Essential Estrogen

While I'm not always a fan of Sen. Tom Harkin's job performance in the Beltway, I do believe in giving credit where credit is due. Below I'm providing the full text of Harkin's opening statement during a hearing on domestic violence in the workplace.

I’d like to start by thanking our subcommittee Chair, Senator Patty Murray (D- WA), for her strong leadership on this issue. Unfortunately, I believe that as schools have been forced to take serious action to crack down on school shootings, workplaces now must acknowledge that domestic violence is not confined to the home. Just this year, such atrocities have occurred all over the nation, from Chairman Murray’s home state just this month, to Detroit, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City. We need to put an immediate stop to this epidemic.

More than 2.5 million women are victims of violence each year, and nearly one in every three women experience at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood. It is not unreasonable to ask for a little compassion and understanding for victims of domestic violence from their employers. If not for altruistic reasons, then at least out of concern for their ability to be productive employees and to protect their fellow workers. Many of the health costs associated with domestic violence are chronic health problems.

It is true that domestic violence costs employers. Victims of domestic violence are distracted at work and have to miss more days due to injury or fatigue. That’s why we need to provide services and counseling to prevent this from happening, and to serve those who are affected.

But employers can no longer keep their heads in the sand when it comes to workplace violence. If they want to have a high-functioning, safe, productive workplace, they are going to start facing the reality of domestic violence without blaming the victims. Giving women the time they need to take care of themselves up from will dramatically improve their health in the long run, saving the company time and money as well.

That is why I will be cosponsoring Senator Murray’s Survivors’ Empowerment and Economic Security Act. It is well past time for employers to do their part to prevent the next Virginia Tech-level tragedy. Senator Murray’s bill is simple and straight forward. It merely gives women the right to take 30 days away from work to take care of themselves and their children if they find themselves in an abusive situation in their homes. It also says that employers and insurance companies cannot continue to take the blame for the violent, or potentially violent actions of others.

It is past time that we work to prevent violence in the workplace. Congress must act to enact Senator Murray’s legislation as soon as possible.

The legislation introduced by Sen. Murray is entitled "The Survivors' Empowerment and Economic Security Act (S.1136). The text of the proposed bill has not yet been received by the Government Printing Office (GPO) and, therefore, is not yet available on Thomas.

According to a press release on Murray's site the legislation

• Allows victims to take time off from work without penalty in order to make court appearances, seek legal assistance, and get help with safety planning
• Allows victims in every state access to unemployment benefits if they are fired or forced to leave their job because of abuse
• Prohibits discrimination in employment and insurance based on domestic or sexual violence, to ensure that victims are never punished for their abusers' crimes
• Strengthens the Family Violence Option in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF), in order to protect some of the most economically vulnerable victims