II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1811

To expand research for women in trauma. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 31, 2003

Mr. DASCHLE (for Mr. EDWARDS) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions 

A BILL

To expand research for women in trauma.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding Research 

5 for Women in Trauma Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Most studies of violence against women cur9 rently focus on physical abuse or rape, primarily be10 cause they are easier to identify and measure and 

11 are potentially lethal, however, almost all battered 
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1 women describe psychological abuse as the most 

2 harmful. 

3 (2) Most available research on violence against 

4 women has focused on young to middle-aged white 

5 women living in the community although available 

6 data shows that incarcerated women, women living 

7 in poverty, women belonging to minority ethnic and 

8 language groups, older women, and women with 

9 mental and physical disabilities report especially 

10 high rates of victimization. 

11 (3) Victims of violence are at increased risk for 

12 a number of physical and mental health problems, 

13 for example, in primary care practice, women who 

14 have been raped report more symptoms of illness 

15 and more negative health behaviors than nonvictim16 ized women. 

17 (4) Effective methods for screening to identify 

18 women affected by violence are prerequisite to un19 derstanding the outcomes of abuse-sensitive medical 

20 care, for example, the effect of medical attention to 

21 violence on perceived health utilization of health 

22 services over time, and patient satisfaction. 

23 (5) Violence against women occurs in a 

24 sociocultural context. More research should be con25 ducted to identify sociocultural factors that promote 
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1 and maintain violence against women and to learn 

2 how sociocultural factors, such as gender roles and 

3 poverty, mediate the effects of interpersonal victim4 ization. 

5 (6) There are a number of community-based 

6 and legal system interventions available to victims of 

7 interpersonal violence. However, there is little eval8 uation research on the effectiveness of these inter9 ventions, especially for various subpopulations of 

10 women. More research needs to be conducted on the 

11 effectiveness of legal and community-based interven12 tions, not only those with the goal of changing the 

13 behavior of assailants but also those with the goal of 

14 helping women take safety-promoting actions. 

15 (7) Much of the research on violence against 

16 women examines continuing rates of physical or psy17 chological abuse as outcome measures and measures 

18 the behavior of the perpetrators, not something over 

19 which the woman has direct and immediate control. 

20 However, research on the women’s attempts to man21 age and end the violence in their lives is rare. 

22 (8) Much of the extant research has focused on 

23 violence against women in the streets (sexual as24 sault) or in their homes (domestic violence and bat25 tering). However, consistent focus on violence 
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1 against women in work-related (violence by partners 

2 in these settings and by coworkers and colleagues) 

3 and educational contexts has been more limited. 

4 SEC. 3. RESEARCH INITIATIVES. 

5 Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 399O. VIOLENCE PREVENTION RESEARCH INITIA9 TIVES. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

11 with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

12 Prevention, the Director of the National Institute of Men13 tal Health, the Director of the Office of Research on Wom14 en’s Health, the Director of the Office of Women’s Health, 

15 the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the 

16 Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and 

17 Alcoholism, the Director of the National Institute for Oc18 cupational Safety and Health, the Director of the Office 

19 of Behavioral and Social Science, the Director of the Sub20 stance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, and the 

21 Director of the National Center on Minority Health and 

22 Health Disparities shall make grants and enter into con23 tracts to—

24 ‘‘(1) increase research on the psychological 

25 sequelae of violence against women; 
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1 ‘‘(2) expand research on special populations and 

2 their risk for violence, including adolescents, older 

3 women, ethnic minorities, women with disabilities, 

4 and other affected populations; 

5 ‘‘(3) increase research on violence against 

6 women as a risk factor for various mental and phys7 ical health problems; 

8 ‘‘(4) develop and test effective methods of 

9 screening for violence in all points of entry to the 

10 health care system, including mental health, emer11 gency medicine, and primary care; 

12 ‘‘(5) expand and enhance research on socio13 economic and sociocultural correlates of violence, 

14 such as the factors that create the predisposition to15 ward violent behavior, situational variables that trig16 ger the expression of violence, and social processes 

17 that allow violence to continue without negative con18 sequences to the perpetrator; 

19 ‘‘(6) develop systematic and quantifiable meas20 ures to evaluate treatment programs for victims and 

21 perpetrators of violence; 

22 ‘‘(7) conduct research to increase better under23 standing of the complex process victimized women go 

24 through in attempting to manage and end the vio-
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1 lence in their lives and focus on resilience and cop2 ing mechanisms; and 

3 ‘‘(8) develop standardized questions concerning 

4 rape, battering, and sexual harassment in work-re5 lated and educational contexts to be routinely in6 cluded in governmentally sponsored national surveys 

7 in order to obtain a fuller and more accurate assess8 ment of the nature, prevalence, and effect of mul9 tiple forms of violence against women in these set10 tings. 

11 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall not 

12 award a grant under this section in an amount which ex13 ceeds $500,000. 

14 ‘‘(c) DURATION.—The Secretary shall award grants 

15 under this section for a period not to exceed 5 years. 

16 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desir18 ing a grant under this section shall submit an appli19 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such man20 ner, and accompanied by such information as the 

21 Secretary may reasonably require. 

22 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

23 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—

24 ‘‘(A) describe the activities for which as25 sistance under this section is sought; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) provide such additional assurances as 

2 the Secretary determines to be essential to en3 sure compliance with the requirements of this 

4 section. 

5 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

7 such sums as may be necessary.’’.

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