To: DC Universities and The United States House of Representatives
DC Students 4 VAWA: Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act
We, the undersigned, support the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act along with the enactment of the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act and the Campus Safety Act. We also support the creation of mandatory domestic violence and sexual assault prevention education programs for DC students.
The inclusive Senate version of VAWA, which provides for protections to undocumented immigrants, Native Americans, and same-sex couples, is an instrumental tool in the fight against domestic violence and other intimate forms of violence. The act provides victims of domestic abuse with a refuge from violence through crisis centers, hotlines, violence prevention programs, and other essential services.
Failure to extend the legislation increases the risk of sexual violence on campus and cuts off survivors from vital resources. If the Violence Against Women Act (S. 1925) is not passed in the early days of this congressional session, 200,000 survivors could lose critical legal, and in many cases, life saving, services and protections.
Our country and our campuses cannot afford to reduce the amount of services accorded to survivors, especially undocumented and same-sex survivors. Our campuses can no longer allow misinformation about domestic violence, including sexual assault, to permeate and distort attitudes surrounding the issue.
The inclusive Senate version of VAWA, which provides for protections to undocumented immigrants, Native Americans, and same-sex couples, is an instrumental tool in the fight against domestic violence and other intimate forms of violence. The act provides victims of domestic abuse with a refuge from violence through crisis centers, hotlines, violence prevention programs, and other essential services.
Failure to extend the legislation increases the risk of sexual violence on campus and cuts off survivors from vital resources. If the Violence Against Women Act (S. 1925) is not passed in the early days of this congressional session, 200,000 survivors could lose critical legal, and in many cases, life saving, services and protections.
Our country and our campuses cannot afford to reduce the amount of services accorded to survivors, especially undocumented and same-sex survivors. Our campuses can no longer allow misinformation about domestic violence, including sexual assault, to permeate and distort attitudes surrounding the issue.
Why is this important?
We are a group of DC students who have an intense personal interest in reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. We come from a variety of backgrounds--we are feminists, gay rights supporters, immigrant rights supporters, survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, friends or family of survivors, and certified domestic violence advocates. We are united because we recognize that domestic violence is a serious problem that requires serious actions on our campuses and in this country.