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Former VP Biden dicusses toll domestic violence can take on victims

University of Delaware

Former Vice President Joe Biden addressed an education conference at the University of Delaware Monday, arguing that violence leads to poor health outcomes.

 

 

Biden says victims of domestic violence and sexual assault are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. He also says they’re more likely to drop out of school.

He wrote the Violence Against Women’s Act that passed Congress in 1994. He says he fought to overcome cultural perceptions that women were bringing violence upon themselves.

 

“She must have done something. If she was raped, she was asked where was she wearing, as if it had any relevance at all whether a man had a right to rape her," said Biden. "And if she were battered, she was asked ‘What did you do, what did you do to provoke this.’”

Biden says victims of violence have greater incidences of asthma, diabetes and traumatic brain injuries.

He says it took brave women testifying to change the debate about domestic violence. But he adds young men also must help in making communities and college campuses safer.

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