Get Ready for the Third Round of VAWA

[Brent]

From:     "Lee Newman" ( [email protected] )

VIP/SAFE-NH ACTION ALERT!

Hello all concerned about the future of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) I received this from someone via e-mail today.  It originated from the National Organization for Women (NOW). They have some excellent "tactics" listed here that the supporters of VAWA are using to get VAWA reauthorized soon!

If you are an advocate or a concerned citizen who would like to make sure that your concerns about the bias of this Act are addressed by the people who will make the ultimate decisions...DO NOT HESITATE!  DO SOMETHING NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE! Use the contact info. below in their text, monitor what NOW is monitoring about this and make your voice heard! The "changes" to VAWA that it's supporters are proposing ,do nothing to include the underserved victims of violence...this is not called the Violence Against Women Act for nothing!

VAWA needs to be changed to become inclusive of ALL victims OR it needs to be scrapped and there needs to be a replacement that will serve ALL victims equally ! Please forward this e-mail, post to your groups and organizations, contact your federal representatives. WE the taxpayers ARE the FUNDERS, we MUST tell our Government that we no longer wish to fund programs that leave victims out in the cold!

If you don't think that this affects you...think again. At some point you or a loved one will confront the horror and hurt of Domestic Violence... IF you or your loved one is in what is currently considered an underserved population...you could be at risk of having NO SERVICES when you or they need support and assistance! (among the underserved: Men, male children,gay men, lesbian women, bi-sexual men & women, transgendered men & women, elderly men, male teens and boys) .

This may be our only chance in the near future to change the tide of Domestic Violence services! Please join our efforts to make sure that our Mothers AND Fathers, our daughters AND our sons,our sisters AND brothers are all treated equally with the millions of dollars that are now only used for exclusive populations. Change needs to happen now...will you help? Please contact us directly if you need more info. (We can supply information that may be different from some of the gender biased info. at some of the links below.)

Lee Newman: Violence Intervention Program/SAFE-NH  
Lee Newman Founding Executive Director: Violence Intervention Program, SAFE-NH
http://www.vip-nh.org  
Business and 24 hr. Crisis Line: 603-859-0859
VIP/SAFE-NH P O Box 523 Rochester, NH  03867  

Advocates: Get Ready for the Third Round of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)


Dear NOW Leader and anti-violence activist,

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) 2005 reauthorization bill will be introduced by both the Senate and House early this spring. Please help by asking your senators and representative to co-sponsor the reauthorization. Activists should also begin to reinvigorate their local coalitions and mount the educational and lobbying campaign necessary to secure passage of VAWA 2005.

The reauthorization and expansion of VAWA must be a congressional priority in 2005. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., is expected to introduce the reauthorization of VAWA in a matter of weeks and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., will follow within the next month. The timeline for passing these bills is very short, so supporters need to go into action-mode right away.

    * Check to see if your senators or representative were sponsors of VAWA during the 2000 go-around (see link below). If so, ask them to sign on again as an original co-sponsor so that their name is on the bill when it is filed.
    * If you have new senators or representatives, touch base with them immediately , begin your education campaign around this important issue and suggest that sponsoring and supporting the passage of VAWA 2005 should be one of their top priorities this year. (In a few weeks, check  //www.vawa2005.org for bill summaries, talking points, fact sheets, grassroots action ideas and media toolkits — this site is not up yet, but will be soon.)

If your senators want to sign onto VAWA 2005 or need more information, have them contact Sen. Biden's Judiciary Committee staffer, Louisa Terrell, at (202) 224-0558. If your representative wants to sign onto VAWA 2005 or needs more information, have them contact Rep. Conyers' Judiciary staffer, Stacey Dansky, at (202) 225-6906.


How You Can Get Involved in the National Task Force

On Jan. 28, more than 100 organizations and advocates gathered for a meeting of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women in order to discuss the upcoming reauthorization of VAWA. The enthusiasm was high, and four committees were formed to: energize the grassroots, lobby Congress in D.C., serve as communications central, and work on outreach to involve as broad and diverse a group of coalition partners as possible.

To serve on any or all of these committees, contact Alex Walden ( [email protected]) of the Task Force at Legal Momentum, (202) 326-0040. National NOW is involved in all of these efforts as are many other national and local anti-violence groups.

Other Ways You Can Take Action

· Start a folder or notebook where you collect media reports and news clippings about incidences in your community and state that involve domestic, family and sexual violence. If you or someone in your group does this for just a month, you will have a very large folder with tragic stories and "endings" that might have been preventable if we had the resources in VAWA to work on real solutions. Copy and send this collection to your policy makers—once when you ask them to become a co-sponsor, and then on a regular basis until the final vote is cast to pass VAWA 2005. Your clippings are proof that this isn't just "someone else's problem" or that "things like that just don't happen here."

· Get to know the staff person who works on this issue in the local office(s) and in the Washington office of your senators and representative. They will be your best allies as you advocate for passing VAWA 2005. They can help you set up a meeting with the member of Congress or encourage her/him to attend any of your community or statewide events.


Background and Suggested Improvements in VAWA

As many of you know, VAWA was passed in 1994, reauthorized and enhanced in 2000, and is due to expire this fall unless it is reauthorized again. Because of VAWA, a broad range of services now exist to provide much-needed aid to women who must cope with the aftermath of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, rape, incest and stalking. Although we have made advances in public attention to this issue and improved services to victims since VAWA's passage a decade ago, much still remains to be done to combat and prevent intimate, family and sexual violence against women.

During these hard political times with budget deficits and program rollbacks, advocates face an uphill battle to win support for legislation that will call for more funds and expanded services and attention to this issue. But we cannot abandon nor dilute our determination to make eradicating sexual and domestic violence a fundamental national priority. We must fervently and insistently ask for support for an expanded and enhanced VAWA that continues the integrity of the original bill and diversifies the prevention and program efforts.


VAWA 2005 Improvements Must Include:

    * Giving violence survivors reasonable unpaid leave from work to address their situation, including attending court hearings; unemployment coverage if they can't continue working or are released from their jobs; and protection from job discrimination.

    * Increasing the options for survivors of domestic violence who need transitional housing .

    * Expanding prevention and intervention programs targeted at children and youth , and including "minors" in all programs and services. Additional attention must be paid to underserved communities and individuals.

    * Improving the training and education of health care providers to improve medical services for survivors.

    * Extending VAWA's outreach to communities near and far to ensure that everyone has access to prevention strategies and to vital protective and recuperative services.

Resources and Useful Links:

· House Sponsors - http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:HR00357:@@@P

· Senate Sponsors - http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:SN02787:@@@P

· Newsletter of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (Spring/Summer 2004) - http://www.nsvrc.org/publications/newsletters/spr_sum_04.htm

· Facts from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence - http://www.ncadv.org/problem/problem.htm

·   Find out who represents you in Congress
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/


·   Find info for House members
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml

·   Find info for Senate members
http://www.senate.gov/senators/index.cfm

Note: Once the bills are introduced, the language will be available at http://thomas.loc.gov and NOW will issue action alerts that you can use to email your members of Congress. In the meantime, please use the telephone and word of mouth to begin this campaign.

[FatherTime]

Violence Against Men Acts.... are ok?

VAMA vs VAWA


A law only for women.  We are teaching our children sexism.  They see it first hand.  How blatant and irresponsible of these congressmen and congresswomen.  

How old do they sons need to be before they are kicked out on the street?

14.. or is it 12.  

Of Course the "Mother in tennis shoes," Sen  Patty Murray WA, is one of the sponsors of this bias.  

Evidently no one has seen the gender bias in the name itself.  

It's really a shame.