NOW-NYS Joins NYS Assemblywoman Eddington to Propose New Legislation

ALBANY, NY (02/24/2009)(readMedia)-- The National Organization for Women-NYS will join with NYS Assemblywoman Patricia Eddington at a press conference Thursday, February 26th, 2009, 11:00 AM. Location is Room 130 in the Legislative Office Building, Albany, NY. We will stand in solidarity in support of new legislation that will ensure that violence against women is first considered as a hate crime.

The word "gender" is already included in the New York State "hate crimes" definition. The NYS Penal Code reads as follows: "Penal § 485.05 Hate crimes. 1. A person commits a hate crime when he or she commits a specified offense and either: (a) intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is committed or intended to be committed in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct..."

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence "One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year. The majority (73%) of family violence victims are female. Females are 84% of spousal abuse victims and 86% of abuse victims at the hands of a boyfriend."

NYS Assemblymember Patricia Eddington states, "We believe that these vicious, violent crimes against women, including rape, murder and the recent beheading of a woman in Buffalo, are because they are women. Therefore, I am introducing a bill that will require authorities to first apply the standard of "hate crime" to offenses committed by men against women before seeking lesser charges under the penal code."

Pappas further states, "All too often judges and police enforcement shrug their shoulders and look the other way. These cases should be regarded as "hate crimes," with no talk of "he only did it once, or it's a crime of passion." Such excuses are not acceptable. And since men are taught from day one that women do not deserve respect, this deliberately-cultivated mindset actually constitutes premeditation."