FOR RELEASE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2002 ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ???OJP
EMBARGOED UNTIL 4:00 p.m. EST??????????? ??????????? ??????????????????????????????????? ??????????? ?202-307-0703
FIRST ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM ON VIOLENCE AGAINST
WOMEN HELD
BY ATTORNEY GENERAL JOHN ASHCROFT
Justice Department and the Department of
Health and Human Services Affirm Commitment to Enhancing National Response to
Preventing Domestic Violence
WASHINGTON, D.C.? ??? Attorney General John
Ashcroft today held the Department?s
first symposium to address domestic violence, together with Deputy
Secretary Claude Allen of the Department of Health and Human Services.? The Symposium affirmed the
Administration?s? commitment to
enhancing the nation?s response to violence against women, including domestic
violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
The
Attorney General stated,?? ?Our
children absorb the values we pass on to them; and they in turn pass these
values on to their children.? But when
families are wracked by violence and abuse, values are corrupted.? The messages transmitted by parents are
messages of violence, cruelty, and powerlessness.? We must work together to ensure that victims have the opportunity
to escape violence and to transform their lives and the lives of their children.?
???????????? Deputy Secretary
Claude Allen added, ?Domestic violence is an issue that affects families,
specifically women and children.? And
serving families is what we are all about at the Department of Health and Human
Services.?? Deputy Secretary Allen
discussed HHS? programs to ensure that ?victims of domestic violence can find
the support and healing they need to rebuild their lives.?
Organized by the Office of Justice Programs?
(OJP) Violence Against Women Office
?(VAWO),? Violence Against Women: A Symposium on
Domestic Violence focused on the causes, effects, and societal beliefs
relating to domestic violence.? More
than 100 federal officials, victim advocates, and other experts gathered to
hear a discussion of domestic violence issues by the Attorney General, HHS
Deputy Secretary Claude Allen, OJP Assistant Attorney General Deborah J.
Daniels, and Director of? the Violence
Against Women Office, Diane Stuart.
Speakers addressed various aspects of identifying causes of, responding
to and preventing domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking and responded to
questions from the audience.?
Speaking at the symposium, Assistant Attorney
General for OJP, Deborah J. Daniels reiterated the Attorney General?s
commitment by stating, ?With the help of our federal
initiatives, and the work of criminal justice officials, victim
advocates, and people like you all across the country, we have made
considerable progress in addressing domestic violence and other violence
against women.? But we still have a long
way to go to end the terror and pain caused by violence in our homes and
communities.?
?The
Attorney General and Deputy Secretary Allen also used the occasion of the
symposium to introduce the new members of the recently re-chartered National
Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women.
The Attorney General charged the Committee with the responsibility of
guiding the Departments of Justice and HHS in developing promising practices
and innovative programs to prevent domestic violence and other violence against
women.? The advisory committee, now
entering its eighth year, also plays a critical role in increasing public
awareness about violence against women and in helping communities mobilize and
direct their resources.
Data reported by OJP?s Bureau of Justice
Statistics show that almost 700,000 incidents of domestic violence are
documented each year.? FBI data further
show that in the last 25 years
almost 57,000 individuals have been killed in domestic violence
situations.? Since the passage of the
1994 Violence Against Women Act, DOJ and HHS have instituted programs to end
this violence, provide services to women victims and their families, and
improve the criminal justice system?s response.
For more information and resources related to
domestic violence, children and families
consult the website for the Department of Health and Human Services at www.hhs.gov/.
?Additional information
about initiatives involving violence against women and other OJP programs is
available on OJP?s website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov
or by calling the National Criminal Justice Reference Service toll-free at
1-800/851-3420.
?Media should direct calls to Angela Harless
on 202-307-0703.
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