Thursday, July 8, 2010

International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA)

One of my favorite organizations, Equality Now, has an easy way to write your Senator and/or Congressperson online to help support the International Violence Against Women Act.
You can send a letter here: Petition for I-VAWA

As taken from Equality Now's website, the goal of this act is to:

• Create high-level offices at the State Department and USAID responsible for developing and implementing programs to end violence against women and girls.

• Direct the office at the State Department to create a comprehensive 5-year strategy to reduce violence against women and girls beginning with 5-20 countries.

• Fund comprehensive programs in these countries that address violence in a coordinated way, through legal and health sector reform, by changing social norms and attitudes that condone rape and abuse, and improving education and economic opportunities for women and girls.

• Specifically target a portion of the funding to overseas women’s organizations to develop their capacity to work independently of U.S. support.

• Urge the U.S. government to act in cases of extreme outbreaks of violence against women and girls, for example, to address the horrific levels of rape experienced by women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo.


I would strongly suggest also signing up for Equality Now's email updates and alerts. They are a wealth of information on Women's Issues across the United States and world.

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