Women’s Freedom From Violence in Jeopardy!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — May 15, 2012 — Washington, DC
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote as early as TODAY on the Adams version of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, also known as VAWA, (H.R. 4970). This bill not only eliminates important provisions included in the Senate-passed bipartisan bill (S. 1925), but contains new ones that would actually be dangerous to survivors of domestic violence while shielding abusers from accountability.
PLEASE CALL NOW and tell your Representative you oppose H.R. 4970 (known as the Adams bill). Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, and ask for your Representative’s office.
Not sure of your congressional district or who your member is? Click here to enter your zip code and find your Representative.
Why would anyone REMOVE provisions from a bipartisan Senate Bill that would help Native American women, immigrant women, LGBT persons and college students? And yet, that’s exactly what HR 4970 does, a bill sponsored by Rep. Sandy Adams (R-Fla.) and recently passed out of the House Judiciary Committee.
Calling your House member, instead of sending an email, is critically important, as the vote is set to occur as early as today.
Protection from violence is a fundamental human right. We shouldn’t even need to vote on this! But the reality is that until the promises of the human rights standards that guarantee the right to be free from violence, ill treatment, and torture, as well as the rights to life, health, and non-discrimination are a reality, we need to speak up and speak out against any legislation that limits these freedoms. We need to remind our legislators that the guarantees in the International Human Rights Treaties to which the United States is a party create a government duty to protect women from violence, regardless of who perpetrates it.
Ask your Representative to Vote Against H.R. 4970. You can call with your own message or read this, but please – call now!
“I urge you to vote AGAINST H.R. 4970, the Adams bill. I urge you as a person who believes in our fundamental human right to sexual freedom – our right to personal autonomy, who believes in the promises the United States made when we became parties to International Human Rights Treaties, who believes that those promises create a duty of our government to protect women from violence, and as a supporter of the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance, I am asking you again to vote AGAINST, H.R. 4970, the Adams bill. This bill does not contain needed protections for victims of violence that I believe are critically important. I support a bill like the bipartisan Senate bill (S. 1925) that protects Native American women, immigrant women, and LGBT violence survivors, and I urge you to vote against H.R. 4970.”
###