I believe there is a wealth of untapped resources in this country -- lawyers who want to volunteer. Yesterday in Des Moines, I spoke at Creative Visions, a human development center, and unveiled my National Domestic Violence Volunteer Act, which would harness the skills, enthusiasm and dedication of these lawyers and infuse 100,000 new volunteer lawyers into the justice system to represent domestic violence victims. I believe this initiative builds on the best of American ideals -- volunteerism, technology know-how, collaboration between the private and public sectors and our unwavering commitment to justice and service.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time to shine a light on the dark scourge of abuse that affects one out of four Americans each year. In Iowa alone in 2006, there were 77,256 calls to the state's domestic violence and sexual assault hotline and more than 23,000 victims of abuse helped by shelters and other service providers. Since 1995, 167 Iowans have been killed in domestic violence situations.
Once a domestic violence victim steps out from the shadow of an abusive relationship, what does she need? Lawyers. Domestic violence victims are in dire need for legal help for everything from obtaining protection orders to arranging child custody to instigating divorce proceedings.
A national survey by the National Network to End Domestic Violence found that in just one 24-hour cycle, more than 5,000 pleas for services, be it emergency shelter, transitional housing or legal aid, were unmet because of a lack of resources. This shortage means that thousands of victims of domestic violence go without legal representation in this country every day. And in fact, reports indicate that fewer than 1 out of every 5 low-income domestic violence victims ever sees a lawyer.
It is vital that a victim have an advocate helping her when she steps out of the abuse for the first time. The very second a battered woman calls the Hotline, reaches out to the police or walks into a courtroom, we need to connect this courageous person with legal assistance. Victims walk out on a limb when they seek help, often risking their personal safety. These first calls for help are critical moments when a victim must feel supported; if she doesn't, she may retreat back into the abuse.
The single, most important legislative accomplishment in my 32-year-old career in the Senate is passing the Violence Against Women Act. After years of work, countless hours of hearings, pages of expert testimony and Senate floor debate, my Act passed in 1994. The law was renewed in 2000 and most recently expanded in 2005 when I worked to include new measures to treat children who witness violence, to increase housing opportunities and to create dedicated resources for rape crisis centers.
Recognizing that campus gates don't keep out abuse, stalking and sexual assault, the Violence Against Women Act also created a special $15 million program for colleges and universities to create campus-wide victim services and security programs. The Act has transformed the way police, prosecutors, judges and advocates tackle domestic violence in their communities, and infused more than $4 billion dollars to state systems to fight violence against women. In 2007 alone, Iowa received $1.3 million for domestic violence programs with police, prosecutors, judges and advocates. But we are not done.
In May, I introduced the National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Network Act, legislation that, for the first time, creates a streamlined national system to recruit and train volunteer lawyers and match them with domestic violence victims. Using the power of the Internet, this nationwide network of attorneys will be coordinated by American Bar Association; statewide legal coordinators would manage legal services in their individual states, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline and Internet-based services would provide legal referrals to victims. The historic partnership forged in my bill will mean that enthusiastic potential advocates quickly and seamlessly will get linked to training and new clients. And at the same time, desperate victims will be referred to a statewide coordinator and quickly connected to a lawyer. I want to end the frustrating, and often fruitless, task of calling different agencies, offices, or groups, either to volunteer or find a lawyer.
I know the American people are ready to meet the challenges we face here at home and abroad, and I hope you will take a moment to read more about my plan as we all work to put an end to domestic violence.
Biden should be asking himself what women is he supporting by now. Perhaps is it just that, being N.O.W. If he had a shred of respect for justice for adults, children, and families he would have at least seen to it with his VAWA, Violence Against Women Act, that funds and shelters would be made and made available for abused men and thier abused children. The National Organization of Women, N.O.W., has traveled backward to being a group of misandrist (men haters) type feminists.
Now where the abuse of children is considered, women abuse a child far more often than does a man, especially a child's father. ( Federal DHHS statistics)
Biden and those who continue to perpetrate myths such as it is only women that suffer abuse and domestic violence are actually inciting to violence themselves, as they initiate and perpetrate gender war and to the commodification of the child.
May I direct the reader, the Huffington Post and you Mr. Biden to the useful resources of www.mediaradar.org, Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting, for the facts.
Biden not only does not deserve the Presidency but he should be taken off the congress and sent to work in a support group for abused men.
You are what this country needs more of - people who sit on the sidelines and mock the efforts of others.
"That's Joe BIden's way to fight domestic violence?"
No, Joe Biden isn't fighting domestic violence - he is protecting women after they are abused. Only an idiot would think lawyers could stop domestic violence.
The rationale of your argument takes no pity on the argument itself--if abusers have lawyers, in your view, that means that their victims should not.
I'm in counseling and taking anti depressants and the only place I really function is at work. The rest of the time I'm a basket case.
My abuser is NOT in counseling, even though the Court ordered it. There's nothing wrong with HIM.
In my case, my abuser was clearly emboldened by therapy - both couples and individual - because he'd say "my therapist thinks you're demanding and selfish" but, I knew how much he lied to EVERYONE ... so why would he be honest in therapy when all he wanted was an ally?
The couples therapist enforced his notion that his abuse was a "couples issue" and therefore, in his eyes, my fault. It was a disaster.
My PTSD lasted three years, and the worst kicked in a year after contact ended with my abuser. Nobody believed my story EXCEPT for my therapist, so I'd stopped telling it, and I felt like a freak!
Abuse in all it's forms is in violation of the United Nations Charter and articles of Human rights.
You have suffered a form of torture which is all tragicly to common. Have contact with / www.amnesty.org /in your country to learn more about others tortured lives and I hope for you the very best in the easing of your suffering.
Since when did psychiatrists take up the practice law? These victims need immediate protection from the courts. You can't counsel a dead body.
with rare exceptions, the comments here completely miss the mark on this issue.
domestic violence is about power, control, dominance, and above all, entitlement. the people who abuse their spouse do so because they believe they are entitled to do in order to get their own way and ensure the enslavement of that person to them.
they are manipulators of the highest order, users of people, vampires of the soul. abusers are rewarded for their behavior over and over again by a society that prefers to look the other way because of their own cowardice, their own level of discomfort, and the stupid wish that if they just ignore it long enough, it will go away and they will not have to get involved.
no one is responsible or bears even the slightest iota of responsibility for the abuser's actions except the abusers themselves.
no one forces the abuser to land a punch, or a slap or to shove their spouse. it is 100% their own decision to do so. any attempt to think or to claim otherwise is 100% wrong. a victim is NOT responsible for the crime committed against them.
access to attorneys who will fight for them is a step in the right direction, but the laws governing this issue need to be enforced, and they need to have severe consequences.
with any luck, senator biden's proposal will help raise awareness of the severity and scope of this issue as well.
In some countries, verbal abuse is punishable by law. Given that virtually all physically abused women are verbally abused first, it's a brilliant law that cuts abusers off from the start. Verbal and emotional abuse leaves no bruises, but it's just as crushing. In my opinion, by the time a person is being hit, it's just far too late. It's like waiting to do chemotherapy until every internal organ is cancerous, just because it's easier to see then.
This society has barely begun to fight abuse - I believe we start with education. The myths about abuse are damaging to victims and to advocates.
My idea ticket would be You or Gore/Obama, but if we have a Obama/Biden - I'd also be thrilled.
Hillary and Biden won't work. People are tired of the same old thing. They want FRESH ideas with a little experience and VERY good judgement. You and Obama have this.
Please talk to him and withdraw from the campaign.
put your presidential choices aside, and listen to what the man has to say.
it's important.
When Senator Biden beats Hillary in Iowa, I'll expect to see you on the Biden bandwagon! ...deal?
Reading other people's posts, I agree, there are other forms of abuse - but this is a start.
Biden's VAWA legislation has been widely applauded from women's groups all over the country.
Why not establish a legal support network for victims of violence, and hire and pay attorneys to file lawsuits on behalf of the victims, get and enforce injunctions? In other words, by suggesting that volunteers should solve the problem, it's really just another way of saying that it's not important enough for society to pay one penny to solve the problem.
So if we talk about the need for decent daycare for working parents, for example, but the suggested solution is that the grandparents should do it for free -- that's just another way of saying daycare, the care of children, is not important enough for our society to be willing to pay for it.
We pay for pork, we all know that. We pay for bridges to nowhere, and stupid pointless subsidies to major businesses which constitute nothing but corruption. We pay agribusiness to not grow crops. We pay mercenaries and professional killers to go to other countries and randomly kill civilians.
But we're not willing to pay anything to help the victims of violence. A proposal that attorneys volunteer their time is not going to do the trick. If Biden, or Congress, wants to help victims of violence, they should allocate funds to set up legal clinics where all victims of violence can receive free legal assistance, with all the costs paid for by a taxpayer fund.
Are battered and stalked and terrorized women worth us spending any money to protect? If we really cared, we would.
it is overwhelmingly women who are abused, and often murdered when they try to escape.
your comments take on a misogynistic turn that i sincerely hope was not your intent.
It is really hard for a man to get help. People just don't "get" that men get abused too.
My father was extremely violent physically, and to this day so late in my life I still have to talk myself out of a tight little ball in a corner when faced with abusive situations. It's a never ending insult to reason that echoes in our hearts long after the abuse is over.
And for the record... I don't care who these exist poll strategist pundants in MSM think are winning the primaries, my vote is with you all the way!
I am 33. I suffered violence from my adopted parents from the age of 1 to 18. No one would call what I experienced anything but torture had it occured from 19 to 33. As a child of course, it was much worse than had I endured it as an adult.
My brothers and sisters, who were also adopted or foster children, endured it as well and worse in most cases.
My parents won an life time achievement award as foster parents a number of years ago. They are praised and loved by their friends, family and church.
All of these people have stated that they could tell that we were being extremely abused, but not a single one ever did anything about it but kiss my parents ass.
This summer I was able to get the youngest out of my parents home. She is 15. She's never known what life is like not being abused. It took years to get her out. Even though Child Protection Services knew what was happening. Why?
Because society as a whole doesn't give a shit about defenseless people.
Senator Biden- It appears that you mean well, but often it comes out wrong in the telling.
She? SHE?
Saying "she" exclusively when talking about domestic violence is a lot like saying Barack Obama is "clean and articulate".
And while we're at it, most serial killers are killing women too.
And even when we're not talking about killing, most of the people who get routinely beaten up at home are women or children. Yes, there is the rare case of the woman who hits the man, but it's rare.
Violence against women is common and it is generally accepted in the society. If we wanted to end it, we would have a national commitment to ending it, like the national campaign to end smoking. We would have classes for the entire community, warning signs, a MegansLaw type of publicly available internet listing of each man who has hurt any woman, where he lives, and his mugshot. That is, if we really wanted to end violence against women.
Individual lawsuits may be necessary. But a national commitment is the only way this can be ended. There should be instruction in all schools from pre-school on against hitting or violence, and explaining that if anyone sees someone else hitting or threatening to hit, they need to go tell an adult so someone can stop it.
Personally, I would say that if a man hits a woman, we should smash every bone in his hand. If he kicks her, break his feet and legs. But that's just my view.
So, if a woman hits a man, or kicks a man, would she be treated the same way?
All I'm saying is that domestic violence goes equally both ways.
And how about the use of domestic violence allegations to gain the upper hand in divorce and custody?
I don't disagree with you. I just think there should be equal treatment under the law, and again, there are serious questions with Due Process involved in getting restraining orders. Do you remember the schizophrenic woman in Santa Fe, New Mexico that (this is a true story) got a restraining order against David Letterman (who was in New York, of course) to stop harassing her and giving her commands from inside the television? That's how easy it is to get a restraining order.
http://defamer.com/hollywood/david-letterman/david-letterman-ordered-to-stay-3-yards-away-from-psychotic-fan-144551.php
http://www.lewrockwell.com/baskerville/baskerville10.html