IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 590 

Supporting the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness 

Month and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

Congress should raise awareness of domestic violence in the United 

States and its devastating effects on families and communities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2007 

Mr. POE (for himself, Mr. COSTA, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mrs. MCCARTHY

of New York, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

ORTIZ, Mr. HOLDEN, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. 

FILNER, Mr. JEFFERSON, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 

ELLISON, Mrs. DRAKE, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. 

ALLEN, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. MICHAUD, Mrs. BIGGERT, Ms. DELAURO, 

Mr. BERMAN, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. MORAN of 

Virginia, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. NADLER, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, 

Mr. CARNEY, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. WYNN, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, 

Mr. CONYERS, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. 

RUPPERSBERGER, and Mr. SHAYS) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and expressing the sense of the 

House of Representatives that Congress should raise 

awareness of domestic violence in the United States and 

its devastating effects on families and communities. 

Whereas one in four women will experience domestic violence 

sometime in her life; 


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•HRES 590 IH 

Whereas domestic violence affects people of all ages, racial, 

ethnic, economic, and religious backgrounds; 

Whereas women ages 16 to 24 experience the highest rates, 

per capita, of intimate partner violence; 

Whereas 13 percent of teenage girls who have been in a relationship report being hit or hurt by their partners and 

one in four teenage girls has been in a relationship in 

which she was pressured into performing sexual acts by 

her partner; 

Whereas there is a need for middle schools, secondary 

schools, and post-secondary schools to educate students 

about the issues of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking; 

Whereas the annual cost of lost productivity due to domestic 

violence is estimated as $727,800,000 with over 

$7,900,000 paid workdays lost per year; 

Whereas homicides were the second leading cause of death on 

the job for women, with 15 percent of the 119 workplace 

homicides of women in 2003 attributed to a current or 

former husband or boyfriend; 

Whereas landlords frequently deny housing to victims of domestic violence who have protection orders or evict victims of domestic violence for seeking help, such as by 

calling 911, after a domestic violence incident or who 

have other indications that they are domestic violence victims; 

Whereas 92 percent of homeless women experience severe 

physical or sexual abuse at some point in their lifetimes; 

Whereas Americans suffer 2,200,000 medically treated injuries due to interpersonal violence annually, at a cost of 


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•HRES 590 IH 

$37,000,000,000 ($33,000,000,000 in productivity losses, 

$4,000,000,000 in medical treatment); 

Whereas people aged 15 to 44 years comprise 44 percent of 

the population, but account for nearly 75 percent of injuries and 83 percent of costs due to interpersonal violence; 

Whereas 40 to 60 percent of men who abuse women also 

abuse children; 

Whereas male children exposed to domestic violence are twice 

as likely to abuse their own partners; 

Whereas children exposed to domestic violence are more likely 

to attempt suicide, abuse drugs and alcohol, run away 

from home, and engage in teenage prostitution; 

Whereas adolescent girls who reported dating violence were 

60 percent more likely to report one or more suicide attempts in the past year; 

Whereas 13.7 percent of the victims of murder-suicide cases 

were the children of the perpetrator and 74.6 percent 

were female while 91.9 percent of the perpetrators were 

male; in 30 percent of those cases the male perpetrator 

also committed suicide; 

Whereas a 2001 study by the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention (CDC) on homicide among intimate partners found that female intimate partners are more likely 

to be murdered with a firearm than all other means combined; 

Whereas according to one study, during court ordered visitation, five percent of abusive fathers threaten to kill their 

spouses, 34 percent of abusive fathers threaten to kidnap 

their children, and 25 percent of abusive fathers threaten 

to physically hurt their children; 


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•HRES 590 IH 

Whereas homicide is the third leading cause of death for Native American women and 75 percent of Native American 

women who are killed are killed by a family member or 

an acquaintance; 

Whereas 88 percent of men think that our society should do 

more to respect women and girls; 

Whereas men say that the entertainment industry, government leaders and elected officials, the sports industry, 

schools, colleges and universities, the news media and 

employers should be doing more to prevent intimate partner violence; 

Whereas there is a need to increase funding for programs 

carried out under the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (VAWA 

2005), Public Law 109–162, aimed at intervening and 

preventing domestic violence in the United States; and 

Whereas individuals and organizations that are dedicated to 

preventing and ending domestic violence should be recognized: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the goals and ideals of National 

3 Domestic Violence Awareness Month; and 

4 (2) expresses the sense of the House of Rep5 resentatives that Congress should continue to raise 

6 awareness of domestic violence in the United States 

7 and its devastating effects on families and commu8 nities. 

Æ 


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