Biden Helps National Domestic Violence Hotline Answer the Call to Help More Victims

Biden Helps National Domestic Violence Hotline Answer the Call to Help More Victims

In his latest effort to help victims of domestic violence get assistance more quickly, U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) today announced $840,000 in federal funding as part his "Connections Campaign," a public-private partnership designed to update and transform the often overloaded, somewhat antiquated National Domestic Violence Hotline.

The Hotline, created through Biden's 1994 Violence Against Women Act, has received more than 1 million calls since its first day of operation on February 21, 1996. Today, Hotline workers field as many as 500 calls a day. Ever-increasing demand coupled with dwindling resources and outdated equipment left an estimated 26,000 calls unanswered last year. Over the past year, Senator Biden personally reached out to technology industry leaders to ask for help in increasing the Hotline's technical capacity and expand its capabilities.

According to Biden, the effort garnered support from Microsoft, Sony, Dell, IBM, BellSouth, Verizon Wireless, CTIA Wireless, America Online, Time Warner, Nortel Networks and others, and, including this $840,000 federal investment, all told, the Hotline has received over $3 million in cash and in-kind equipment donations.

"I am proud of and profoundly grateful to our corporate partners who truly stepped up to the plate and donated not only hardware and software, but their time, energy and expertise as well," said Senator Biden. "The Hotline had become a victim of its own success. As public awareness about domestic violence grew, and the Hotline's number became more well known, the volume of calls spiked significantly. Because of the federal commitment and the generous support from our corporate partners, The Hotline now has the capacity to answer each and every call it receives. No woman should ever get a busy signal and no victim's life should ever be put on hold."

Experts estimate that between two to four million women in the U.S. are battered each year and more than half of the victims live in households with children under age 12. The Journal of American Medical Association estimates that one-third of women seen in hospital emergency rooms are victims of domestic violence. And the National Violence Against Women Survey reports that nearly 1 out of 4 surveyed women had been raped or physically assaulted by an intimate partner at some point in their lives.

The number for the domestic Violence Hotline is: 1-800-799-SAFE.

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