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Contact: Rebecca Stewart

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Email: info@TheCEDV.org

 

Fifty-Five Leading Organizations Call for Reforms to Violence Against Women Act

WASHINGTON / January 31, 2019 – Fifty-five organizations representing a broad range of political views and a diverse range of interests have recently issued statements calling for major changes to the Violence Against Women Act, which is up for reauthorization in 2019.

A coalition of 40 groups have endorsed a statement calling for lawmakers to “ensure the values of family preservation, limited government, and due process, will no longer be under assault with this legislation. A second coalition, consisting of six women’s groups, is calling for the inclusion of provisions in the law to address female genital mutilation.

Numerous other groups have issued their own statements. Following are examples:

  • Focus on the Family: “As this important legislation is discussed, we expect community leaders, not just special interests, to have a seat at the table when the drafting committee is proposing changes to the current [VAWA] law.”
  • Judicial Watch: Under H.R. 6545, “Unemployment benefits will be provided to employees separated due to harassment, domestic violence, and stalking with no meaningful requirement that the allegations be proven.”
  • National Parents Organization: “U.S. public policy on domestic violence is being controlled by an organization that is utterly secret. We neither know…what the NTF is, what it does, who funds it, who is affiliated with it, or whether it violates federal law.”
  • Dads and Moms PAC: “Our society has moved beyond the premise that all domestic violence and sexual assault is perpetrated by men. This one-sided claim is often thrown out to gain a strategic advantage in divorce and custody cases.”
  • Capital Research Center: “The damage that groups funded under VAWA do to men falsely accused of domestic abuse is hard to estimate.”
  • Center for Immigration Studies: Under VAWA, “an alien can allege that her (or his) spouse engages in domestic violence and abuse and — without that citizen having a chance to clear his (or her) name….How can this travesty of justice take place?”

A complete listing of the statements is available online: https://endtodv.org/statements-by-leading-organizations/  The Coalition to End Domestic Violence urges lawmakers to include representatives from these groups as a new VAWA bill is drafted.

The Coalition to End Domestic Violence is working to reform the Violence Against Women Act by reducing over-criminalization, promoting family preservation, and ensuring due process.