Wednesday, August 24, 2005
crime gets a makeover
According to a fascinating Wall Street Journal/Harris poll, Americans just haven't been concerned about crime since September 11, 2001. In fact, crime as a concern has been on the decline since the tracking started in 1994.
Why is this significant to me? The Violence Against Women Act was first passed in 1994, when 36% of the electorate was listing "crime/violence" among their top two concerns. When VAWA was reauthorized in 2000, 10% still considered it a top priority. VAWA now expires at the end of September, but now only 3% of Americans are extremely concerned about crime.
The crime rate overall has declined since 1994. The incidence rates for some crimes have decreased at a slower rate than others. Three guesses about which violent crimes are still most common and least reported.
My concern is that the political will to reauthorize VAWA in a timely manner is severely diminished because most of the electorate is no longer thinking about violent crime as a high priority issue. Violence against women in particular has never been at the top of the list when voters think about crime issues. Nobody talks about rape or domestic violence or stalking or child abuse because they're not very nice to talk about. The problem now is that people are thinking about other things instead.
I've heard some advocates in the DV community call it "domestic terrorism," which might be the right framing when trying to build political will to encourage our elected officials to do the right thing and reauthorize a strong and inclusive VAWA. Frankly, that framing leaves a bad taste in my mouth though.
Regardless of how we frame it, swift and convincing action is needed. Click here for much more information about VAWA and its reauthorization. Please take action; this is literally a life or death situation.
Why is this significant to me? The Violence Against Women Act was first passed in 1994, when 36% of the electorate was listing "crime/violence" among their top two concerns. When VAWA was reauthorized in 2000, 10% still considered it a top priority. VAWA now expires at the end of September, but now only 3% of Americans are extremely concerned about crime.
The crime rate overall has declined since 1994. The incidence rates for some crimes have decreased at a slower rate than others. Three guesses about which violent crimes are still most common and least reported.
My concern is that the political will to reauthorize VAWA in a timely manner is severely diminished because most of the electorate is no longer thinking about violent crime as a high priority issue. Violence against women in particular has never been at the top of the list when voters think about crime issues. Nobody talks about rape or domestic violence or stalking or child abuse because they're not very nice to talk about. The problem now is that people are thinking about other things instead.
I've heard some advocates in the DV community call it "domestic terrorism," which might be the right framing when trying to build political will to encourage our elected officials to do the right thing and reauthorize a strong and inclusive VAWA. Frankly, that framing leaves a bad taste in my mouth though.
Regardless of how we frame it, swift and convincing action is needed. Click here for much more information about VAWA and its reauthorization. Please take action; this is literally a life or death situation.
