Yesterday, the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) was re-introduced to both houses of Congress. The bill was introduced last year, but never came to a vote. Sen. John Kerry, Rep. Bill Delahunt, Kerry Kennedy and Larry Cox of Amnesty International have a piece in Politico:
IVAWA will support innovative programs that challenge public attitudes and cultural practices that perpetuate and condone violence against women and girls. In settings where women are prevented or discouraged from seeking justice, IVAWA will support training for police and judicial officials on countering violence against women and respecting the rights of victims. It will allow long-term prevention efforts such as increasing women's economic security, expanding access to jobs and education, and engaging men to change behaviors and attitudes. Societies in which women are able to live and function in relative safety, empowered to realize their aspirations and move their communities forward are healthier, better developed, and more stable. Societies that take measures to deter discrimination and violence against women are better equipped to root out terrorism, less prone to conflict, and therefore more secure.
It's no news that the bill's passage would be a huge step in the right direction in addressing systematic violence against women and girls across the globe. So take action and make sure that happens.
UPDATE: You can also sign the IVAWA petition at Women Thrive.
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Thanks for posting this, Vanessa.
If there's ever a doubt that now, more than ever, women around the globe need the passage of the bill, the book "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" will put to rest any of those doubts.
I highly recommend that we each read it, and then send a copy to the senators and representatives who answer to us.
Oh no, now all the me around the world will be oppressed under women!!!!
Kidding. I'm very happy about this. It's definitely hard to help other countries without seeming ethnocentric... we need to find a way to be able to criticize other cultural practices only when it really matters and not just when we think it's weird, that's for sure.
This is great! Let's hope it passes, or at least gets further than last time. I also find it interesting (and encouraging) that three male politicians wrote that piece.
Yay! more US paternalism for the rest of the world. If they really wanted to do something that helped women across the world there are a number of UN programs they could contribute and support rather than this.
I can't love this... It seems like "white people to the rescue", again. Women especially in India and South America are at the forefront of gender equality and social justice, and they don't need us blundering around messing it up. I don't hate the system we have here, but it does have both compromises and excesses, and we don't need to duplicate those flaws overseas.