Annually, 12.7 million men and women in the U.S. are physically abused, raped or stalked by their partners.[i] That is approximately the number of people in New York City and Los Angeles combined.[ii] That is 24 people every minute.[iii] These are people we know.
We know that all victims need protection and it is important to tell the world why on the National Day of Action. Congress must pass the real Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). As aptly stated by the National Task Force to End Domestic Violence, doing nothing is not an option with VAWA.
It’s unacceptable that VAWA resources have been jeopardized for almost two (2) years. The election is over and it’s time. Congress has some unfinished business. They MUST PASS the Violence Against Women Act NOW! We must get Congress to finish the work of passing a VAWA that safely and effectively protects ALL victims.
Now that the election is over, Congress is back to work to finish up as much as they can before the end of the year. VAWA must be on the list of work that gets done by the end of December! Come January, the current bill expires and we will need to start again to draft a brand new bill, losing precious time and lives in the process.
Calls to our legislators in Washington, DC about VAWA’s authorization are important. Our calls are essential and will determine whether or not the Real VAWA passes. With that said, the National Task Force to End Domestic Violence has issued “A Call to Action!” on Wednesday, November 13th, 2012 to reauthorize the real VAWA. In these final days Congress must see a groundswell that cannot be ignored.
Every person concerned about the health and well-being of women is needed now to raise their voice and tell Congress not to go backward but move forward to reauthorize the Real VAWA. It is important to get a Violence Against Women Act passed that protects ALL victims. The calls, emails, letters, and tweets to date have worked and now is the time to take it a step further. It is important to show Congress how important the real Violence Against Women Act is to victims, survivors, advocates, and concerned citizens across the country.[iv]
Please tell your friends, families and everyone you know who cares about eradicating domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking that . All victims need protection and it is important to tell the world why on the National Day of Action. Congress must pass a Violence Against Women Act!
Don’t forget to tweet about VAWA using the hashtags #ReauthorizeVAWA, #RealVAWA and #VAWA.
Tell Congress doing nothing is simply not an option!
Pre-election, everyone did a great job getting the word out and holding our elected officials to their obligation to address the concerns of all people. Now, we have to get them focused specifically on passing VAWA in the next six weeks!
Commit to ending domestic and sexual violence with this concrete action you can take to support VAWA:
TAKE ACTION TOMORROW!
Save Wednesday, November 14th, 2012, for a VAWA day of ACTION. “By the end of the day, every Member of Congress should hear a unified message: Work out the differences, pass VAWA before this Congress ends and you go home for the holidays. Do not let VAWA die and miss this chance to help victims find shelter, help and justice. There is precious little time left and victim’s lives and futures are in the balance.”[v]
“Join #PassVAWA2012 Social Media Campaign”[vi]
“Be a part of a ground-breaking campaign to leverage the full power of social media in fighting for the Reauthorization of VAWA!”[vii]
“Join the #PassVAWA2012 Facebook Photo Campaign to tell Congress that it’s time to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) ! It’s easy, just snap photos of you, your friends, your colleagues, & sympathetic strangers holding up signs saying why we need to Pass VAWA NOW! Submit your photos via email to [email protected] or tweetpic with #PassVAWA2012.”[viii]
For more details and sample campaign tweets check out the tool kit on www.4VAWA.org!
Source(s): National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) Action Alert. National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) Action Alert
[i] National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) Action Alert. National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) Action Alert.
[ii] National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) Action Alert. National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) Action Alert.
[iii] National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) Action Alert. National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) Action Alert.
[iv] National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) Action Alert. National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) Action Alert.
[v] National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) Action Alert. National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) Action Alert.
[vi] National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) Action Alert. National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) Action Alert.
[vii] National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) Action Alert. National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) Action Alert.
[viii] National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) Action Alert. National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) Action Alert.
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