Urgent Action Alert on Violence Against Women Act

October 9, 2000

Issue:

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has not yet been reauthorized by the Senate.

Action:

Call your Senators and ask that they do what they can to move VAWA forward before this session of the 106th Congress comes to an end.

Background:

Congress has not yet completed action on eleven of the 13 budget re-authorization bills they have before them. The re-authorization of money for VAWA is among these.

The House of Representatives has already passed the Violence Against Women Act. The Senate must be urged to follow the lead of the House and pass it without any weakening amendments. Without funding for VAWA, communities across the nation could lose women's shelters, rape crises programs and family violence hotlines. Tens of thousands of women will once again find themselves without access to counseling centers and domestic violence programs.

Thousands of men, women and children are expected to participate in the October 15th World March of Women, in Washington, D.C. Women, who represent 157 nations, are expected to be participants. This march is designed to call attention to the plight of women around the world. Issues of domestic violence, economic inequality and poverty will be highlighted. Violence and poverty are experienced by women all over the world. Women want to get the attention of the public policy makers in the United States and around the world. Domestic violence is linked to poverty because women and children who flee an abusive home often find themselves thrown quickly into poverty.

The US Supreme Court recently held that a woman could not sue her rapist in Federal Court. This Court finding should not detract support from programs that provide services to those families and individuals who deem that they still need emergency shelters, hotlines and rape crisis services.

Congress is late ending its session. It is expected that they may stay in Washington through the week of October 16. They will then be back home in their districts. Many of them will be asking for your vote. As you list the three to five issues that are important to you, you may want to learn how your candidates and elected officials feel on the issue of VAWA. Ask that they support it without wavering. The Supreme Court decision, that the student rape case should not have been taken into federal court, should not be an excuse to stop VAWA funding.

General Assembly Guidance:

The 211th General Assembly (1999) urged the church to renew its comittment to stand in solidarity with women, particularly as it engages in ministries to stop all forms of violence against women.

The 191st General Assembly (1979), voted to-

1) "Receive the report -'Rape and Violence Against Women' and to commend it to the church for study;

2) Urge the church-its judicatories and its members-to examine their attitudes toward sexual and domestic violence and the victims of such assault with the aim of removing existing blocks to direct confrontation of the issue;

3)Urge ministerial relations committees or another appropriate continuing committee to accept their responsibility for ensuring the ability of clergy to counsel in all aspects of sexual and domestic violence.