NATION IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Women Testify for Violent Crime Bill

Two women who had been victims of violent crime testified at a congressional hearing on legislation calling for tougher penalties for violence against women. Marla Hanson, a former New York model whose face was slashed with razor blades, said she had been haunted more by “the stigma of victimization” than by the actual memory of the attack. Nancy Ziegenmeyer, a Grinnell, Iowa, woman abducted and raped, said officials had been kind to her but were too overworked to give her the support and attention she needed. The pending legislation calls for tougher penalties for sex crimes and would make sex-related violence a civil rights violation, entitling the victim to sue for punitive damages.