Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

In the near future, I plan to introduce a resolution designating October 2021 as “Domestic Violence Awareness Month” in Pennsylvania. 

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 37.1% of Pennsylvania women and 30.4% of Pennsylvania men experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes. In Philadelphia, 17.3% of students have been physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend in the past year, almost twice the national average. On a typical day, domestic violence hotlines receive approximately 21,000 calls, an average of close to 15 calls every minute. 

Additionally, reports have indicated that domestic violence has been on the rise since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. One study in the scientific journal Radiology reports that at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, radiology scans and superficial wounds consistent with domestic abuse from March 11 to May 3 of 2020 exceeded the totals for the same period in 2018 and 2019 combined.  

Further domestic violence has a disproportionate impact in communities most affected by trauma exposure, structural racism, and other health disparities. Barriers to accessing services increase the risk for undocumented people, people with disabilities, children, members of BIPOC communities who feel unsafe interacting with law enforcement, and LGBTQ people, particularly members of the trans community, who face difficulties accessing gender-appropriate shelter services. Surveys from the National Center for Transgender Equality have found that in domestic violence care settings, BIPOC and trans people are consistently denied equal treatment and culturally competent service. 

Please join me in co-sponsoring this important resolution as we seek to support the victims and survivors of domestic violence in our Commonwealth.