This policy wrongly assumes that poor women have children to increase their benefits, when in fact most families receiving assistance have only 1 or 2 children. States with higher benefits do not have larger families. For battered women and survivors of sexual violence, the policy could be even more harmful because the exemption for rape and incest is very narrow. Domestic violence often includes rape and incest, and under this bill, states can define rape and incest without any guidance. Victims of violence deserve privacy when discussing their personal life stories and tragedies.
Rape is the most underreported violent crime in America.
Many women, especially in domestic violence and intimate situations, do not seek immediate medical or police assistance. In the absence of other evidence, a woman's testimony must be enough. Otherwise, states may place a greater burden on AFDC recipients to prove rape or incest than is required by that state's criminal laws to convict the perpetrator. State caseworkers would have an incentive to hide the existence of these mothers and children. Paternity disclosure requirements Most battered women, like most poor women, would prefer an intact family, free of violence and poverty.