The International Violence against Women Act (IVAWA), a landmark legislation on ending violence against women, has been introduced in the United States Congress. The bill, if passed, will impact millions of women and girls worldwide by including solutions to address violence against women and girls in US foreign assistance programmes.
This is your chance to have a say— Sign the IVAWA petition and urge the US Congress to pass this bill; let your friends and networks know that they can help by adding their names here.
The IVAWA would translate into increased US investment in local women’s groups and programmes that promote women’s access to economic opportunity and education, address violence against women and girls in humanitarian situations, improve legal accountability and aim at changing public attitudes towards the issue. Listen to the voices of women on the ground about why IVAWA matters to them.
UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador and Say NO Spokesperson, Nicole Kidman applauded the efforts that have gone into the drafting of IVAWA and emphasized, “The IVAWA, when passed, will be a beacon, lighting the way forward in other countries. I urge you to say NO to violence against women by supporting the IVAWA. Partners of Say NO have given us new tools and ways that each of you can have a say – sign the IVAWA petition today.”
For more ideas on how you can support the IVAWA, check out the resources offered by Women Thrive Worldwide, Amnesty International USA and the Family Violence Prevention Fund.
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February 10, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Kim
Thanks for the post, this is a huge, necessary step in ending violence against women. Join The Extraordinaries and Man Up Campaign at http://bit.ly/bMcX1J, put your picture on the map alongside other supporters and end the injustices now!
May 28, 2012 at 8:43 pm
Lupe
Somehow people are mssiing out on the work that’s been done to bridge the gap in the last 30 years. People like Chuck Colson and Father Neuhaus and groups like Evangelicals and Catholics Together have worked to create a political coalition that overcomes doctrinal differences.Part of the success is the fact that the Catholic leadership in the US doesn’t take Catholic doctrine all that seriously. When they do, threatening to excommunicate pro-choice politicians, e.g., they get blowback from the laity. My guess is that ECT wouldn’t really work in Europe, where the conservative priests would be as doctrinally inflexible as politically conservative.On the other hand, part of the success is also due to a general loss of learning in Protestant sects. When you listen to evangelical radio now and read educational materials put out by evangelical publishing houses, they are much more aimed at simply getting people informed of what is in the Bible and what Christians believe rather than complex historical or theological explication of scripture.