Ask Congress to Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

posted on: Feb 19, 2013

In January ADC members and supporters like you contacted their Senators and urged them to reintroduce the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)*. Our campaign proved fruitful when the Senate reauthorized VAWA, on February 12th, shortly after our call to action. Despite this small victory, our work is not over. In 2012 the Senate passed VAWA, but the bill died when it failed to pass the House of Representatives. We ask you to take action again to ensure that VAWA gets passed through the House this time around.

Domestic violence is a very real problem in our nation, particularly for women. One in every four women in the United States will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by their partner each year. In fact, women represent 88% of all callers to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

The Arab American community is also affected by this epidemic, including cases of domestic violence. Like other communities, most cases of domestic violence are never reported to the police. Our community was shocked in the last few years when Noor Almaleki and other women were murdered by members of their own families.

ADC stands firm against all forms of violence against women, including emotional, verbal, sexual, financial, social, or spiritual abuse. Our community should not tolerate any form of violence. While passing any piece of legislation will not end domestic violence overnight, VAWA provides a cornerstone upon which our nation can improve. Passing VAWA is a vital step towards allowing our nation to build on the work that has already been done to correct the problem of violence against women in our nation. <a href=”http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2F3FDYv%2FtToQokL11uWlfFbVHN5ETrKW9″>Please take action now.</a>