6th November 2016

Letter to the Next President

Dear Future President,

One issue you must address during the duration of your presidency is the issue of domestic violence. Domestic violence used to only take place in the home, but it has made its way to out in public. One example of this is the Ray Rice elevator incident when he punched his fiancee in February 2014. If we as a nation do not find ways to combat the issue quick, more and more women will be beaten by their spouse every day.

One reason domestic violence is such a big issue and also what I think you should do as president is to set up more programs to combat the issue. According to a national survey, 45% of shelters viewed their main role as promoting feminist political activism, while only 25% focused on providing treatment for abused women. This means that the programs are setup to combat a different issue than they set out to solve. Also, in a quote from Angela Moore Parmley, PhD, she states,” We have no evidence to date that VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) has led to a decrease in the overall levels of violence against women.” VAWA was a law signed to combat domestic violence. If we want to stop domestic violence victims and offenders, we need to set up programs that are used to solve the issue, not another one.

Next, another reason why this issue is not being well combated is because not many big groups, organizations, or companies are involved. In a quote from the article “Domestic Violence Is Not a Serious Problem in the NFL”, National Organization for Women president Terry O’Neill says,” The NFL has lost it’s way. It doesn’t have a Ray Rice problem, it has a violence against women problem.” This means that the NFL has not shown enough concern for the issue. Also, R- S.D. John Thune has scolded numerous sports leagues for not sending their commissioners to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee. Future President, if you want to stop domestic violence, you have to get big groups involved, because they simply are not doing enough. Also, with all of the kids and teenagers like myself that watch the NFL, the league should be trying to put out a message to stop domestic violence.

Finally, the last topic of this essay to you is about domestic violence in correlation with guns. According to the article “Laws Prohibiting Domestic Violence Offenders from Owning Guns Will Reduce Homicides”, it states,” American women are twice as likely to be killed by their partner as a stranger- and guns cause that risk to skyrocket.” In my opinion, this means we must find a way to get guns out of the hands of those convicted of domestic violence charges. Also, according to the same article,” Approximately 700 women are shot and killed by their intimate partners each year.” Future President, this alone should be motivation and proof to set up programs and get companies involved to strongly combat the issue of domestic violence for the victims and the offenders.

Sincerely,

K

Works Cited

Brown, Ryan. “Laws Prohibiting Domestic Violence Offenders from Owning Guns Will Reduce Homicides.” Salon.com, Edited by Louise I. Gerdes, 2010, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/viewpointsdetailspage/viewpointsdetailswindow?disablehighlighting=false&displaygroupname=viewpoints&currpage=&scanid=&query=&prodid=ovic&search_within_results=&p=ovic&mode=view&catid=&limiter=&display-query=&displaygroups=&contentmodules=&action=e&sortby=&documentid=gale|ej3010126409&windowstate=normal&activitytype=&failovertype=&commentary=&source=bookmark&u=cort85574&jsid=81f4099fb0910fc5e5df822347cb0835.

Bryfonski, Dedria, editor. “Domestic Violence Programs Are Ineffective and Sometimes Harmful.” Domestic Violence Programs Are Ineffective and Sometimes Harmful, 2010, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/viewpointsdetailspage/viewpointsdetailswindow?disablehighlighting=&displaygroupname=viewpoints&currpage=&dviselectedpage=&scanid=&query=&prodid=ovic&search_within_results=&p=ovic&mode=view&catid=&limiter=&display-query=&displaygroups=&contentmodules=&action=e&sortby=&documentid=gale|ej3010045263&windowstate=normal&activitytype=&failovertype=&commentary=&source=bookmark&u=cort85574&jsid=8fcde4fc5aecd93fce3cb04346f36197.

Graves, Lucia. “The NFL Is Working Hard to Combat Domestic Violence.” Nationaljournal.com, Edited by Tamara Thompson, Feb. 2014, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/viewpointsdetailspage/viewpointsdetailswindow?disablehighlighting=false&displaygroupname=viewpoints&currpage=&dviselectedpage=&scanid=&query=&prodid=ovic&search_within_results=&p=ovic&mode=view&catid=&limiter=&display-query=&displaygroups=&contentmodules=&action=e&sortby=&documentid=gale|ej3010975216&windowstate=normal&activitytype=&failovertype=&commentary=&source=bookmark&u=cort85574&jsid=22294b078ee84aaece369a867578dbe1.