Dusty Johnson: “Statistics show that a woman is raped every five minutes in the United States and that one in every three adult women…”

“Statistics show that a woman is raped every five minutes in the United States and that one in every three adult women experiences at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood. In fact, more women are injured by domestic violence each year than by automobile accidents and cancer deaths combined. October, as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, is a good time to take a serious look at the progress we've made in addressing the problem of abuse against women in our communities. In 1983, I introduced legislation in the South Dakota State Legislature to use marriage license fees to help fund domestic abuse shelters. At that time, thousands of South Dakota women and children were in need of shelters and programs to help them. However, few people wanted to acknowledge that domestic abuse occurred in their communities, or even in their homes. During the last 7 years, I have led efforts in the United States Congress to authorize the original Violence Against Women Act, VAWA, and, most recently, expand and improve the program to assist rural communities. South Dakota has received over $8 million in VAWA funds for women's' shelters and family violence prevention services. In addition the law has doubled prison time for repeat sex offenders, established mandatory restitution to victims of violence against women, and strengthened interstate enforcement of violent crimes against women.”