Curbing violence against women in New York City

New York City continues to enjoy a period where overall crime is at record lows. Unfortunately, crimes that disproportionately affect women have increased. In 2015, rape cases increased by 6 percent, with an alarming increase in rapes perpetrated by drivers in the vehicle-for-hire industry. Sexual assault cases in the subway have risen by 33 percent and women continue to be on the receiving end of physical violence, from both partners and strangers.

We hope that the uptick in these cases can be partially attributed to a rise in reporting by victims who feel increasingly more comfortable engaging law enforcement – the result of the dedicated and diligent work of many of New York City’s advocates, particularly the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence. Unfortunately, this does not account for all of them.

For over a year, an aide at a Brooklyn juvenile detention center sexually assaulted three 15-year-old girls under his care. In November, a transgender woman was nearly beaten to death in Jackson Heights. In a Bronx public housing complex, a woman was hacked to death with a machete. In Harlem, a man beat and choked his girlfriend in front of her 2-month-old daughter before forcing her to walk naked in the streets while he filmed and berated her. Two women were slashed in the face on the train last week. These are just a handful of the horrific crimes against women occurring in our city, and for every case we hear about on the news, there are a dozen more that we don’t hear about.

It is difficult to celebrate low crime rates when our women, young girls and transgender women step out into a city that  tells them they have to prevent their own sexual assault and monitor their own behavior to avoid becoming a victim of a crime.

The reality is that we learn how to navigate a world that tells us that our bodies are not our own from the minute we hit puberty, often even earlier. We learn from our mothers how to dress and carry ourselves so we don’t attract the wrong kind of attention. We learn from trial and error how to dodge unwanted advances. We learn from our educators how to avoid being drugged at social events. We learn from our girlfriends how to avoid making a man “too mad.” We abide by curfews from our parents and set our own as adults.

If we are going to address crimes against women, we have to address the mindset that allows perpetrators to commit these crimes in the first place. We have to talk about entitlement, and I don’t mean benefits. We have to talk about why men feel entitled to a woman’s body; why instead of telling young boys and men “don’t rape,” we tell young girls and women, “don’t get raped.” We have to talk about why men feel it’s okay to invade a woman’s personal space and why women may not feel empowered to say, “No, it’s not okay.” We have to talk about why the definition of consent is so blurry. We have to talk about why transgender women are made to feel unsafe in their own identities.

As elected officials, we are in the unique position to respond legislatively, and I call on my colleagues to move forward with several bills that I’ve introduced to create resources that will help end violence against women.

Int. 869 would require the NYPD to report and differentiate between types of sex offenses, allowing not only for nuance in the way law enforcement responds, but also in the way organizations provide services.

Int. 868 would update our 911 call centers to receive emergency text messages that prove invaluable in situations where holding a phone conversation is impossible or potentially dangerous.

Int. 762 would require all cabs to have a panic button installed to allow passengers to send a distress signal to law enforcement, because when women take cabs, they are already taking a precautionary measure and an expectation of safety should be a given.

After hearing the details of an alleged gang rape in Brownsville this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio assured that the administration “will work to ensure a crime of this nature never happens again." His response is encouraging, but we must also hold his administration accountable. As we anticipate the hiring of an additional 1,300 police officers, we must demand that the men and women who are tasked with keeping us safe are adequately trained to handle incidents of sexual assault, intimate partner violence and hate-fueled crimes.

As a city, we need to send a strong, unified message that extends beyond being tough on crime – that we stand behind the women and girls of this city, and that violence against women will not be tolerated.

Laurie Cumbo is a New York City Council member representing District 35.