At Mary’s Place in Seattle, Senator Murray Discusses Importance of Providing Economic Security for Domestic Violence Survivors

Murray: "No survivor of domestic violence should feel forced to choose between their safety and their paycheck, their job, or their ability to support their family. That's why I'm working to reintroduce my Security and Financial Empowerment for Survivors Act later this year-a bill that would increase survivors' access to support and protections like those we have in Washington state."

Murray secured the highest funding ever for grants to address violence against women in the draft government funding bill for Fiscal Year 2025 she passed out of committee and is working to pass into law

***PHOTO AND B-ROLL OF THE EVENT HERE***

Seattle, WA - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a roundtable discussion to hear from providers, advocates, and a survivor as she works to introduce legislation that would help provide additional economic security for domestic violence survivors as they work to separate themselves from an abuser or get connected to additional supportive services. Senator Murray was joined by: Dominique Alex, CEO of Mary's Place; Judy Chen, Executive Director at Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Riddhi Mukhopadhyay, Director of Sexual Violence Legal Center at Legal Voice; Dr. Estella Williamson, Director of Harborview Abuse and Trauma Center; Doris O'Neal, Director of Domestic Violence Services at YWCA King and Snohomish; and a local survivor and Mary's Place resident who shared their personal story.

"Supporting survivors doesn't just mean having programs to provide help-it means tearing down barriers so these programs are accessible to people who need them," said Senator Murray. "There are so many women who want to seek help, who need to seek help-but are worried they can't miss work, or can't afford health care, or have no way to support themselves and their kids if they leave a dangerous situation. That is a hard, and heartbreaking reality-one that we cannot accept, and that I believe we can change. No survivor of domestic violence should feel forced to choose between their safety and their paycheck, their job, or their ability to support their family. That's why I'm working to reintroduce my Security and Financial Empowerment for Survivors Act later this year-a bill that would increase survivors' access to support and protections like those we have in Washington state."

"I'm here today because it's important to hear from survivors and from the people helping them get the support they need," continued Senator Murray. "Perspectives from here in Washington state help me make sure folks in the other Washington truly understand what is at stake, what people are going through, and what we can do to help survivors get the support and justice they need to heal. I'm going to make sure these voices, and this important discussion, are heard in the halls Congress."

Senator Murray is working to introduce the Security and Financial Empowerment (SAFE) for Survivors Act-which would establish provisions that promote the safety and security of survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and includes protections if the individual's family members are survivors of the same. Murray's legislation will seek to: increase access to leave without fear of penalty, would require employers to provide reasonable job-related modifications to address the impacts of a qualifying act of violence, would provide access to unemployment benefits for survivors, enhance workplace protections for survivors, and establish a national public outreach and education campaign to raise public awareness of qualifying acts of violence for employers, teachers, service providers, and other community partners.

According to the Domestic Violence Hotline, 44% of full-time employed adults in the US reported experiencing the effect of domestic violence in their workplace; 21% identified themselves as victims of intimate partner violence. A 2005 survey found that 64% of respondents who identified themselves as victims of domestic violence indicated that their ability to work was affected by the violence. 57% of domestic violence victims said they were distracted; almost half (45%) feared being discovered, and 2 in 5 were afraid of an unexpected visit by their intimate partner (either by phone or in person). Domestic violence issues lead to nearly 8 million lost days of paid work each year, the equivalent of over 32,000 full-time jobs.

Senator Murray has long prioritized passing policies to help end domestic violence and support survivors. She has helped author major provisions and additions to the Violence Against Women Act over the years. In the most recent reauthorization of VAWA Senator Murray passed major provisions of her Survivors' Access to Supportive Care Act (SASCA). Murray first introduced SASCA in 2016, after her constituent, Leah Griffin, shared her personal story of surviving a sexual assault and then getting turned away from a hospital when it was unable to administer a rape kit-ultimately contributing to prosecutors declining to file criminal charges. Since then, she has fought to pass the critical legislation, and ultimately succeeded in including key provisions of the bill in the March 2022 reauthorization of VAWA to develop national standards of care for survivors of sexual assault, strengthen the sexual assault examiner workforce, and expand access to sexual assault examination services.

The March 2022 reauthorization of VAWA also included provisions that expand special criminal jurisdiction of Tribal courts to cover non-Native perpetrators of sexual assault, child abuse, stalking, and sex trafficking on tribal lands. The reauthorization also increases services and support for survivors from underserved and marginalized communities-including LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. VAWA also supports survivor-centered, community-based restorative practice services, including culturally specific services and services in rural communities.

In the draft Senate government funding bills for Fiscal Year 2025 that Senator Murray passed out of committee, Murray secured $739.5 million, the highest funding level ever, for grants to address violence against women that are administered by the DOJ Office on Violence Against Women. This represents a $26.5 million increase above Fiscal Year 2024. This funding supports multiple competitive and formula grant programs that support training for police officers and prosecutors, state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions, rape prevention programs, lethality assessment and homicide reduction initiatives, domestic violence hotlines, women's shelters, transitional housing, and rural support services.

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