Save VAWA: The Violence Against Women Act
During this never-ending national travesty known as the government shutdown, a tragedy occurred under the radar. The Violence Against Women Act, a literal lifeline of funding and support for domestic violence and sexual support centers across the nation, died a quiet and unobserved death.
“ VAWA, passed into law in 1994, aims to support women who’ve survived intimate partner violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in the United States, through a series of government-funded programs, VAWA funds shelters, crisis centers, legal assistance, and more,” reports Broadly .
And although previously funded programs will continue to receive their monies, VAWA programs funded through the Justice Department are currently suffering a delay in the processing of payment requests. This could deal a devastating blow to shelters and programs that are in constant need of monetary resources just to survive. And although the act actually expired in late December, only a smattering of news sites have covered this issue.
Let’s think about this for a good long minute. It’s the dawn of a new year, and one of the most robust woman-centered debates in this nation involves the strong presence of the Fiji Water Girl at The Golden Globes (Should she have been photo-bombing those celebs) or the (at this point highly unlikely) possibility that Chrissy Metz might have referred to Alison Brie as ‘the B word’ just before that same ceremony.
Really? OK then, enough of this nonsense. It’s time to act:
1. Let’s sign Elect Democratic Women’s petition that calls for continued funding of the Violence Against Women Act: https://go.electdemocraticwomen.org/page/s/violence-against-women?source=MS_EM_PET_2019.01.09_B2_VAWA_X__F1_S1_C1__all
2. Let’s donate extreme and nearly ridiculous amounts of money to our local domestic violence and sexual assault centers. They need our support. Also please donate here to the National Center on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault: http://www.ncdsv.org/ncd_hireus.html.
3. Let’s contact our senators and representatives regarding this matter.
When we save VAWA, we save lives.
