Joseph R. Biden

About the author: Joseph R. Biden is a Democratic senator from Delaware and Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary.

A six-month investigation of state rape prosecutions reveals an unconscionable disparity between how our system prosecutes rape and how it deals with other violent crimes. This disparity results from society's almost cavalier "boys will be boys" attitude toward the crime of rape. The Violence Against Women Act provides a civil rights remedy for victims of crimes related to gender. While this will not eliminate all violence against women, it elevates such offenses to a more visible, "first-class" status and thereby may provide the impetus to reverse a currently unacceptable situation.

The report I issue today culminates a 3-year investigation by the Judiciary Committee's majority staff concerning the causes and effects of...