, or in premarital workshops, things begin to happen within the church community.

The implicit message rings out: this church, or this pastoral study, is a safe place to share

experiences of being hurt. The first step on the road to recovery for women suffering abuse is

to disclose the pain and humiliation they have endured to someone who is willing to listen in

an environment that is safe and supportive.

Ensure coordinated appropriate response to abuse victims. Once a womans safety is

assured, a plethora of practical needs surface: the provision of emergency financial assistance, permanent lodging, child care, legal counsel, transportation, help for ongoing emotional needs, medical attention, spiritual counseling.

Paving the pathway from the steeple to the shelter. Victims of violence experience a

multitude of practical and spiritual questions and dilemmas. They need multifaceted supportreligious and secular, emotional and practical. Yet workers trained in very different disciplines and ways of thinking often find it hard to cooperate to achieve a single

goal. Secular workers, like social workers, do not often refer religious clients to clergy

because they fear that the counsel offered in a pastoral study will thwart their clients

healing journey. Clergy on the other hand are reluctant to refer their parishioners to

secular sources of help because they fear the counsel offered in a community health setting will break up the family and thwart a womans spiritual development.

Violence is a multifaceted community problem with social, psychological, spiritual,

legal and economic aspects. It cannot be eradicated by any one segment of society, however well intentioned, working in isolation from the broader community. Churches and

clergy have a unique role to play in responding to the needs of abuse victims and their

families. Faith communities can raise awareness of abuse and support violence-free family living by offering educational programs for men, women, and children during their

weekly routine of church life. Holding abusers accountable while offering hope for those

desiring to change their violent behavior is another avenue of intervention by congregations. The Task Force suggests restorative measures in its report, however realizing that

it is exceedingly difficult for abusers to alter their patterns of behavior. Our report suggests that the church take firm action in dealing with abusers with group intervention

programs, which force the abuser to take responsibility for his abuse.

Spiritual leaders have a valuable, distinct role in the fight to end violence in the
37

family, but their practical and emotional assistance is far more effective when offered

alongside the resources of other professionals and agencies. Working together, combining

expertise and mission, augments the healing journey of victims and has the potential to

transform the neighborhoods that churches serveultimately affect an entire city and

the nations of the world.

Thank you for inviting me and giving me the privilege to share with all of you today.

May God bless all your efforts on behalf of the suffering women of the world.
38

PREPARED STATEMENT OF NANCY MURPHY,

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NORTHWEST FAMILY LIFE

LEARNING AND COUNSELING CENTER

INTRODUCTION

Imagine you are walking in her shoes. The shoes of a woman brutalized in unspeakable ways by the man that pledged to love, honor and cherish her, til death do us part.

You are hit in the face, punched in the stomach, cursed, raped with a blunt object, called

names that sear your mind in front of your small children.

Imagine you are her. You are the woman who has mustered up the courage to reach

out for help ... What would you hope for? Would you hope for safety, for comfort, for guidance? Perhaps revenge. Would you know where to turn? I wonder.

If you stayed, would it mean you were weak or liked it? Or could it mean that you

were too hurt, wounded, exhausted and afraid to leave? What messages would you give

your children if you stayed? If you left, how would you survive? What would the kids do

without their father? What would your family think? Would you ask, Where is God?

THE PROBLEM

Domestic violence is a leading cause of injury and death to women worldwide. One

in three women around the globe is physically or sexually abused in her lifetime. Gender

violence causes more death and disability among women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war.1

Primarily, but not always, domestic violence is a crime committed by men against

women. Research informs us that it is a global problem. In research conducted in several

OSCE countries, the following percentages of women report having been physically assaulted by an intimate partner:

 In the United States of America, 22.1 percent 2

 In Canada, 29 percent 3

 In Norway 18 percent4

 In Switzerland 12.6 percent5

 In Turkey 57.9 percent6

 In the United Kingdom 30 percent7.

These percentages report physical assault, yet physical violence is only one aspect of

domestic violence. Emotional and sexual violence has not been factored into any of these

statistics. The numbers would increase exponentially if they were.

1. Kroeger, C. Clark & Nason-Clark, N., 2001

2. U.S. Department of Justice, 1998

3. Rodgers, 1994; Statistics Canada 1993

4. Schei, 1989

5. Gillioz et al. 1996

6 Ilkkaracan et al., 1998

7. Mooney 1993
39

A CALL TO RESPOND

Now imagine that she, this battered woman calls you. She heard you cared about

the rights of women and children. You are the one she turned to for help.

Would you know what to say? Would you know what to do? Would you know how to

keep her safe? Would you know how to help her husband if he wanted to change his abusive and terrorizing ways? Would you know how to give her children hope for a better

tomorrow?

What if you did know just how to respond? You knew how to tell her that no one

deserves to be beaten by the one they love, that the home should be a place of safety and

that it grieved you that this was not the case for her. What if you knew of a shelter that

had a bed for her and her children and were able to assist them in finding safety?

What if you knew all the right things to say and do and you had all the time and

money needed to help her, but ...

... her husband kept calling her full of remorse and promises.

... the pastor of their church convinced her that it was her God-given duty to stay faithful to her husband, to submit to his desires, to continue to take the abuse and to

forgive and forget.

... a family member betrayed a confidence and told the childrens father where you had

carefully hidden his family before his treatment was completed. Or

... the judge ruled for joint custody of the children even though the father had demonstrated, over and over, cruelty or neglect of his very own kids. Now the mother was

required to stay in contact with her abuser.

Would you begin to fear for your life as well for getting involved?

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS WHAT HAPPENS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

A Family Matter: Domestic violence, in most times and places, has historically been

a family matter. The notion implied in that phrase was that what happens behind closed

doors is nobody elses business. It is a private affair to be handled within the family.

Quite to the contrary, what happens behind closed doors very much impacts our world.

It affects each of us either directly or indirectly. To insist otherwise is ludicrous. The

March of Dimes research tells us that domestic violence is the number one cause of birth

defects in newborn children.8

 Children who have witnessed violence, not been abused, but

witnessed the violence at home are 1000 percent more likely to become our next abusers.9

Children who watch the victimization of their mothers are five times more likely to exhibit serious behavioral problems than other children.10 These children are 6 times more

likely to commit suicide, 24 times more likely to commit sexual assault, 50 percent more

likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, 74 percent more likely to commit crimes against others

and 60 percent of boys incarcerated for murder between the ages of 15 and 21 are incarcerated for having killed their mothers abuser.11

8. March of Dimes publication

9. Jaffe et al. 1986: cf. Statistics Canada 1993

10. Moore, 1999

11. Massachusetts Department of Youth Services
40

Imagine the impact on our educational institutes, our health systems, our criminal

justice system, our neighborhoods, and the workplace. Beyond the immediate and longterm consequences for the woman and her children the costs exacted are financial, emotional and spiritual. Violence behind closed doors costs all of us dearly for generations to

come.

WHAT IS BEING DONE ABOUT IT?

There has been an interesting evolution in the history of responses to the issue of

domestic violence. Probably the first interventions attempted were focused on trying to

get the victim to be more compliant. If she would just be more submissive, compliant or

stop provoking him, this would never happen. Women were prescribed medications for

depression and anxiety, symptoms commonly found among victims of violence and abuse.

This approach assumed if she would just do something different, he would change. He

wouldnt hurt her. She was identified as the problem.

Of major importance, women who tried becoming more submissive often found that it

had the opposite effect. Interpersonal violence escalated. Confused, they began to speak

out about their abuse. Counseling became the natural next step as women attempted to

break the silence.

Family or Marital Counseling: The next popular intervention was family or marital

therapy for issues such as co-dependency, communication and conflict resolution. The

assumptions were if she would stop enabling his behavior, or if they could learn to talk

things over, then the conflicts would be resolved. The result would be fewer violent episodes. If the problems were solved, there would be less to fight about.

This intervention assumes that domestic violence is a problem in the relationship. It

has turned out to be a faulty assumption.

The reality for victims of violence in couples counseling is dangerous and unsettling.

If she really tells about what goes on at home, she faces dire consequences for speaking

up, for humiliating him in front of someone else. It became apparent the price to pay for

many women who confide to a counselor or a pastor was violence at home. A woman may

feel encouraged by the opportunity to get help then she shares everything, only to have it

used against her at a later time, further escalating the abuse. Sadly, many men present

their public face for the counselor and save their private face for home.

Marital or family therapy is based on an assumption of equal power between members of the couple or in the family. This is simply not the case when one party has the

power to economically control others forcing them into compliance, or when one reserves

the right to threaten or assault the others after therapy if they say the wrong thing.

Another problem with marital or family therapy is that the very name suggests to

some that this is a shared problem, that somehow the others are responsible for the actions of the perpetrator. This starts the therapy out on shaky grounds. Unless the clinician is very skilled in this issue, it results in continued subjugation of the victim and

perhaps even injury or death.

Domestic violence may well be a problem in a family, but the use of violence or abuse

is strictly an individual problem. It is a problem in the abuser, and must be addressed as

such if the violence is to end.

Anger Management: The next intervention, and a more current one, is anger management. The simple assumption is if someone can just manage this emotion, they wont

lose control and hurt others. Recognizing this, anger management became the next step
41

forward in that the individual with the problem was sent for help, alone- without his

partner. While a move in the right direction, it became apparent quickly that not all

batterers use anger to control their victims. Conversely, not all men who have trouble

with anger are batterers. So it became evident that anger was one of many domestic violence issues to address, not the only one.

Jacobson and Gottman (1998) found that there are at least two kinds of batterers,

who they call pit bulls and cobras. Pit bulls are men whose emotions quickly boil over,

whereas cobras are men who are cool and methodical as they inflict pain and humiliation

on their partners. Interestingly, their heart rates actually went down as they were battering. They were not expressing any angry emotions at all. Additionally, Donald Duttons

research suggests that many batterers have serious mental illnesses in addition to their

problems with power and control that underlie their use of violence. Obviously, for many

other men battering is a learned behavior. They have witnessed abuse, learned this behavior and learned it well. Their trauma remains. Anger management programs are not

designed to meet the myriads of problems these men need to have addressed.

ARREST LAWS

Mandatory arrest laws have been introduced in many states for physically assaulting an intimate partner, for making threats and for stalking. While the abuser is taken to

jail, the victim is provided with referrals to shelters and services designed to provide

advocacy for her and for her children. With the law taking this problem seriously, many

abusers beliefs of entitlement begin to be challenged. They begin to rethink their roles,

rights and responsibilities within the relationship. Consequently, many working in the

field believe that an arrest and incarceration for domestic violence is the most successful

technique for getting violent men to stop abuse. (Heise, 1994; Sherman & Berk, 1984) It

gets their attention. Those who care about their image become quite willing to get help.

Important to note, others have found that arrest can increase physical violence in some

cases, particularly when the men do not have good community ties or a need for social

conformity. (Dunford, Huizinga, & Elliot, 1990) The mental health professionals refer to

these individuals as sociopaths.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE TREATMENT PROGRAMS

In North America, a new counseling model to stop violence in the home has developed. In concert with the criminal justice system, judges can order a batterer over his

objections to attend approved counseling sessions. In Washington State, WAC 388-60 details the requirements for a Domestic Violence Treatment Program. Men entering these

programs are required to attend weekly single gender groups for a minimum of a year, or

they go back to jail for their crime. Those being arrested and charged with a misdemeanor

as a first offense are eligible for a Stipulated Order of Continuance (SOC). If they complete treatment satisfactorily, the charge will not remain on their record.

COORDINATED COMMUNITY RESPONSE

What has become the most effective strategy in intervening in the cycles of violence

is what is known as A Coordinated Community Response. Coming together around this

issue in order to address it with a unified voice are the legal system, advocacy groups,

treatment providers, health care providers, religious communities, local governments,

and educational institutes. Coming together is no small feat. But it is crucial. As we come to
42

an agreement on the definitions of violence and strategize our responses, we keep victim

safety as our top priority. When we speak with a collective voice, our message will be neither fragmented nor contradictory, but a clear community call to stop domestic violence.

NO EXCUSE FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

In addition to being a psychological issue, a legal issue, a social issue, a religious

issue, domestic violence is a human rights issue.

If there is no excuse for domestic violence, if safety in the home is to be our basic

human right, then we must come together to close the gap that exists to permit such a

crime. We must provide places of safety for women and children where they feel supported and honored; places where they can regain their dignity and find self worth; places

where they can heal from the degradation of their experience.

We must insist that the problem is resident within the one who does the abusing, the

one who exercises power and control over another in intimate relationships. We must call

the abusers to account for their actions and persist in the work of facing them with the

consequences of their behavior.

We must get involved with our children so that they never receive messages that

would permit them to carry on the legacy of domestic violence.

We must find ways to work together to bring hope and healing to our sisters and

brothers around the world. We must walk in her shoes.

REFERENCES

Dunford, F., Huizinga, D., & Elliot, D. (1990) The Role of Arrest to Domestic Assault:

The Omaha Police Experiment. Criminology, 28, 183-206.

Ellsberg, Mary Carroll. (1997) Candies in hell: Domestic violence against women in Nicaragua. Umea, Sweden: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Umea University.

Gillioz, L., et al. (1996) Domination masculine et violence envers les femmes dans la famille

en Suisse. Typescript, Geneva.

Heise, L. (with Pitanguy, J., & Germain, A.). (1994) Violence against women: The hidden health burden. World Bank Discussion Paper #255. Washington, DC: The World

Bank.

Ilkkaracan, Pinar, and Women for Womens Human Rights. (1988) Exploring the context of womens sexuality in Eastern Turkey. Reproductive Health Matters 6. no.

12:66-75.

Jacobson, N., & Gottman, J. (1998) When Men Batter Women: New Insights into Ending

Abusive Relationships. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Jaffee, Peter, et al. (1986) Similarities in behavioral and social maladjustment among

child victims and witnesses to family violence. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 56, no. 1:142-46.

Kroeger, C. Clark & Nason-Clark, N. (2001) No Place For Abuse. Downers Grove, Illinois.

Mooney, J. (1993) The hidden figure: Domestic violence in North London. London:

School of Sociology and Social Policy, Middlesex University.

Moore, Sheila Y. (1999) Adolescent boys are the underserved victims of domestic violence. Boston Globe, December 26, p. E7.
43

Rodgers, K. (1994) Wife assault: The findings of a national survey. Juristat Service

Bulletin of the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics 14, no. 9:1-22.

Schei, Berit, and L.S. Bakketeig. (1989) Gynecological Impact of Sexual and Physical

Abuse by Spouse: A study of a random sample of Norwegian women. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 96:1379-83.

Sherman, L.W., & Berk, R.A. (1984). The specific deterrent effects of arrest for domestic assault.American Sociological Review, 49, 261-271.

United States Department of Justice. (1998) Prevalence, Incidence and consequences

of Violence Against Women: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey.

Washington, D.C.: Department of Justice.

Walker, L.E.A. (1999) Psychology and Domestic Violence Around the World. American Psychologist, 54, 21-29
44

WRITTEN SUBMISSION OF NCSJADVOCATES ON BEHALF OF JEWS

IN RUSSIA, UKRAINE, THE BALTIC STATES AND EURASIA

ADDRESSING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE THROUGH

ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES IN RUSSIA

For 21

/2 weeks in January 2001, eight women representing the Russian Jewish communities of Tula and Voronezh participated in a leadership-training project on domestic violence. This program was the second phase of a U.S. State Department grant received by

NCSJ in partnership with Jewish Women International, Russian Jewish Congress, and

Project Kesher. The project is a unique partnership between American Jewish organizations and Russian based organizations.

The training sessions, which were held in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Maryland,

Richmond, Virginia, and Columbus, Ohio, were designed to provide the women with the

knowledge and skills they need to become community organizers on this issue in Russia.

Training was provided by the House of Ruth and CHANA (Counseling Helpline &

Aid Network for Abused Women in Baltimore, The Jewish Project of the Center for the

Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence, Safe Harbor Shelter in Richmond, and the

Shalom Bayit Program of Jewish family Services of Columbus. The trainers included community activists, rabbis, police, attorneys, and public policy experts.

In Washington, DC, the group met with Members of Congress and the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and gave a briefing at Radio Free Europe.

They were hosted at numerous receptions by the Jewish communities and had an opportunity to visit Jewish Community Centers and Synagogues in each of the cities. They also

received a guided Russian language tour of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The womens visit also gave them an opportunity to connect with their Jewish heritage. Rabbi Dvorah Setel, representing the Center of the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence, helped them to learn the blessings for before and after the Torah reading, in preparation for a group aliyah (call to the Torah) on Shabbat at Tikvat Israel Congregation in Rockville, Maryland. This was a first time experience for many of the women.

There are few services and little attention devoted to the issue of domestic violence

in Russia. Weak legislation and police and government disinterest provide little support

to victims of domestic violence. Housing shortages and the lack of economic opportunity

make leaving abusive partners almost impossible. According to the American Bar Association, the number of Russian women who die from domestic violence each year (12-

16,000) is comparable to the total number of casualties sustained by the Soviet Union

during its war with Afghanistan. Domestic violence is not a particular problem in the

Jewish community, but does exist and is a reflection of the general society.

This initiative focuses on engaging the religious communities, particularly the Jewish community, in the fight against domestic violence. The women will return to their

communities to educate and organize local women after having been exposed to the many

social justice and model programs that exist in the United States. Their work will include

building coalitions with other interest groups, tapping into resources that currently exist

in other parts of the country, and creatively seeking solutions that will work in their own

communities. Jewish Women Internationals Resource Guide for Rabbis and their Resource Guide for Community Workers: Domestic Violence in the Jewish Culture will be

used as models.
45

In addition to participating in domestic violence training, the women had an opportunity to speak with Jewish community leaders here about the needs of their communities in Russia. In particular, the Jewish community of Richmond expressed an interest in

expanding its relationship with Voronezh. By taking the lead in organizing against domestic violence in their communities, these women will also apply these skills to further

develop their Jewish communities in Russia.

The next phase of the project will be implemented in Tula and Voronezh. The women

will create a public awareness campaign and begin to identify ways to provide services to

victims of domestic violence and identify solutions that are specific to the unique circumstances of Russia.
46

WRITTEN SUBMISSION BY ELIZABETH ANDERSEN,

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA DIVISION,

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Id like to begin by thanking the Commission for taking up this extremely important

human rights issue. Human Rights Watch applauds the efforts of the CSCE to bring domestic violence in the OSCE region out of the shadows and into the spotlight. The failure

of states to respond appropriately to domestic violence destroys the lives of so many women

in the region, condemning them to an existence filled with physical, psychological, and

sexual violence. And in some cases, the states indifference to these abuses ends tragically

in the death of domestic violence victims.

The Russian government admitted in the mid-1990s that domestic violence costs the

lives of approximately 12,000 women who are killed each year by intimate partners and

family members.1 Other governments in the region simply do not keep statistics, obscuring the human cost of domestic violence.

Human Rights Watch has done extensive research on domestic violence in Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation. We have published two in-depth reports, Sacrificing

Women to Save the Family? State Response to Domestic Violence in Uzbekistan and Too

Little, Too Late: State Response to Violence against Women in the Russian Federation. Both

reports indict government authorities for failing to take domestic violence seriously, failing to protect women from that violence, and failing to prosecute perpetrators of domestic

violence. Sadly, those who commit acts domestic violence in Uzbekistan and the Russian

Federation today enjoy almost complete impunity for their crimes. Womens non-governmental organizations and crisis centers working throughout the newly independent states

report that conditions for victims of domestic violence are similar across the region.

Human Rights Watch investigators researched domestic violence in Uzbekistan in

May and June 2000, conducting interviews with victims of domestic violence, women s

rights activists, along with dozens of lawyers, judges, police, doctors, and government

officials at the national, province, district, village, and mahalla (local community government) levels. Researchers focused on rural areas, where more than 60 percent of the population lives.

Researchers found that Uzbek women battered by their husbands have little hope of

protection from the government. Rather than protect them from violence, Uzbek authorities routinely force women to remain in violent marriages, blocking their access to divorce and strong-arming them to return to their husbands.

The Uzbek government routinely fails to investigate and prosecute domestic violence

against women. State policies intended to save the family and maintain low divorce

rates have left women unable to depend on police or other officials for protection from

violence and exacerbated their vulnerability to continued beatings in the home. Uzbek

officials rarely criminally prosecute husbands who beat their wives. Instead, local authorities, under orders from central government officials, attempt to reconcile married

couples, often sacrificing the womens safety and rights to sustain low divorce statistics.

Batterers enjoy near impunity for their violence, often facing criminal penalties only

if their victims commit suicide. In one of the cases documented in the report, a 20-year-old

battered woman committed suicide by drinking vinegar concentrate. Only after she had

died did police consider bringing charges against her husband and father-in-law.
47

Consider the case of S.B., a 38-year-old woman living in a rural community, who

faced violence in her home for 17 years. Suffering from tuberculosis and abandoned by her

husband who had taken a second wife, she told Human Rights Watch:

He beat me so hard that I lost my teeth. The beatings happened at least one

time each month. He used his fists to beat me. He beat me most severely when I

was pregnant ... The first time he beat me, and I lost the baby. I was in the hospital. The second time was only a few days before a baby was born, and my face was

covered with bruises. He beat me and I went to my parents. My father refused to

take me to a doctor. He said, What will I say, her husband beats her? 

 M.T., a mother of three, who fled to her parents home in a rural region in Uzbekistan told Human Rights Watch:

I have a bad memory because my ... husband beat me on the head. I have no

memory anymore. He gave me head trauma. I did not tell anyone that he beat

me. I did not go to the mahalla committee. I told my parents, and they went to

him and said that he should stop. They asked him to stop. For a year we were

happy...then he began to beat me again.

[After one particularly serious beating], my head was spinning, and I saw spots

before me. I lost consciousness, and I cannot remember what happened to me 

My brother took me to the doctor. They gave me three shots, and then I felt a

little better. But I got worse again, and they took me back to the hospital. I told

them that my husband beat me. They said that they would call the police. The

policemen did not come to the hospital even though the doctor told them what

had happened. I was in the hospital for 7 days.

Finally, [someone] came  and said that someone from the precinct would come

and take a longer statement from me. But no one ever came. No one asked me

anything.

Police in Uzbekistan admitted that they rarely press charges except in cases of the

death of the victim. And often the only criminal sanction against the perpetrators of domestic violence comes when their victims have taken their own lives. Article 103 of the

Criminal Code provides for penalties of up to 8 years of imprisonment for driving a person

to suicide.

In December 1997, Human Rights Watch published a report on violence against women

in the Russian Federation. The report, Too Little, Too Late: State Response to Violence

against Women, documented the utter failure of the Russian government to respond to

domestic violence. Many women who tried to report the violence to the police found their

reports refused outright by officers who minimized the violence and encouraged women

to return to violent spouses. In Nizhni Tagil, one woman reported her husbands battering

to the police and was told by the officer, What is so bad about it? He broke some dishes.

Go home and you will be fine. 2

1 Sophie Lambroschini, Domestic Violence Persists, RFE/RL, March 7, 2001. Earlier figures indicated

that 14,000 women were killed annually. Boris Dolotin, citing statistics from the Prosecutor Generals

Office, quoted in Interfax, May 1995.

2

 Interview, Natalia Tashinova, counselor, Nizhni Tagil Center, Lana, Nizhni Tagil, May 7, 1996.
48

In the rare cases when police responded to domestic violence complaints, their response was inadequate. Police generally blamed the victim or dismissed the violence as

an internal family affair. In one case, T.A., a dentist, told Human Rights Watch:

In [April 1995], when I told [my husband] I was going to divorce him, he broke

both my thumbs. He held me down on the bed and tried to rape me. He was

holding me down by the thumbs and they broke when I was trying to get away.3

When T.A. went to the police to report the attack, the officer told her that it was a

family fight and that since she had no witnesses, she should pursue a divorce.

Police maintained that it would be pointless to take reports, since women routinely

withdrew their complaints. Women victims of violence told Human Rights Watch that

they had withdraw their complaints in some instances out of fear of retaliation from their

violent spouses. In one case, related to researchers by the victims mother, a woman in

Murmansk was severely beaten and raped by her husband. The medical exam indicated

that she suffered severe bruising and injury to her kidneys. After she filed a police report,

her husband told her that he would kill her. When she informed the investigator of the

threat, he told her that he could not protect her. She, fearing for her life, withdrew the

complaint. 4

Marina Pisklakova, president of the Russian Association of Crisis Centers for Women,

told Human Rights Watch that women married to police officers who battered them experienced even more difficulty in pursuing legal remedies. In one case, the wife of a police

officer contacted ANNA, a Moscow crisis center, after police refused to protect her and

released her husband from custody.

In general, domestic violence cases only rarely made it to court, and penalties levied

for these crimes were minimal. And police bias prevented women from pursuing some

claimsparticularly marital rapeat all. In September 1999, Human Rights Watch researchers returned to Russia to update the findings of the report. One non-governmental

organization leader told researchers of a case in Nizhni Tagil. A woman tried to go to the

police to report that her husband had raped her. A representative from the center in

Nizhni Tagil accompanied her to the station. For several hours the victim sat in the station, waiting for officers to process a complaint. During her long wait she faced harassment and humiliation by police officers who ridiculed the very notion that a man could

rape his wife. She did not succeed in pursuing her complaint.

So, what is to be done? These accounts of police bias, official indifference, and state

failure deserve our attention. Fortunately, the U.S. government has taken some steps to

tackle violence against women in the Russian Federation with a $1.5 million earmark for

support for crisis centers and police training in the Russian Federation. This program has

made some small dents into these human rights abuses. But, in Russia, more must be

done. The Russian Association of Crisis Centers for Women, an alliance of over 30 crisis

centers scattered throughout that country, desperately needs financial support. And individual centers face dire financial constraints that hamper their efforts to assist victims

and train police in combating violence against women.

3

 Interview, T.A., St. Petersburg, April 29, 1996.

4

 Interview, Murmansk, May 1996.
49

In Uzbekistan, the international community should provide financial support for the

creation of legal aid centers, particularly in rural areas, to assist women in escaping situations of domestic violence. In addition, the U.S. government and other OSCE member

states should raise the issue of domestic violence in high-level meetings with Uzbek authorities. Finally, the U.S. government should fund public education campaigns condemning violence against women.

We look forward to working with you to advance this agenda. Thank you for taking up

this very serious problem of human rights abuses against women in the OSCE region.
This is a U.S. Government publication produced by

the Commission on Security and Cooperation

in Europe (CSCE).

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