Letter to Congressman
Jessie Taylor your address
August 4th, 2013
Pete Gallego
U. S. Congressman, 23rd District of Texas
El Paso District Office
860 Rio Vista
Socorro, TX 79927
Dear Congressman Gallego,
I would be one of the millions of women who have suffered from domestic violence. Currently I am a constituent of the 23rd District of Texas who would like to thank you for your recent support to pass the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAMA) reauthorization.
Given the primarily Hispanic community here in El Paso, domestic violence is more prevalent and getting out of these abusive relationships is often more difficult because of the cultural values. I would like to urge you to consider the children that are caught in between. Currently there is only “In the best Interest of the child” clause, but even then, women of domestic violence are placed in a dangerous situation of sharing custody with their abuser. While I am not advocating for totally cutting a father out of the picture, I do believe preventive measures need to be put in place to ensure that these kids do not suffer more than they already have.
Specifically, I would like to see changes made that require the abuser (whether they are male or female), to attend parenting and anger management classes, plus they must have supervised visitation for a minimum of a year after the incident, with significant progress made on the part of the abuser to mend both the relationship with their child(ren) and the mother/father of the children. If something is not done to protect these children, some could end up abused themselves or the women/man could end up dead. Stricter laws need to be enforced when it comes to domestic violence especially when it is done repeatedly.
Sincerely,
Jessie Taylor
MSW Student
Our Lady of the Lake University
August 4th, 2013
Pete Gallego
U. S. Congressman, 23rd District of Texas
El Paso District Office
860 Rio Vista
Socorro, TX 79927
Dear Congressman Gallego,
I would be one of the millions of women who have suffered from domestic violence. Currently I am a constituent of the 23rd District of Texas who would like to thank you for your recent support to pass the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAMA) reauthorization.
Given the primarily Hispanic community here in El Paso, domestic violence is more prevalent and getting out of these abusive relationships is often more difficult because of the cultural values. I would like to urge you to consider the children that are caught in between. Currently there is only “In the best Interest of the child” clause, but even then, women of domestic violence are placed in a dangerous situation of sharing custody with their abuser. While I am not advocating for totally cutting a father out of the picture, I do believe preventive measures need to be put in place to ensure that these kids do not suffer more than they already have.
Specifically, I would like to see changes made that require the abuser (whether they are male or female), to attend parenting and anger management classes, plus they must have supervised visitation for a minimum of a year after the incident, with significant progress made on the part of the abuser to mend both the relationship with their child(ren) and the mother/father of the children. If something is not done to protect these children, some could end up abused themselves or the women/man could end up dead. Stricter laws need to be enforced when it comes to domestic violence especially when it is done repeatedly.
Sincerely,
Jessie Taylor
MSW Student
Our Lady of the Lake University