Nearly 25% of women will experience domestic violence. CLUW is part of the coalition of more than 300 national groups supporting re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act. (S. 1925).
We expect the Senate to vote on S. 1925 this week, and telephone calls are needed to ensure that this life-saving, life-affirming legislation is approved!
Please let your senators know that S. 1925 is the only bill that protects ALL women who are victims of violence.
You can find your senators’ numbers here.
Call with this message
“S. 1925 is the REAL VAWA. Vote no on the Grassley/Hutchison language and any other amendments to VAWA. Support S. 1925. A vote for any other language or amendment is a vote AGAINST VAWA. I am your constituent and my views were taken into consideration in the development of S. 1925 – it reflects the needs of victims in your state.”
See below CLUW’s contribution to the Blog Carnival on this subject with the post by Janet Hill, CLUW VP (USW)
Congress Rocking Back the Clock for Women
April 24, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
by Janet Hill, Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), National VP for USW Coalition of Labor Union Women, Beaver Valley NOW, jhill@usw.org
Some familiar faces in Congress are more concerned with rocking back the clock rather than rocking round the clock where women and families are concerned. The Violence against Women Act (VAWA) is currently being blocked in Congress.
Some might ask, doesn’t everybody want to protect women and families against violence and hey didn’t George Bush sign this? But that was before – gasp – the act was extended to protect the following underserved groups – undocumented female immigrants, Native American women and double gasp LBTGQ victims.
Undocumented female immigrants frequently have their undocumented status used as a weapon against them. Thirty four percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in their lifetimes; 39% will be subjected to domestic violence in their lifetimes; and on some reservations, Native women are murdered at more than ten times the national average. The LBTGQ community experiences violence at the same rates as the non-LBTGQ community but they have difficulty in getting services. For example, 45 percent of LGBT victims were turned away when they sought help from a domestic violence shelter, according to a 2010 survey, and nearly 55 percent of those who sought protection orders were denied them
In 1985 the Surgeon General identified domestic violence as a public health issue. Joe Biden introduced the first violence against Women Act in 1990 and along with the Judiciary Committee did a three year study in to the causes and effects of violence on women. In 1994 because it was thought that preventing violence against women was a commonsense issue that benefited everyone and passed with bipartisan support. Each time the act was reauthorized it was expanded and improved. Each time it passed with bipartisan support.
This legislation has been commonsense since 1994 shouldn’t it continue to be so?
Carol S. Rosenblatt
Executive Director
Coalition of Labor Union Women