All human persons have the
right to not be violated sexually. Rape is often called the ultimate
violation of self, a crime of absolute contempt for personal integrity which
leaves victims with emotional scars for life. Rape is a crime under
international human rights law. Yet many
in Congress still believe that rape is acceptable and that rape victims do not
have the legal right to an investigation of their rape allegation and
conviction of their rapist. Just note the statement of Kansas
Rep. Pete DeGraaf: Being
impregnated during a rape is just like getting a flat tire -
in other words women must be prepared every day of their life to be potentially
sexually assaulted. [i]
This immunity for sexual assault has
been extended by the recent 2001 Supreme Court decision -- Circuit City v. Adams where the Supreme Court expanded the reach of
employees who are required to address disputes through arbitration rather than
in court. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) stood up for rape victims and asked for
the Senate Judiciary Committee to examine the effects on rape victims civil
rights under the new Circuit City vs Adams decision. [ Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams,. 532 U.S. 105
(2001) opinion.]
The Court's decision in Circuit City undermines the effective enforcement of
civil rights laws, and by extending the force of the arbitration act, the Court
made employment contract arbitration provisions enforceable, thus enabling
employers to strip employees of their civil rights by including arbitration
clauses in employment contracts. This
means that rape victims are not allowed to demand an investigation and a
prosecution of their rapist. This Supreme
Court decision will also affect employees of other government contractors not just in the
Defense Department -- it will affect rape victim rights in private prisons who
contract with the federal government, private psychiatric hospitals and even
private medical clinics.
What about the human rights of a female prison guard working
in a private prison under federal contract?
If she is raped at work, does the private prison have the right to hold
her in a cell for a day while they tamper with witnesses, destroy evidence and
then force her to have her forensic rape exam performed by a prison employed
physician? This is exactly what happened
to Jamie Leigh Jones when she was raped in Iraq by employees of US defense
contractor KBR. Employees in private
prisons are also asked to sign mandatory
arbitration clauses in their contracts with their employers just like Jamie
Leigh Jones. What about the constitutional
rights of persons working in social services under a governmental
contractor? Women working in direct
contact with former rapists, drug dealers, and violent offenders are at
particular risk of sexual assault. If
they are raped while on the job, will a mandatory arbitration clause in their
employment contract make it legal for their employer to use any means possible
to prevent them from reporting the rape to proper authorities and demanding a
sexual assault investigation? What about
female employees in privately run but publicly funded psychiatric
facilities? Aren't they at special risk
of work place violence? Will arbitration
clauses in their employment contracts nullify their human rights or civil
rights to justice?
Apparently 30 elected federal officials in the US Congress do not even acknowledge that one out of every 6 women in the United States suffers a sexual assault at some time in their life. Add to that every mother or father of a rape victim, every husband, wife or lover, every friend or caring colleague that is a lot of people victimized by the trauma because everyone close to a rape victim is affected by this crime. Sexual assault is considered one of the egregious violations a person can suffer, and certainly is a trauma that no victim/survivor will ever forget. Every two minutes someone is sexually assaulted. There are 213,000 sexual assaults each year. 60% of all sexual assaults are never reported to the police and only one in 16 rapists will ever spend a day in jail. (RAINN.org statistics)
So in 10/1/2009 Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) put an amendment on the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 in order to:
"To prohibit the use of funds for any Federal contract with Halliburton Company, KBR, Inc., any of their subsidiaries or affiliates, or any other contracting party if such contractor or a subcontractor at any tier under such contract requires that employees or independent contractors sign mandatory arbitration clauses regarding certain claims."
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) spoke against the amendment, calling it "a political attack directed at Halliburton." But there was bipartisan support of the Franken Amendment and the 111th Congress - 1st Session passed the Franken Amendment S.Amdt. 2588 to H.R. 3326 was added to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010. It was passed by a 68-30 vote. The amendment earned the support of 10 Republican senators including that of newly-minted Florida Sen. George LeMieux. On 12/19/2009 it became Public Law No: 111-118 [Text, PDF]
See how your own elected representatives voted on Public Law 111-118:
Grouped By Vote Position
NAYs ---30
Alexander
(R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn
(R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl
(R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)
YEAs ---68
Akaka
(D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Burris (D-IL)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
1
