Domestic Violence Awareness Month

by Jim Parker, Hamilton

Thursday, October 17th is “Go Purple Day,” a national day of action. Everyone is encouraged to wear all things purple as a symbol of peace, courage, survival, honor, and personal dedication to domestic violence awareness.

Immigration has been much in the news this year. One place to begin learning about Domestic Violence is the other “I” word, incest.  

Here are a few of the things I learned by researching the context of Tim Sheehy’s position on abortion. The Montana Republican Party Platform calls for a complete ban on Elective Abortions. Pleas by Hamilton Legislator David Bedey at last summer’s GOP Platform Convention to soften this stance were resoundingly rejected. All abortions are elective according to the platform of the Montana Republican Party.

By taking the politically convenient stance of standing for exceptions for incest, rape, and a mother’s health, Tim Sheehy is daring the Montana Republican Party to rebuke him. Just last year, the Executive of the Montana Republican Party rebuked a popular two term Republican Governor, Marc Racicot, for exercising his freedom to vote for the Presidential candidate of his choice. Does Greg Gianforte endorse Tim Sheehy’s stance on abortion?

Because October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I also want to share some of the things I learned about incest and rape attempting to nail down the difference between abortions for exceptions and elective abortions.

· Montana ranks 13th  among the 50 states on the incidence of incest.  Here are some key statistics on incest in the United States: 

· In 1975, the estimated the incidence of incest related pregnancy was estimated at one in a million.  With the advent of DNA testing, the prevalence of incest is now estimated to be one in 7,000 and rising. Considering that not all cases of incest will result in pregnancy, the true prevalence of incest in the United States is likely to be even higher. Will the incidence of incest soon outstrip the incidence of Human Trafficking ?

· Between 1980 and 2022, about 15% of families reported an incestuous event. 

· About 46% of child rape victims were raped by a family member. 

· Only 20% of incest victims report the crime to law enforcement. 

· Incest is usually committed by fathers against their daughters, with the average victim age being 8 years old. 

Here is a snapshot of the statistics on the incidence of rape in Montana:

In 2022, Montana logged 54.4 forcible rapes per 100,000 people, which is higher than the national rate. Montana’s violent crime rate is also higher than the national average, but it’s not among the highest in the country.

• 2018: 51.87 rapes per 100,000 people, a 14.52% decline from 2017 

• 2017: 60.68 rapes per 100,000 people, a 5.4% increase from 2016 

• 2016: 57.57 rapes per 100,000 people, a 3.88% increase from 2015 

• 2015: 55.42 rapes per 100,000 people, a 1.63% increase from 2014 

I invite you to join me in making Montana Purple again by voting for Jon Tester for the US Senate and Ryan Busse for Governor of Montana.