A BIPP Educational Series, Part One Online Module

CJAD Approved Hours: 1

To increase knowledge of the History of Violence Against Women

To increase knowledge of Women’s Movement

To increase knowledge The Domestic Violence Movement

To review key dates within the movements

To connect the relevancy of these movements with the development of BIPPs

Violence against women is a technical term and refers to violent acts that are primarily committed against women.

The United Nations General Assembly defines VAW as any act of gender-based violence that results in physical, sexual or mental harm to women. Though domestic violence is enacted against women and men, it is primarily targeted against women. (United Nations)

VAW has existed throughout many centuries and was often embedded in the law as a right for male family members to abuse women.

Domestic violence has been accepted and written into law such as the Law of Chastisement allowing men to physically punish their wives and children beginning in Rome in the 8th Century and continuing even today in some countries

Marital rape was not considered possible or legally enforceable since spouses were assumed to have “conjugal rights.” It was only until 1993 that all U.S. states criminalized marital rape (Bergen).

Violence against Women is perhaps the most pervasive human rights violation in our time. Here are some facts showing just how many women, families and societies are affected by VAW.

Studies show that 1 out of 3 American women are affected by domestic violence. (Collins 1998)

Among women admitted to the emergency room, 37% were from injuries resulting from domestic violence. (US DoJ 1997)

There were 189,401 incidents of family violence reported to police in Texas in 2007 (Uniform Crime Report, DPS)

Among many of the inequalities between the genders that the Women’s Movement works toward ending is violence against women.

Other rights that the Women’s Movement worked to establish were:◦ Wives legal status 1840s◦ Voting rights in the 1920s◦ Pay Equality◦ Reproductive Rights

Women’s suffrage- or the right to vote- was granted gradually in the United States. Western states such as Wyoming, Utah and Colorado granted women the right to vote in the late 1800s, however all American women were granted the right to vote in 1920. (Schenken 1999)

In 1973, Roe v Wade overturned all state and federal laws outlawing abortion in the United States. Freedom to women’s choice in reproductive rights is a battle that continues to be fought by Women’s Rights activists today. (www.choiceusa.org)

The word feminist is shied away as an identity by many people even if he or she envelopes the definition.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines feminist as advocacy of the political, social and economic equality of men and women. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YA13GNT8Mc&feature=PlayList&p=634918C34E571F45&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=22

Within the Women’s Movement and the Domestic Violence Movement there has also been resistance to the unequal power distribution between women of color and white women and between heterosexual women and lesbian women. (Wilson 2009)

The Domestic Violence Movement began in the 1970s in the context of the Women’s

Movement, Civil Rights Movement, Gay Rights Movement and Antiwar Movements.

Advocates work tirelessly in the movement with 2 primary goals

1. Fundamental Social Change to end Violence Against Women, particularly by the hands of their intimate partner

2. Provide safety to survivors of domestic violence through the creation of shelters and services

In the late 1970s women began talking about domestic violence in small consciousness-raising groups and survivors began opening up their doors to other survivors, organizing hotlines and creating networks to take legal action against the abusers.

Del Martin’s book, Battered Wives, published in 1976 started a vocabulary surrounding domestic violence and validating many survivors’ stories.

The DV movement has been successful in the goal of providing safety through creating shelters and programs to help survivors in the last 30 years.

For example from 1978 to today the number of domestic violence programs grew from 6 to 111 in Texas. There was one BIPP in the U.S.- Emerge in Boston- in 1978. Today there are 27 CJAD funded BIPPs in Texas.

Though the DV Movement has been successful in providing services to survivors through institutionalizing programs, many believe that this success has been at the cost of lessening the focus on organizing for social change to end violence against women.

“Are we going to change the situation? Or are we just going to build a social service to meet the needs of abused women only to a point; we got that far and no further.” (Dobash qtd in Schecthter 1982)

State funding for domestic violence shelters began at $200,000 in 1979.

In just 10 years- 1989 state funding for domestic violence programs

increased to $5.47 million and BIPP programs were funded for the first time at $400,000.

In the current legislative session, we are requesting full funding of domestic violence programs $50.9 million dollars and $2.5 million dollars for BIPPs.

Stemming from the accomplishments of the Domestic Violence Movement, BIPPs are now in a position to return to one of the primary goals of the domestic violence movement- to fundamentally change the acceptance of violence against women.

The aging of America affects domestic violence services like it affects many other facets of our society.

To address the needs of an aging population, the DV Movement will need to be better equipped to assist older survivors. (Wilson 2009)

◦ 1875- First battered women’s shelter opens in Belton, Texas.

◦ 1972- Advocates in St. Paul, Minnesota being first hotline to respond to domestic violence.

◦ 1976- Pennsylvania enacts first statute in the U.S. to provide civil legal relief to victims of domestic violence.

◦ 1977- Emerge began first abuser education course.

◦ 1978- TCFV forms to represent the 6 shelters in Texas and fight for state funding and protective order legislation.

◦ 1979- Texas Legislature passes first bill for pilot funding of $200,000 for Texas shelters.

◦ 1985- Domestic violence moves into the public health arena and is seen as a major health problem in the U.S.

◦ 1989- The Texas Legislature increases the Family Violence Program budget to $5.47 million and creates the Battering

Intervention and Prevention Project (BIPP) with a $400,000 budget.

◦ 1994- Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is passed by the federal government

◦ 1996- TCFV opens the National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE.

◦ 2001- Many changes in Texas family violence laws including adding dating violence provisions and prohibiting firearm possession for respondents in protective order cases

◦ 2002- Texas survey shows that 3 out of 4 Texans have either been in an abusive relationship or know someone who has

◦ 2005- Law passes allowing domestic violence victims who have a protective order to terminate their lease without financial penalty in order to stay safe

◦ 2009- In Texas, there are approximately 111 domestic violence programs 27 CJAD funded BIPPs

United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women General Assembly resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993- http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/A.RES.48.104.En?Opendocument

Marital Rape: New Research and Directions, Raquel Kennedy Bergen- http://new.vawnet.org/category/Main_Doc.php?docid=248

Collins, K., Schoen, C., Joseph, S, Duchon, L. Simantov, E. & Yellowitz, M. (1999). Health Concerns Across A Woman's Lifespan: The Commonwealth Fund. 1998 Survey of Women's Health. 

U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1997). Violence Related Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments, Special Report. 

Texas Uniform Crime Report 2007- http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/crimereports/07/citch5.pdf

Schenken, Suzanne O'Dea. From Suffrage to the Senate. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1999. pp. 644–646.

Personal Communication with Karen Wilson, March 2009. Schecter, Susan. Women and Male Violence, 1982.