Guest writer

For women's safety

Cotton votes endanger families

Recently, a spokesperson for a Washington, D.C. special-interest group wrote a column in this newspaper that attempted to defend Rep. Tom Cotton's repeated votes against the Violence Against Women Act.

As a woman, an Arkansas mother of two, a small-business owner and a former state legislator whose legislative and advocacy career has frequently focused on the issue of domestic violence here in Arkansas, I think I can speak to this issue with a bit more credibility.

I can't tell you how to vote in November. That's up to you. What I will say is this: When Tom Cotton was Arkansas' only congressman, Republican or Democrat, who voted to defund domestic-violence shelters across Arkansas and eliminate law enforcement protections that safeguard thousands of women and families from abuse, he broke our trust. And for those of us who advocate for this issue and once thought better of Congressman Cotton--or more importantly, for the courageous women survivors I know by name--that's a trust we didn't deserve to see broken.

Tom Cotton voted against Arkansans, plain and simple, and many of us who understand the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) were left scratching our heads.

Why would he do something like that? I remember getting the question one Sunday after church from a friend who knows my work on these issues. It was early March of last year, just days after Tom Cotton was the only Arkansan to oppose even the House Republican version of the Violence Against Women Act.

I didn't have an answer. His explanations just seemed so gratuitous toward women. So condescending.

As I later learned, there were two deep-pocketed special-interest groups in Washington that vocally opposed the legislation--Heritage Action and the Club for Growth--and both are now spending big to back Tom Cotton's political ambitions after he voted in lockstep with them against protecting Arkansas women and families. I'm sure you have seen these groups' ads attacking Sen. Mark Pryor, who, it should also be noted, has always supported VAWA and other legislative efforts to safeguard Arkansans from abuse and violence.

Not only has Congressman Cotton carried water for his billionaire special-interest backers by opposing VAWA at every turn, he now parrots their grossly uninformed and flatly false excuses rather than own up to his irresponsible record during an election year. So much for principles.

Cotton and his Washington allies call these enforcement and protection programs wasteful and inefficient. That's simply false, and after decades of witnessing the prevalence of preventable violence and abuse, I'm baffled by anyone who argues for gutting programs that benefit the survivors I've come to know so well. Rather, we should ask what more can we do to strengthen and enhance good laws like the Violence Against Women Act.

If you'll allow me to speak from experience, here's what's indisputable: The Violence Against Women Act works. The reason it is so effective is because it directly and efficiently addresses two major needs for keeping Arkansans safe: a family's immediate physical security and survivors' long-term rehabilitation.

Too often I've met women who courageously sought help only to have their abusers violate restraining orders with practically zero consequences. Because of the tools provided to law enforcement and prosecutors under VAWA, instances of intimate-partner violence declined by more than 50 percent since the law's enactment. During a two-year reporting period, over 120,000 arrests were made nationwide and more than 160,000 criminal cases related to domestic violence were closed. What's become clear is that only by ending the immediate violence can families begin the process of healing.

Research and funding provisions under VAWA facilitate rehabilitation by helping professionals better understand the causes of domestic violence, best practices for prevention and outreach, and how to help women heal. Nowadays 97 percent of victims who requested these services are reached. This is especially crucial for children stuck in abusive situations. Studies have shown that too often children who are exposed to sustained, violent abuse become abusers themselves. Giving these children the long-term counseling and therapy they need can help break the cyclical violence.

So yes, of course I'm concerned when an ambitious freshman congressman, just one month after being sworn into office, recklessly votes to eliminate programs that I've witnessed for decades help countless women recover their lives and rebuild their families after heart-wrenching abuse.

But it's even more troubling than that: Tom Cotton voted for these painful cuts in order to please his billionaire backers who frankly look down on Arkansas, while at the same time voting to give them massive new tax breaks they don't need or deserve.

When you vote in November, let's remember those who supported women and families and those who didn't.

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Linda S. Tyler of Conway is a former state representative.

Editorial on 08/21/2014

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