IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 931 

Supporting the goals and ideals of the International Day for the Elimination 

of Violence against Women. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2009 

Mr. CARSON of Indiana submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee 

on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the goals and ideals of the International Day 

for the Elimination of Violence against Women. 

Whereas, November 25, 2009, is recognized as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against 

Women; 

Whereas one out of every three women worldwide will be 

physically, sexually, or otherwise abused during her lifetime with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries; 

Whereas the right of women to be free from violence is integral to article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human 

Rights; 


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Whereas it is a public health epidemic and a barrier to solving global challenges such as extreme poverty, HIV/ 

AIDS, and conflict; 

Whereas it devastates the lives of millions of women and 

girls, in peacetime and in conflict, and knows no national 

or cultural barriers; 

Whereas physical abuse and rape is used as a weapon of war 

during times of conflict to achieve military objectives 

such as genocide, ethnic cleansing, spreading political terror, breaking the resistance of a community, intimidation, 

or to extract information; 

Whereas in Rwanda, up to half a million women were raped 

during the 1994 genocide; 

Whereas in Bosnia-Herzegovina, close to 60,000 women were 

raped during the war in which violence against women 

was used as a tool of ethnic cleansing; 

Whereas the trafficking of women has become a global phenomenon where victims are sexually exploited, forced into 

labor, and subjected to abuse; 

Whereas according to the Violence Policy Center in 2007, in 

the United States there were 1,865 females murdered by 

males in single victim/single offender incidents that were 

submitted to the FBI for its Supplementary Homicide 

Report, an average of five women everyday; 

Whereas of all the women murdered in the United States, 

about one-third were killed by an intimate partner; 

Whereas according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, women in the United States experience 

about 4,800,000 intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes every year; 


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Whereas less than 20 percent of battered women sought medical treatment following an injury; 

Whereas according to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which includes crimes that were not reported to the 

police, 232,960 women in the United States were raped 

or sexually assaulted in 2006, more than 600 women everyday; 

Whereas other estimates, such as those generated by the 

FBI, are much lower because they rely on data from law 

enforcement agencies; 

Whereas a significant number of crimes are never even reported for reasons that include the victim’s feeling that 

nothing can or will be done and the personal nature of 

the incident; 

Whereas young women, low-income women, and some minorities are disproportionately victims of domestic violence 

and rape; 

Whereas women ages 20 to 24 are at the greatest risk of 

nonfatal domestic violence, and women age 24 and under 

suffer from the highest rates of rape; 

Whereas income is also a factor, the poorer the household, 

the higher the rate of domestic violence, with women in 

the lowest income category experiencing more than six 

times the rate of nonfatal intimate partner violence as 

compared to women in the highest income category; 

Whereas African-American women face higher rates of domestic violence than White women, and American Indian 

women are victimized at a rate more than double that of 

women of other races; 

Whereas the Latino Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual 

Violence of Indiana advocates for Latino and immigrant 


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communities in the United States who suffer from isolation and limited resources in situations of domestic and 

sexual violence due to the lack of cultural competency 

and bilingual and bicultural services; 

Whereas national statistics show that approximately one in 

four (23.4 percent) Latinas report that they have been 

abused at some point in their lifetime; 

Whereas the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence 

found that more than 50 domestic violence related deaths 

were reported in Indiana between July 2008 and June 

2009; 

Whereas in 2008, 34,736 new protective orders were filed in 

the Indiana registry; 

Whereas according to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, 

‘‘growing up in a violent home may be a terrifying and 

traumatic experience that can affect every aspect of a 

child’s life, growth and development. . . . children who 

have been exposed to family violence suffer symptoms of 

post-traumatic stress disorder, such as bed-wetting or 

nightmares, and were at greater risk than their peers of 

having allergies, asthma, gastrointestinal problems, headaches and flu.’’; 

Whereas in addition, women who experience physical abuse as 

children are at a greater risk of victimization as adults; 

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that the cost of domestic violence in 2003 was more 

than over $8,300,000,000; 

Whereas this cost includes medical care, mental health services, and lost productivity; 

Whereas according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence 

Programs, ‘‘domestic violence affecting LGBT individuals 


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continues to be grossly underreported . . . there is a lack 

of awareness and denial about the existence of this type 

of violence and its impact, both by LGBT people and 

non-LGBT people alike’’; 

Whereas myths regarding gender roles perpetuate the silence 

surrounding these abusive relationships, for example, the 

belief that there aren’t abusive lesbian relationships because women don’t abuse each other; 

Whereas shelters are often unequipped to handle the needs of 

lesbians (as a women-only shelter isn’t much defense 

against a female abuser), and transgendered individuals; 

Whereas statistics regarding domestic violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are 

unavailable at the national level, but as regional studies 

demonstrate, domestic violence is as much as a problem 

within LGBT communities as it is among heterosexual 

ones; and 

Whereas the people of the United States should be encouraged to participate in the International Day for the 

Elimination of Violence against Women: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the goals and ideals of the Inter3 national Day for the Elimination of Violence against 

4 Women; 

5 (2) recognizes and honors the individuals and 

6 organizations in the United States and in other 

7 countries who have fought and continue to struggle 

8 to eliminate violence against women; and 


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1 (3) encourages the President to— 

2 (A) increase legal and judicial protection to 

3 address violence against women and girls; 

4 (B) increase health sector capacity to ad5 dress violence against women and girls; 

6 (C) change social norms to end violence 

7 against women and girls; 

8 (D) increase women’s economic oppor9 tunity and education; 

10 (E) address violence against women and 

11 girls in overseas conflict related humanitarian 

12 situations; and 

13 (F) issue a proclamation calling upon the 

14 people of the United States to observe the 

15 International Day for the Elimination of Vio16 lence against Women with appropriate pro17 grams and activities. 

Æ 


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