WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is calling on Congress to pass legislation that would increase punishment included in the Violence Against Women Act and give law enforcement the funding needed to combat domestic abuse incidents.
"We have learned in the last 25 years how to deal far more effectively to deal with domestic violence, whether it be training police, setting up special courts, dealing with shelters; this act is mainly intended to renew the existing act, and strengthen and add when there are new issues," Schumer said Wednesday of the proposal.
The act was originally authored by Schumer in 1994 during his time in the House of Representatives. It was then renewed in 2005. The original VAWA bill expired one year ago. Schumer said many of the programs have continued to receive funding over the last year due to continuing resolutions passed by the House and Senate. Since 2006, law enforcement agencies across the state have received over $145 million in federal funds through programs included in the Violence Against Women's Act.
The new bill will add programs to deal with issues that have arisen in that time, such as issues including the Internet and new technologies for communication.
"We are beginning to work on passing a stronger and tougher VAWA that empowers law enforcement and potential victims against sexual abuse and domestic violence and Internet stalking," he said. "We are constantly making progress. At the time the bill was passed, violence against women and spousal abuse was sort of a dirty little secret, people didn't come forward and often times when they went to the police station, often there wasn't any training, (there) wasn't any guidance."
From 2009 to 2010, Chautauqua County reported an increase of nearly 4 percent, with 1,176 incidents reported in 2009 and 1,227 in 2011, for two-year total of 2,403. There were more than 80,000 incidents reported statewide in those two years.
"Violence against women is something that we have to stay vigilant about and as the numbers show we have no eradicated this or even come close, in fact the numbers are extremely troubling," said Schumer.
SCHUMER'S PROPOSAL
The proposed bill will update the stalking laws to include all forms of electronic communications. Schumer said the Internet has "become a forum for stalking and violence and has created a new group of victims who are looking for support and action." This will create a federal law which will be used against anyone who "intimates, stalks or harasses another person via the internet."
It will also provide grants for rural populations to service these communities, education and provide funds to the STOP programs, which stands for Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors.
Schumer said funding for police and prosecutors which has already been in place will be continued as a way to help train responders and those who handle domestic violence cases.
The national Court Appointed Special Advocates program, which deals with children in domestic violence situations, will also continue to receive $12 million a year funding.
"It has been effective and invaluable to the children who have been through so much, either the victims of violence themselves or victims because their parents is subject to violence," Schumer said.
Schumer said it was important to know that the number of incidents only includes those reported. Increasing the scope of the Violence Against Women Act and providing more funding will help close the cycle of abuse, Schumer said.
"Most acts of violence are not reported because women are afraid that nothing will happen," he said.
LOCAL RESPONSE
Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph Gerace said he hopes funding will find its way to the department since the county's domestic violence program had been cut years ago.
"We don't have a specific domestic violence program anymore because the funding was cut and we couldn't continue it," he said. "We had a very unique and successful program where we delivered advocacy right to the scene of incidents, but that funding ran out yeas ago, and was not continued at the county level."
Gerace said while there is no specific prevention program at the county level, officers deal with response, follow-up and advocacy after-the-fact. While cuts to the county's domestic violence programs and general budget cuts have eliminated one of the department's tools to deal with domestic violence, Gerace said an economy that has left many people struggling to make ends meet is increasing the pressure on families.
"I would have to look at specifics, but I am sure with the increasing pressures on families and the economy, it definitely will have an impact on all kinds of crimes, including domestic-type incidents," he said. "It doesn't excuse it or make it right. It is totally unacceptable and we are very proactive in making arrests where we have reasonable cause to believe that there has been domestic violence or family violence."