There is an epidemic of violence against women in the United States. Every 9 seconds a woman is assaulted; every day more than three women are murdered by their partners; and one in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.
This violence is all too often perpetrated—regularly with deadly consequences—by gun violence. Every day five women are murdered with guns and women in the United States are 11 times more likely to be murdered with a gun than are women in other high income countries.
However, there is reason to be optimistic: violence against women, especially domestic violence, has been brought out of the dark and is no longer considered a “family issue,” but a societal and criminal one that is both socially unacceptable and morally abhorrent. These changes have led to a decrease in instances of domestic violence but we still have a long way to go:
- Additional legislation is needed.
- Law enforcement needs greater training on how to deal with issues of domestic violence and sexual assault.
- Criminal laws need to be strengthened so fewer rapists and abusers get away with their crimes.
- Women need to be believed and treated as victims when they are such.
It remains far too easy for abusers or stalkers to obtain firearms and continues to be extremely difficult to prosecute most rapists and abusers. These are issues that could be effectively helped by the passage of new laws and by giving law enforcement and prosecutors greater resources to investigate and prosecute these crimes. When the safety of women becomes important enough to our civic leaders and a priority for our law enforcement, the numbers of women affected by violence can decrease drastically. It is not a hopeless situation, in fact we have already seen positive results through legislation and societal changes, but more attention, focus, and urgency are needed to make additional inroads.
(*Data from Centers of Disease Control, DOJ reports, FBI reports, AHA fact sheet.)
Nearly 30 percent of women ages 65 to 69 are working outside of the home, this is up from 15 percent in the late 1980s. 18% percent of women ages 70 to 74 work, this is up from 8 percent in the 1980s. Many of these women report that they work because they enjoy it. The data adds a bright chapter to the narrative of women’s progress in the world of work. (NYT Upshot – Miller)
In 2016, women represented 19% of all of the behind-the-scenes employment in American films [Center for Women in Television and Film]. That percentage has remained unchanged for 20 years.
9.4% of American mutual fund managers are women. The numbers have not moved since 2008. (Morning Star – 2015 study)
There have been more than 4,600 U.S. Ambassadors who have served in foreign countries. Only 9% of them have been women.