It’s not too late to counter attacks against and to improve VAWA!
Use our NEW toolkit to pressure Congress to do the right thing! Vote for H.R.1585, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019!
Add your organization’s name to our sign-on letter in support of H.R.1585!
Please forward widely!
The House of Representatives is slated to vote next week on H.R.1585, the bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019, introduced by Representatives Karen Bass (D-CA-37) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01). H.R.1585 is a modest reauthorization bill that includes narrowly focused enhancements to address gaps identified by victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence and the people who work on the ground with them every day.
Please sign our ORGANIZATIONAL LETTER OF SUPPORT by Wednesday, April 3 to show Congress that organizations around the country care about this issue and support H.R.1585.
Then, use this NEW TOOLKIT to contact your Representative by phone, by email, or on social media. And don’t forget to write a letter to the editor or an op-ed! The toolkit contains scripts, talking points, a list of key enhancements, Tweets, Facebook posts, graphics, and letter-to-the editor and op-ed templates.
Also, in case you missed it, you can listen to a recording of last Thursday’s VAWA call explaining the contents of H.R.1585 HERE.
BACKGROUND:
When H.R.1585 went through the House Judiciary Committee, several Representatives tried to roll back vital VAWA protections by:
● Allowing non-Natives to prey on Native women on Tribal lands with impunity;
● Allowing publicly-funded domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers to discriminate against survivors who they don’t like and turn away vulnerable victims in need of protection and help; and
● Taking money away from communities and giving it to organizations like the NRA to teach people how to use guns.
Instead of committing to improve VAWA to address the identified needs of victims and survivors through moderate enhancements, other lawmakers introduced a year-long ‘straight reauthorization of VAWA (with no improvements) that ignores the identified needs of survivors. Lawmakers need to take a principled stand and fight for improved access to safety and justice for victims and survivors. In the era of #MeToo, we have the opportunity to make meaningful positive change to protect and support all survivors - anything less is unacceptable.
If you have questions or want to report the outcome of your contacts with Members of Congress, please email rgraber@ncadv.org and dkarp@jwi.org.