VP Biden Praises Duluth's Model Against Domestic Violence

DULUTH - After receiving the Future Policy Award 2014 for having the best policy in the world for addressing domestic violence, the Duluth Model is now being recognized by the vice president."Women are half the sky and they are being brutalized across the world," Vice President Joe Biden said. Having authored the Violence Against Women Act, Biden let the audience of more than 100 advocates know that he has admired the Duluth Model's Coordinated Community Reponse to domestic violence since 1976."What you have done is you've awaken the whole community, but you've awaken the world and I really mean it,” said Biden. "To think that years and years ago that Duluth was so ahead of its time in developing this way to deal with these cases,” U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said. “It's something that we truly should be proud of." Developed nearly 40 years ago, the program is known worldwide for holding abusers accountable, creating a safety net for victims all the way from the criminal justice systems to the courts, while helping them live the best life possible. “We listen to the experience of battered women and their children and then we create an intervention,” Advocates for Family Peace executive director Melissa Scaia said. “It’s not head knowledge, it’s not in a book that says maybe it should be done that way and that’s what makes this place great.""So hats off to everybody whose played a role in this," U.S. Representative Rick Nolan (D-MN) said. During his speech inside the Duluth Public Safety Building, Biden also praised programs like the Duluth Model for helping us come a long way promoting awareness. He cited recent domestic violence incidents in the NFL."It would not have even made the television 20 years ago. It is significant progress," said Biden. But he also believes we still have a long road ahead of us."I believe the American people will move as long as we make it clear to them what's happening," said Biden. “Violence against women is not just an individual pathological problem, it is a global social problem,” said Scaia.The Duluth Model's visual wheel is translated into 22 different languages and 33 different cultural contexts around the world.After the event, Biden headed to Hibbing to rally for the 8th District Congressional seat.