The URGENT email from the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women http://4vawa.org/ hit my inbox at 9:37am this morning (East Coast time) which is 4:37am our time. I've just gotten round to it at about 12:30pm our time which is now 5:30pm their time. Sigh. While we have the rest of Aloha Friday to look forward to, they're already at Pau Hana BUT to a certain extent, Washington DC at this time of the year often runs much like Hawaii time so we still might have some time to do something about this!
The message I've been asked to convey is the following:
Domestic violence is pervasive and must end. In fact, violence against women and children affects everyone in [name of local community] in some way. In 1994, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was a giant step forward for our nation. Its passage meant that our federal government finally acknowledged that domestic and sexual violence cause tremendous harm, and put resources into helping victims. Millions of families are better off as a result.
The time has come to again reauthorize this critical legislation. Evidence shows that VAWA is working. Over the last 15 years, domestic and sexual violence have declined. But there is more work to do. On average, each day current and former boyfriends and husbands murder three women in America and several hundred people are raped or sexually assaulted. Countless children witness this violence. The Violence Against Women Act of 2011 will build on efforts to prevent violence before it begins and teach the next generation that violence is always wrong.
We need more resources for children and youth who have been exposed to violence, and to engage men as allies in this work. Congress must reauthorize this legislation and invest more in building healthy communities.
Why is re-authorizing VAWA so important? From a distance it looks like it’s all about money and funding but that’s not the entire story. Since its enactment in 1994 – co-authored in part by our current Vice President, Joe Biden – VAWA has been able to save money while at the same time increasing the overall effectiveness of the response to sexual and domestic violence. VAWA acknowledges that these problems are crimes not mere relationship issues, “personal problems” or situations that just got “a little bit out of hand”.
One of the bigger misperceptions about violence and abuse is that the majority of it is stranger related: someone we don’t know jumps out at us and violates us when we didn’t see it coming. While those types of crimes certainly do happen, they’re actually in the minority – violence and abuse within the context of relationships is where the majority of such crimes occur, followed by crimes where a casual or acquaintance-like situation existed. Although this was a study done in Australia, the pie chart illustration just really captures the point: http://www.aic.gov.au/statistics/homicide/victim-offender.aspx
Violence or abuse committed by a stranger is traumatizing enough, but violence or abuse perpetrated by a loved one puts a whole ‘nother psychological spin onto it for the victim. Another key differentiation between stranger and relationship violence/abuse is that stranger violence is typically a one-time assault (excluding extreme situations like Jaycee Dugard’s). The chances for multiple victims with single acts of violence are more likely when a stranger is involved whereas relationship violence is more likely to involve a smaller amount of victims but the assaults upon those victims have been more than just a one-time occurrence.
The long-term, life-altering consequences of relationship violence and abuse that were spoken about yesterday at the legislature by both men and women survivors during testimony for the elimination of the statute of limitations bill (HB556) gave ample reasons why preventing and adequately responding to these crimes are so very necessary. Against the backdrop of a world that has increasingly tolerated, accepted and pushed the envelope on violence and abusiveness in terms of entertainment, our children need to have a strong force to counter such attitudes and VAWA is one of the tools to help get us there.
How can you support VAWA? It’s as easy as a few computer clicks! Just go to http://action.now.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5338 and type in your zip code. The congressmen (or congresswomen!) in your area will pop up on the screen with a pre-written letter urging them to support the reauthorization of VAWA. The step towards a more safe, peaceful and productive world is at hand – let’s take it!
For more information on VAWA, go to: http://4vawa.org/
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