Grace has worked at the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence since 1981; she now serves as its Executive Director. She says she has been interested in organizing for social change since high school, and her organizing work eventually led her to work on issues surrounding violence against women.
She has stuck with the work because she sees abuse and trauma across the lifespan as underlying many social problems; plus, she says, she gets to work with incredibly smart, fun, creative and dynamic women.
Grace is also a writer, a poet, and a mother to two adult children. She became interested in Barack's candidacy this summer, and, based on his continued attention to the issue of violence againt women, decided a month ago to do what she could to elect him.
For more on Barack's positions on violence against women check out an op ed and policy paper HERE, and his answers to a questionnaire below.
Grace writes:
Having spent my entire professional career working to end violence against women, I was looking for a candidate who understands the connection between abuse and trauma across the lifespan and basically every social issue facing this country – healthcare, addiction, poverty, education. The negative consequences that pile up in a life marked by violence have been documented over and over, including in the New Hampshire Violence Against Women Survey, which found that one in five women in New Hampshire have been sexually assaulted, and that women who had been assaulted were more likely to have poor health or a chronic health condition. Barack Obama understands these issues – I know because he and Michelle have called to talk to me about violence against women. And because Obama has a vision to change how we are governed, with compassion and justice contributing to his decision making, rather than greed and arrogance, I believe his Presidency could mark a fundamental shift in the social safety net that is so critical for our most vulnerable citizens, who are generally female and young and poor. And abused, because they all go together. Battered women and rape survivors need a President who understands that affordable housing, living wage jobs, healthcare, daycare and transportation are basics of a successful life, and the government has a role in shifting the balance of power in our country so that everyone really does have a fair chance. And those whose chances have been compromised will be taken care of. Obama has called for a White House level staff person assigned to oversee all government funding programs and efforts that address violence against women. As the Executive Director of a organization that manages multiple federal grants, I know well the need for more coordination of efforts at the federal level. These is a vast web of knowledge about how to best protect women and children, and challenge the remaining statutory and cultural underpinnings of men’s entitlement to control women, but that web is among the local programs and state coalitions and national organizations leading this work. That knowledge needs to exist within the federal government, so the limited funding for domestic and sexual violence services and programs can be spent as efficiently as possible. Barack Obama can make this happen. He’s the real thing – a decent man, driven to use his considerable talents and intellect as a call to service. He really does want to make our country a stronger, more compassionate and unified country. He’s not the same old, same old. So I’m voting for him in the Democratic primary on January 8, and urging everyone I know to join me.
Having spent my entire professional career working to end violence against women, I was looking for a candidate who understands the connection between abuse and trauma across the lifespan and basically every social issue facing this country – healthcare, addiction, poverty, education. The negative consequences that pile up in a life marked by violence have been documented over and over, including in the New Hampshire Violence Against Women Survey, which found that one in five women in New Hampshire have been sexually assaulted, and that women who had been assaulted were more likely to have poor health or a chronic health condition.
Barack Obama understands these issues – I know because he and Michelle have called to talk to me about violence against women. And because Obama has a vision to change how we are governed, with compassion and justice contributing to his decision making, rather than greed and arrogance, I believe his Presidency could mark a fundamental shift in the social safety net that is so critical for our most vulnerable citizens, who are generally female and young and poor. And abused, because they all go together.
Battered women and rape survivors need a President who understands that affordable housing, living wage jobs, healthcare, daycare and transportation are basics of a successful life, and the government has a role in shifting the balance of power in our country so that everyone really does have a fair chance. And those whose chances have been compromised will be taken care of.
Obama has called for a White House level staff person assigned to oversee all government funding programs and efforts that address violence against women. As the Executive Director of a organization that manages multiple federal grants, I know well the need for more coordination of efforts at the federal level. These is a vast web of knowledge about how to best protect women and children, and challenge the remaining statutory and cultural underpinnings of men’s entitlement to control women, but that web is among the local programs and state coalitions and national organizations leading this work. That knowledge needs to exist within the federal government, so the limited funding for domestic and sexual violence services and programs can be spent as efficiently as possible.
Barack Obama can make this happen. He’s the real thing – a decent man, driven to use his considerable talents and intellect as a call to service. He really does want to make our country a stronger, more compassionate and unified country. He’s not the same old, same old. So I’m voting for him in the Democratic primary on January 8, and urging everyone I know to join me.
What do you see as your greatest strengths in terms of addressing intimate partner and sexual violence in the U.S.?
I am a long time and committed ally in the effort to stop these crimes. I know the importance of working with domestic violence and sexual assault experts to eradicate violence against women, and I have a proven track record of working to enhance laws against such crimes, to secure funding for critical services for survivors, and to establish new laws for the benefit of rape and domestic violence victims. I will continue to support any and all strategies that work to increase awareness about, decrease tolerance for, and increase accountability regarding, violence against women.
As a State Senator, I successfully passed the most comprehensive set of employment law protections for victims of domestic and sexual violence in the country. I introduced the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA), which became Illinois state law in 2005. This legislation ensures that victims of domestic violence can seek treatment without losing their jobs. VESSA provides that employers may not discharge, retaliate, or discriminate against an employee who is a victim of domestic violence or who has a family or household member who is a victim of domestic violence, for taking up to a total of 12 workweeks of leave from work during any 12-month period to address the domestic violence.
As a United States Senator, I introduced legislation to provide $25 million a year for partnerships between domestic violence prevention organizations and fatherhood or marriage programs to train staff in domestic violence services, to provide services to families affected by domestic violence, and to develop best practices in domestic violence prevention. I also co-sponsored and helped reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.
If elected President, will you support full funding for the Violence Against Women Act, including initiatives that have not been funded yet? Why or why not?
I will make full funding of the Violence Against Women Act a priority of my administration.
According to the first ever New Hampshire Violence Against Women Survey, nearly a third of women have been abused by an intimate partner at some time in her life, which is on par with national statistics. We know this epidemic is not isolated to this country. As president what will you do to put an end to violence against women at home and abroad? How large of a priority will this be for your administration?
In addition to working to fully fund the Violence Against Women Act, my administration would support the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which is considered by many around the world to be an “international bill of rights for women.” As a human rights treaty, CEDAW affirms the reproductive rights of women, supports women’s political and economic rights, and highlights the importance eradicating trafficking and other forms of violence against women. Taking this step would make the United States a more active ally in the international fight to eradicate violence against women, and would additionally serve as a model, to inspire the individual states to increase their efforts to eradicate violence against women. I will work in a bipartisan way to ratify this important treaty.
The NH VAW Survey also found that almost one in four women in NH has been sexually assaulted. What do you believe you could do as President to address the critical problem of sexual victimization of women?
In addition to increasing the resources – both legal and financial—available to the fight against sexual assault, as President I would talk about the problem of sexual assault. Still today, silence in the face of this massive epidemic is one of the social problems that allow sexual violence to flourish. I believe that open and frank dialogue about the evil of sexual assault helps to diminish the shame and self-blame that keeps victims silent. The more that we as a society acknowledge the regularity of sexual and intimate violence, the more able we will be to collectively confront and eradicate it.
In this election many people are pushing for some type of immigration reform. On a related note, here in New Hampshire we are starting to see evidence of the hidden crime of human trafficking for sexual exploitation. How will you balance the rights of victims of human trafficking with federal immigration reform?
Under the Violence Against Women Act, there are methods by which undocumented victims of domestic violence can avoid unfair consequences of immigration laws which might otherwise keep them from reporting violence against them. I support creative measures like this, and I will continue to support efforts to expose and eradicate human trafficking, including by supporting legislative and other measures to protect victims of human trafficking from being penalized for helping to expose this modern form of human slavery.
Proponents of the Real I.D Act argue that this measure will help increase federal security. However it will have a chilling effect on victims of domestic and sexual violence and stalking by putting their secure information including their home address at risk. What would you do to help fix the harm done to victims because of this bill?
REAL ID was added to an emergency supplemental spending bill in the dead of night and as a result, this unfunded mandate is now law. It is unclear how REAL ID will be implemented, but it is clear that states don’t have the funds to pay for it. I am pleased that the Department of Homeland Security has extended the enforcement date for this questionable provision and I hope that extension provides us with the time to fix this problem. I support solutions conceived by domestic violence and sexual assault experts that would allow for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to protect confidential information, while at the same time allowing for the government to take reasonable steps to increase federal security.
One of the biggest barriers keeping women from leaving an abusive situation is poverty. What type of programming would you propose that could address the unique challenges that women and children in violent situations face? How could you help them achieve economic autonomy?
The federal government has a critical role to play in eradicating poverty. It’s a moral outrage that in the richest nation on earth, nearly 37 million Americans are living in poverty. And we have to do much more to address the large numbers of women who, with their children, are living in poverty. According to 2006 Census data, 28.3 percent (4.1 million) of female-headed households are living in poverty – a rate that is almost 6 times the poverty rate of married-couple households.
I will increase federal funding for anti-poverty programs. In addition to passing my universal health care plan, I will fully fund the Community Development Block Grant program and create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund. I will increase funding for transitional jobs and career pathways programs and I’ll provide greater supports for ex-offenders and their families. I will ensure that minimum wage is indexed for inflation. And I will expand eligibility and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to benefit 12 million Americans.
Additionally, I have called for the creation of a new program that replicates the success of the Harlem Children’s Zone – an all-encompassing, all-hands-on-deck anti-poverty effort that is literally saving a generation of children in a neighborhood where they were never supposed to have a chance. As president, an important part of my plan to combat poverty will be to replicate the Harlem Children’s Zone in twenty cities across the country. These “Promise Neighborhoods” will focus on addressing concentrated, intergenerational poverty in our cities. We’ll train staff, we’ll have them draw up detailed plans with attainable goals, and the federal government will provide half of the funding for each city, with the rest coming from philanthropies and businesses. And these Promise Neighborhoods will work with community organizations to provide resources that strengthen families, including family counselors and anti-domestic violence programs.
I will also create a White House Office of Urban Policy and have the Director of that Office report directly to me. Finally, I will provide families the support they need to raise their children. I will provide more financial support to fathers who make the responsible choice to help raise their children and crack down on the fathers who don’t. And I’ll help new mothers with their new responsibilities by expanding a pioneering program known as the Nurse-Family Partnership that offers home visits by trained registered nurses to low-income mothers and mothers-to-be. My plan will assist approximately 570,000 first-time mothers each year.
Lack of safe, affordable housing is often an obstacle when women seek to leave a violent relationship and rebuild their lives. What steps would your administration take to help build the supply of safe, affordable housing for survivors of domestic violence?
Violence against women flourishes in environments where women don’t have access to safe affordable housing. And a significant percentage of women and children experience homelessness as a result of fleeing violence against them. These factors require us to address the problems of affordable housing and violence against women collectively. My administration will support affordable housing projects that do more to take into account the particular needs of victims of domestic violence, including by demanding that the Office of Violence Against Women and the Department of Housing and Urban Development work together to ensure that any federal projects impacting affordable housing and homelessness be guided by the best expertise that is available on the inter-related nature of the problems.
Throughout my career as a community organizer, civil rights lawyer, and elected advocate, I have worked to increase the availability of safe affordable housing. As President, I will create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund by setting aside profits from government-sponsored housing agencies to develop affordable housing. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund will use a small percentage of the profits of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to create tens of thousands of new units of affordable housing every year in mixed-income neighborhoods.
I will also restore the federal government’s commitment to low-income housing. In the U.S. Senate, I have opposed this administration’s slashing of the HOPE VI and CDBG programs. I will restore funding of those programs as president. I’ll also do more to protect homeowners from mortgage fraud and subprime lending by passing my STOP FRAUD Act, which will provide counseling to tenants, homeowners, and other consumers so they get the advice and guidance they need before buying a house and support if they get in to trouble down the road. The bill will also crack down on mortgage professionals found guilty of fraud by increasing enforcement and creating new criminal penalties.
Finally, I support the one-for-one replacement rule for public housing redevelopment projects. Our nation’s low-income families are facing an affordable housing crisis and it is our responsibility to ensure this crisis does not get worse by ineffective replacement of existing public housing units.
What is your opinion of the father’s rights movement? What do you believe father’s roles and responsibilities are?
I believe that women and children, more than anyone else, understand the value of having an actively involved, non-violent, father involved in family life. To the extent that the father’s rights movement works to encourage and support men to be as loving and responsible as their children and partners need and want them to be, I fully support it. To the extent that the ‘father’s rights’ movement is a pretty name for efforts to roll back rights of women and children to have access to financial and other forms of stability, I oppose it.
I have been outspoken about the need to do more to support fathers who are doing the right thing, and crack down on those who are not. I have said repeatedly that there are a lot of men out there who need to stop acting like boys; who need to realize that responsibility does not end at conception; who need to know that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one.
At the same time, we need to do more to support fathers who are raising families. As President, I'll start by passing the Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act, a bill I introduced last year that would make it easier for fathers who make the responsible choice and harder for those who avoid it. It's a plan that would remove some of the financial penalties the government currently imposes on married couples, cut out the red tape to ensure that every dime of child support goes directly to children instead of bureaucrats, and provide fathers who are paying their child support an even larger Earned Income Tax Credit benefit. This plan would also crack down on those who avoid their responsibility by increasing child-support enforcement, a measure that will collect nearly $13 billion in payments that can help raise, nurture, and educate children.
Do you support full reproductive rights for victims of domestic and sexual violence including the unrestricted use of emergency contraception?
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