VAWA, Violence Against Women Act, would not have happened without the steadfast commitment and hard work of a countless number of advocates, coalitions and community partners who worked tirelessly for this landmark legislation. And thanks to the bipartisan efforts and dedication of U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican) and then U.S. Senator Joe Biden (Democrat) who worked diligently to draft the VAWA Act. These two men were able to set aside their political differences and recognize that valuing the well being of our citizens takes precedence over the political infighting of our of our political parties. By drafting this legislation, these men acknowled the severe sociological impact that domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking has on our communities. This powerful piece of legislation provided federal funding to help local communities address the needs of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. Their ability to come together meant that domestic violence would no longer be considered a “family matter” and it criminalized spousal rape. To be certain, without these two men, we would not have made the great strides in the areas of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Programs have been created that address the devastating impact of early victimization and exposure to violence. Due to the VAWA legislation that requires community service providers collaborate together, we are beginning to see some positive results. Judges, prosecutors, law enforcement, hospitals, shelters and rape crisis centers are working together more and more to create powerful change in their communities. But this collaboration is still in its infancy, and is due to the VAWA Act and the funding that results from the Act. But we still have a very long way to go and although we have seen progress we continue to fight an uphill battle. We still need the VAWA act in place to ensure that we will not lose the ground that has been gained. We still need our leaders to put aside their political differences and come together in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration with the goal of improving our society as a whole. Please contact your local congressman and let them know that you support the Violence Against Women Act and that you support protecting our children, daughters, sisters, mothers and grandmothers. Ask them to Reauthorize VAWA so that we can continue to provide protection and assistance to these victims.

Dr. Pepper recently came up with a new "bold" flavor that is noted as being "manly". Now, there's a Facebook application chock full of misogynistic games and time-wasters. A new Facebook application put out by Dr. Pepper Bold has the tagline “It’s not for women”. On the page, (that was until recently, not able to even be accessed by women), it has a “man grade” quiz (where your abilities in pursuits such as baseball, jump starting cars, and quoting movies are put to the test), a man video section (chock full of clips that contain things that “women don’t understand”, a manly shooting gallery (where the object is to destroy high heels, unicorns, and rainbows among other “feminine” items), and “man-cronyms” With a tagline "It's not for women", Dr. Pepper has crossed the line, and is promoting sexism.

According to Dr. Pepper, only women drink diet. That's the idea behind Dr Pepper Ten, a 10-calorie soda Dr. Pepper Snapple Group is releasing under the slogan, "It's not for women." It was developed after research found that men are reluctant to purchase diet beverages that aren't perceived as "manly" enough. Send Dr. Pepper the message that pigeonholing men and women into gender roles isn't excusable, even as an advertising tool. Tell them to take this product off the market immediately.

The Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress in 1972, yet it still hasn't become a formal amendment to the Constitution. Four states (Florida, Georgia, Illinois, and Missouri) have yet to ratify the amendment, yet only three are needed. Help make the Equal Rights Amendment become the 28th amendment, and allow for equal rights of all people!

Please tell Randall Kline and SFJazz, the largest jazz festival on the West Coast, to stop their decade old practice of excluding women instrumentalists (not vocalists--there is no discrimination in jazz against women vocalists!!) from their programming. This season again they have hired only two women instrumental headliners out of 35+ acts for the 2011 Fall Season, Mimi Fox and Esperanza Spaulding. Historically, SFJazz hires 7% or fewer women instrumentalist headliners, despite tremendous opposition in the community. This is blatant gender discrimination by a nonprofit organization which solicits and uses public money.

In hopes of raising awareness of animal suffering, PETA recently announced plans to launch a XXX website. We've had enough of PETA's sexist publicity stunts. We're calling on PETA President Ingrid Newkirk to stop objectifying women in the interest of animal welfare.

On behalf of girls everywhere, enough is enough. This week, a young woman in New York named Lauren Todd started a petition on Change.org urging JC Penney to stop selling a girl’s shirt with the statement: "I'm too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me." This is just one shirt in a series that display slogans that characterize a girl's worth by her looks and makes being smart somehow not "pretty". Seemingly harmless? Just a joke? Not funny. Girls get messages from all aspects of media that show a woman's value in relation to her looks – well, we say enough – time to tell retailers, "we're not buying it!" The shirt, which was marketed to girls ages 7-16, imparts the message that boys are smart while girls are only meant to be pretty. Valuing looks over knowledge and hard work, and stereotyping female images is a dangerous message to send to young girls, one that females are already bombarded with in today’s media. We at Girls For A Change believe that girl empowerment is essential in helping girls to realize their full potential and helps them speak up and out about issues they care about – that they are more than looks, lyrics, and objects. Girls need to know that they are valued for who they are, and not the style of their hair or the way they look. Clothing that blatantly diminishes the value of girls is harmful to a girl's perception of her worth. We know everyone wants girls to reach beyond their potential and let them know they're valued for who they are. Let's start by removing messages that put any girl (or boy!) down. JC Penney rightfully discontinued the sale of the shirt in response to the massive support of Lauren’s petition, but the presence of sexist messages on children’s clothing is an ongoing problem that must be addressed. Tell major clothing retailers to stop designing clothes with sexist and damaging slogans that perpetuate gender stereotypes and devalue the role of young girls in society. Let them know your money will not support their company unless they take a stand against sexist, destructive slogans and imagery. Tell them, "you're not buying it!"

Thanks to legislation passed by anti-choice lawmakers, the Virginia Board of Health is currently drafting regulations that would limit women's access to reproductive health care. These regulations force health clinics to meet burdensome and unnecessary regulations. The result? Some health centers may be forced to close, limiting the continued availability of safe, legal, first-trimester abortion throughout the state. Virginia's women's health centers provide vital health care services like STD screenings, cancer screenings and family planning services, in addition to providing legal and safe abortions. Burdening their operations with unnecessary regulations would restrict access to these essential services and detrimentally affect young, low-income, uninsured, and minority women by furth reducing their health care options. Tell Virginia regulators you don’t support medically unecessary and burdensome regulations that would restrict women’s access to comprehensive health care services.

Currently, the statute of limitations for domestic violence crimes in Washington State is 4 years less than the statute of limitations on credit card debt! Abusers use many tactics to control, manipulate, and threaten their victims to keep them from reporting the abuse to the authorities in a timely fashion. This petition will help bring these criminal abusers to justice.

In the first six months of 2011, the Pennsylvania legislature made it a top priority to attack women's right to access safe, legal abortion care. Over 30% of legislative days were spent on reproductive rights attacks. The most egregious of the dozens of bills is one nearly identical to the Kansas law that will close two-thirds of the centers in the state. It requires major construction overhauls that are completely unrelated to patient safety and so onerous that it is unclear if any of the 20 free-standing abortion providers will be able to stay open, leaving women with few safe and legal options. Join us in telling our elected officials that WE'VE HAD ENOUGH of the attacks on women's healthcare, and it is imperative that they vote against these dangerous bills! Find out more about the attacks and watch a video of why other Pennsylvanians have HAD ENOUGH at www.wevehadenoughpa.org!

Join us to DEMAND AN EXPLANATION FROM DEMOCRACY NOW ABOUT THEIR IGNORING OF CYNTHIA MCKINNEY'S FIRST HAND REPORTS OF LIBYA. Former U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney is one of the many progressives of color who is rendered invisible not only by mainstream media, but now by the "progressive media" programs like Democracy Now! Join me in asking Amy Goodman for an explanation.

Women are in danger of losing the grounds we have gained over the years and are in danger of having our hard won rights stripped away