Author: Norma Gattsek

Mandating Rape in Virginia

Posted on by Norma Gattsek

The new definition of rape, just approved by the FBI for the Uniform Crime Report is: “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”  A bill passed by the Republican controlled Virginia House requires that women seeking abortions undergo examinations which include the insertion of a probe in the vagina without the consent of the patient. If there is any difference between the legal definition of rape and the procedure mandated by this bill I fail to see it. Yet, on a vote of 63-36, Virginia’s Republican controlled House of Delegates voted to require the rape of women in Virginia.

The bill, which is expected to be passed by the Republican controlled state Senate and signed by the Republican Governor, doesn’t legalize rape; it orders medical professionals to commit this despicable crime. If this bill becomes Virginia law, I hope that medical professionals will choose to violate the law, not women, and that the people of Virginia will take legal action against the legislators who mandate rape.

When Did Stopping Violence Against Women Become Political?

Posted on by Norma Gattsek

Last Thursday, I attended the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting when they voted to send the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2011 to the Senate floor for a vote.  Every Committee Democrat voted yes and every Republican voted no.  Most of the Republicans didn’t even show up to cast their no votes, but did so by proxy. I was outraged by this vote: as a woman; as an advocate for women’s rights; and as someone who has worked directly with survivors of family violence and sexual assault.

I know that we are in a political environment when just about anything to do with women’s rights is used by the right wing to achieve some totally unrelated goal. But, how did freedom from violence become a partisan political issue?  When did politicians decide it is okay to vote against preventing family and sexual violence and assisting survivors of these crimes? This has never been a partisan issue before.

No matter what politicians think, women’s health and lives are not negotiable. First, they made everything about abortion, attaching riders to unrelated bills; then they decided to move against birth control, trying to defund family planning clinics; now beating and sexually abusing women is a partisan issue.

When does it stop?  And when do we tell them that enough is enough and we will not allow this to continue?  I think that time has come, don’t you?

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