The Violence Against Women Act has been one of the cornerstones of America’s response to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking for the past quarter-century. Every time Congress has reauthorized VAWA, they have strengthened it to improve protections and access to safety and justice for all survivors.
VAWA is now four years past due for reauthorization, and it is time to renew it with modest but vital improvements. In the COVID-19 era, we cannot afford to maintain the status quo or, even worse, to roll back hard-fought gains.
While gender-based violence has decreased significantly since 1994 when VAWA was first passed, rates of violence are still far too high:
- One in five women and one in 59 men are raped in their lifetimes;
- One in four women and one in seven men experience severe physical abuse by an intimate partner in their lifetimes;
- One in six women and one in nineteen men experience stalking in their lifetimes;
- A woman is murdered by a male intimate partner with a gun every sixteen hours;
We call on all our senators to prioritize the Senate introduction and passage of a bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2022, that meets the identified needs of survivors and their communities. You can help by calling your senator!
Nebraska Senators contact info:
- Deb Fischer: DC Office # 202-224-6551
- Ben Sasse: DC Office # 202-224-4224
#VAWA4ALL
