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“WOMEN BORN INTO A WORLD OF VIOLENCE” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H11448 on Nov. 3, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
WOMEN BORN INTO A WORLD OF VIOLENCE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, during the 5 minutes that I deliver this speech, 33 new lives will begin, 17 males and 16 females. They enter a world on the brink of the 21st century and where possibilities are limitless.
Of the 16 females born during this speech, at least two will be the victim of rape or attempted rape, one of whom will be violated before she reaches the age of 18, five will be the victim of abuse by an intimate partner, and one will be stalked. She will join the ranks of the 1 million women who have been stalked this year. This is the world that these new lives are being brought into.
As a former rape crisis counselor, I know firsthand the devastation caused by this type of violence. I have been in the emergency room when a raped woman has come in to be treated. I have seen the fear, the shock in these victims who have been so horribly violated. In 1998, forcible rape ranked third for violent crimes reported to law enforcement officials, but that number may be grossly underestimated because, according to the Justice Department, only one-third of all rapes are reported to the authorities.
Over the last 2 years, as I worked to develop stronger antistalking legislation, I have met with the victims of stalking and heard of the damage brought on their lives because of the constant threat from a stalker.
My legislation, which was marked up earlier this week in the Committee on the Judiciary, expands and broadens the definition of stalking to include interstate commerce.
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This would include e-mail, telephone, and other forms of interstate communications as a means of stalking. In addition, it also expands the definition of immediate family to include persons who regularly reside with the victim.
During the hearing on this bill, one stalking victim testified about her experiences with cyberstalking. This woman was stalked by three people she had contacted a year earlier to answer an ad for a children's book newsgroup. They were located in New York and claimed to be a literary agency looking for new authors. She called them, sent her proposal, and was asked for money for a reading fee. However, real agents do not charge for reading, editing or other fees. Later, she learned from other on-line writers that this so-called agency was a well-known on-line problem. When writers who actually paid this agency money came to her for help, she contacted the New York attorney general, who opened an investigation. Her stalking came as a retaliation for her part in that investigation.
Stalking comes in all forms. It is not only a physical crime; it is also a psychological crime. For this victim, the psychological harassment ranged from prank phone calls to libelous messages about her being posted on the Internet. Physical threats came, too, for the victim, her family, and her lawyer. In an attempt to end this harassment and protect themselves, this victim and her husband moved to another State. Once there, they took their name off public records and directories and they have an unlisted phone number. However, this, too, proved futile. The stalking has continued.
Just today alone, approximately 2,750 women will join this tragic sorority of women who have been stalked. Stalking takes many forms. Unfortunately, in this age of technology it has the ability to take on a nameless and faceless electronic form, where the perpetrator has the ability to invade every aspect of life.
I look forward to seeing this legislation come before the House. Violence against women happens in many ways, physical and mental, by strangers and intimates. In this, these crimes share a common bond. And please listen to this: as I leave the House floor this evening, at the end of my 5-minute speech here, one more woman will have been raped.
It is my hope that as a governing body and as a society we will be able to address and work to eliminate these horrible acts of violence. In doing so, we will make this world a safer and a kinder place for those 33 new lives born these last 5 minutes.
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