By Sen. Kay Hagan
www.news-record.com

I commend you for your Oct. 15 editorial on domestic violence awareness.

Nearly one in four women in the U.S. have reported experiencing domestic violence. In North Carolina, 73 women and children are killed on average each year in domestic violence incidents. This is alarming and unacceptable.

That's why I was proud to vote for the bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. The bill included my initiative to ensure that doctors and nurses are better able to identify, assess and treat victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

I worked with experts at UNCG to boost research on effective public health approaches and interventions that could prevent violence and abuse and improve the health and safety of individuals who are currently victimized. The updated law also includes the bipartisan SAFER Act, which provides for audits of untested rape kits and gives law enforcement resources to help reduce the backlog of rape kits - something I fought for when I served in the state Senate.

Since VAWA first passed in 1994, domestic violence has decreased by 53 percent nationally. As a mother of two daughters, I'm committed to continuing these efforts to protect survivors and prevent future crimes.

To read this letter to the editor at The Greensboro News & Record's website, please click here.