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| Vol. 18, No. 30 | May 6, 1999 |
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| Vol. 18, No. 30 | May 6, 1999 |
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Putting an End to Violence Against Women" was the topic of a May 3 forum in Mitchell Hall, moderated by President David P. Roselle and featuring Delaware's U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala. More than 450 UD students and faculty and members of the community attended the forum.
Biden sponsored the 1994 Violence Against Women bill and now has introduced a strengthened Violence Against Women II bill to extend services to victims, help to children, enforcement, education and training and funding programs until 2002.
Guy Sapp, executive director of the Delaware Domestic Violence Coordinating Council; Margaret Andersen, interim dean of the College of Arts and Science; and senior Traci Felt, an active member of women's organizations, also participated in the roundtable discussion.
The forum began with a welcome and introductions by Roselle, who pointed out how rarely two members of the president's cabinet appear at the same event.
Reno spoke about interrupting the cycle of violence in the home through education and prevention and about the prevalence of domestic and sexual violence against young people, ages 16-19.
Shalala, the former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, said the definition of domestic violence should be broadened to include such acts as date rape and elder abuse. As a former college president, she said she had observed the relationship between alcohol abuse and violence. She called for research, safe places for battered women and their children and a single unified system against domestic violence.
Questions were then directed to the panelists, who discussed such issues as awareness and a zero tolerance for violence, tough enforcement, the relationship between alcohol and violence, the need for both young men and women to address the problem of violence against women, the need for shelters and help for women and the need to give courts the resources to combat domestic violence.
The panelists urged anyone with problems to use hot lines for help. The national hot line is 1-800-799-SAFE, the Delaware hot line is 762-6110 and the campus hot line for S.O.S. (rape counseling service) is 831-2226.
At a press conference after the forum, Biden, Reno and Shalala agreed that research has shown that children who are the victims or observers of domestic abuse tend to grow up to be abusers. The three emphasized the value of early prevention programs, such as Head Start and Boys and Girls Clubs for children and adolescents, and intervention when necessary. They concurred that funding for the prevention of domestic violence is cost effective in the long run.
The day's program concluded with a luncheon discussion on violence against women at noon in the Bob Carpenter Center.
--Sue Moncure
