On SEPTEMBER 9, we are holding a day of action to tell Congress and the White House that they have ignored the needs of survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic for far too long. They MUST pass a COVID-19 relief package that includes not only economic supports for unemployed, underemployed, and low-income families but also funding and policies specifically addressing the unique needs of survivors.
In previous COVID-19 relief packages, Congress and the White House have provided NOTHING for survivors of sexual assault, for community-based culturally-specific organizations serving survivors in Communities of Color who are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, or for tribal victim service programs. They have provided some, but insufficient, funding for mainstream domestic violence organizations. This is despite knowing that COVID-19 has caused a devastating increase in interpersonal violence!
Enough is enough! On September 9, people around the country are contacting their Members of Congress to tell them to pass another COVID-19 relief package. We need your help to make sure that package includes critical funding and support for survivors. Call your Members of Congress in the morning and tell everyone on Twitter that you did so at 1:00 Eastern Time/10:00 Pacific Time!
In the morning, call 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senators. Then call 202-225-3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative. Finally, call the White House at 202-456-1111. If you don’t know who your Members of Congress are, enter your address HERE. Tell them the following:
“My name is [your name], and I am calling from [your city and, if you are a victim advocate, your program]. The American people are relying on you to enact another COVID-19 relief package. This package cannot once again ignore the needs of survivors of sexual and domestic violence. It needs to include funding for sexual assault programs, for culturally-specific domestic violence and sexual assault programs, and for tribal programs. It also needs to increase deposits into the Crime Victims Fund, protect immigrant survivors, and provide economic stability for survivors who have to leave their jobs due to violence.”
Then, join the Twitter storm at 1:00 Eastern Time/10:00 Pacific Time using the hashtag #CovidRelief.
Sample Tweets:
You can find Members’ social media handles HERE.
I just called @YourMOC - You should call your Senators, Rep & the WH too! Tell them the American people are relying on them to negotiate another #COVID package that MUST include funding for sexual assault programs! #COVIDRelief
OR
Just called my MOC - You should call yours too! Tell them the American people are relying on them to negotiate another #COVID package that MUST include $ for culturally-specific #domesticviolence & #sexualassault programs & for tribal programs! #COVIDRelief
AND
The American people are relying on Congress and the WH to negotiate another #COVID package that MUST include immigrant protections & economic stability measures AND $ for culturally-specific #domesticviolence & #sexualassault programs & for tribal programs! #COVIDRelief
Negotiations over a #COVIDrelief package have stalled, but the country NEEDS is a bipartisan, robust #COVIDRelief bill to help the millions of people facing extreme hardship!
If you want to learn more about domestic violence, sexual assault, and COVID-19 and take additional actions, you can find a toolkit with fact sheets, more Tweets, a more in-depth sample call script, email text, a sample Facebook post, op-ed and letter to the editor templates, and questions for town hall meetings HERE.
If you miss the day of action, that is okay - you can contact your Members of Congress and the White House anytime!
For more information, please contact Rachel Graber (rgraber@ncadv.org), Dorian Karp (dkarp@jwi.org), and Monica McLaughlin (mmclaughlin@nnedv.org).