Action Alert: Tell Congress to Address Survivors' Needs in Next COVID-19 Stimulus Package

Right now, survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault are at great risk. 

Act now to urge Congress to address the urgent and emerging needs of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors and the programs that serve them during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting disruptions. 

Congress is currently working on a phase four stimulus package. It is critical that this package meets the needs of victims, survivors, and everyday people. We have circulated a letter to Members of Congress, outlining steps they can take to support survivors and advocates -- now we need YOUR help. Your Members of Congress need to hear from you NOW, while negotiations for the phase four package are underway. 

Call your Members of Congress or contact them on social media, and tell them that the phase four stimulus must contain provisions to directly address the needs of survivors and the people who serve them. Tell them that the package must:

• Include $100 million in additional funding for the Sexual Assault Services Program (For more information on the needs of rape crisis centers and sexual assault survivors click here.)

• Include emergency VAWA funding to states for victim services with funding for Tribes and culturally specific-services; 

• Fund the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act; 

• Include funding for grants for outreach to underserved communities;

• Address the housing needs of survivors;

• Meet the economic needs of survivors;

• Address the long term impact on survivors by redirecting funds from deferred and non-prosecution agreements from the General Treasury to the Crime Victims Fund; 

• Temporarily waive match requirements for federal grants; and

• Ensure immigrants have access to health, safety, and stability, including access to testing and treatment, and restricting immigration enforcement. For more information on the needs of immigrant survivors click here. 

You can find your Senators and their contact information HERE and your Representative and their contact information HERE. You can find Members’ social media handles HERE. If you have contacts in Congressional offices, email is also an effective way to get in touch with staff who are working remotely.

Call/email script:

“Hello. My name is [your name], and I am a constituent [calling/emailing] from [your location and, if applicable, your program]. COVID-19 disproportionately impacts victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and Congress must act to support them and address their needs. This includes providing more funding for programs and  ensuring survivors have access to services, housing, and economic stability; waiving grant match requirements; ensuring immigrants have access to health, safety, and stability; and addressing the long term impacts of this crisis on survivors by addressing dwindling deposits into the Crime Victims Fund. We’re counting on you to protect victims and survivors.”

If you are emailing or communicating on social media, please include a link to the letter mentioned above. 

Sample social media posts:

.@Handle, #COVID19 disproportionately harms survivors of Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault. Support them by increasing funding, waiving match, supporting ALL communities & addressing VOCA shortfalls! More at s/DV-SA-COVID-19-Phase-4-Sign-On.pdf

.@Handle, support Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault survivors and programs by increasing resources for FVPSA/VAWA/housing, waiving match, fixing the Crime Victims Fund, and supporting ALL communities! #COVID4 More at www.4vawa.org/s/DV-SA-COVID-19-Phase-4-Sign-On.pdf.

For more information, please contact Rachel Graber (rgraber@ncadv.org), Dorian Karp (dkarp@jwi.org), and Emily Dahl (edahl@nnedv.org). 

Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence are at Heightened Risk Now, and Will Remain So Long After the Current Crisis

Click to download this blog post as a fact sheet!

FAST FACTS:
Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence are at Heightened Risk Now, and Will Remain So Long After the Current Crisis[1]

Countries that Faced COVID-19 before the U.S. are Reporting a Surge in Domestic Violence in the Wake of the Virus.

●      The UN Secretary-General on April 5, 2020 called attention to a “horrifying surge in domestic violence” related to responses to the virus and the economic impacts, and noted that in some countries, the number of women calling support services has doubled.

●      Countries reporting spikes include: India (gender-based violence cases doubled in first week of restricted movement); Turkey (killing of women surged after government stay-at-home guidance); South Africa (almost 90,000 reports of gender-based violence in first week of lock-down); Australia (government reported 75% increase in online searches for support on domestic violence); France (police reported domestic violence rose 30%); China (domestic violence NGO in Beijing saw a surge in calls in February); Spain (emergency number for domestic violence received 18% more calls in first two weeks of lockdown); Italy (domestic violence reports rose soon after lockdown in early March); and England (domestic violence reports in some areas were up by 20% one week into lockdown).

Survivor-Serving Programs in States and Cities Across the U.S. Report Increased Demands for Help.

Some examples:

●      A survey by the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence that yielded responses from over 600 programs across the country found that 89% need emergency stimulus funding to provide support and emergency assistance to survivors and 40% have experienced an increase in demands since the onset of the public health crisis both in terms of new requests, and in terms of more direct and complicated requests from current clients, including because responding to survivors’ medical and legal needs and become more complex and difficult. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and the budgets of many agencies have been hard-hit by cancellations of major annual fundraisers.

●          Minnesota: Statewide crisis hotline reported a 25% increase in calls in the first weekend after a stay-at-home order was put in place.

●          Louisiana: Statewide coalition reported a sharp increase in calls to the hotline and requests for service at most of its domestic violence programs starting the week of March 30, 2020.

●          Washington, DC: The city’s largest domestic violence crisis intervention agency reports that the traffic on its response line has doubled.

●          New York  City: The city’s domestic and sexual violence resource website reported a 250% increase in daily traffic on the website between March 18 and April 5.

Police and 911 Operators Nationwide Also Report an Uptick in Calls for Help.

Mother Jones identified 13 cities and counties that have reported increases in emergency calls to 911 or domestic violence hotlines over the past month. CNN reported that nine metropolitan police departments saw spikes in double-digit percentages of domestic violence cases in March when compared with case numbers from either March 2019 or earlier months of 2020.[2]

….But Calls to Police Always Underestimate Abuse, and Will Especially Undercount Abuse in this Crisis:

In non-crisis times, many survivors never report abuse to law enforcement for a multitude of reasons. Survivors hesitate to call the police on someone they know and love. They may have good reasons not to trust law enforcement or the criminal justice system based on prior negative personal or community experiences. Immigrant survivors may fear deportation consequences for abusers–or themselves–if they seek help from the authorities. A survey by the National Domestic Violence Hotline found that up to 60% of survivors had reasons that kept them from calling the police. One in three victims reported feeling less safe after contacting police. The Bureau of Justice Statistics has found that only half of domestic violence cases were reported to law enforcement, though the true number is likely even lower.

In this current crisis, there are several ways in which measures to combat the pandemic create obstacles to victims accessing help, including:

●      The closure of schools and workplaces leaves some survivors trapped in violent homes with nowhere to retreat and/or no access to the usual networks on which they would rely for support and protection if they did report abuse;

●      Abiding by shelter-in-place guidance means that some survivors cannot make calls to hotlines or to police without being overheard by their abuser;

●      News stories may leave victims with the false impression and fear that police are not responding to calls, courts are closed, and shelters are full or unavailable.

●      Additionally, news stories about the spread of the COVID virus in jails may leave victims fearful that their abuser could contract it, if arrested. [3]

Coercive and Controlling Tactics Routinely Used By Abusers Have Special Force and Terror Now.

The majority of victims of domestic violence are subjected to financial abuse, which is exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic because many victims will lose their jobs or be unable to find work. Perpetrators often act with impunity, increasing their abusive behavior because they think victims cannot leave, or, will have to return to a violent home to avoid homelessness. With minimal access to paid time off or unemployment insurance, many survivors will be dependent on an abusive partner for housing and support.

Immigrant survivors are particularly vulnerable: even in non-crisis times they may lack access to many safety-net benefits due to limited eligibility rules. At this time in particular, early COVID relief bills passed by Congress did not ensure that access to COVID testing and care would be universally covered under Medicaid, nor that direct cash payments would be provided to all taxpayers, regardless of immigration status.

Some other examples of abusers’ tactics manipulating pandemic dynamics and fears include:

●      Preventing survivors from seeking medical care or COVID-19 testing;

●      Preventing survivors from leaving the home by instilling fear of contracting/exposing the household to COVID-19;

●      Threats of deportation to immigrant survivors;

●      Violations, or threats to violate, protective orders and/or custody orders, or to put children at risk of COVID-19 infection while courts are closed or struggling to administer virtual proceedings in certain types of cases;

An Increase in Reports of Domestic Violence Routinely Follows Any Large Scale Disaster

Calls to hotlines and requests for shelter and assistance surge after the disaster recedes and people can safely leave their homes. The World Health Organization cites a consistent rise in interpersonal violence incidents following a natural disaster, and numerous other similar reports about natural or other large-scale disasters underscore this finding.[4]

[1] See Domestic Violence in the Context of COVID-19, Congressional Research Service, April 10, 2020. Additional examples of impacts on survivors and survivor-serving programs can be found in these articles: Amanda Taub, A new Covid-19 crisis: Domestic abuse rises worldwide, New York Times, April 6, 2020; Marissa J. Lang, Sheltering in peril, Washington Post, April 5, 2020; Casey Tolan, Some cities see jumps in domestic violence during the pandemic, CNN, April 4, 2020; Sarah Fielding, In quarantine with an abuser: surge in domestic violence reports linked to coronavirus, The Guardian, April 3, 2020; Anahita Mukherji, South Asian Domestic Violence Survivors in Silicon Valley Grapple With COVID-19 Lockdown, The Wire, April 3, 2020; Ina Fried, Increase in domestic violence feared during virus lockdown, Axios, April 2, 2020; Sara Dorn, Domestic violence victims facing higher risks amid coronavirus quarantine, New York Post, March 28, 2020; Marissa J. Lang, Domestic violence will increase during coronavirus quarantines and stay-at-home orders, experts warn, Washington Post, March 27, 2020; N. Jamiyla Chisholm, COVID-19 Creates Added Danger for Women in Homes With Domestic Violence, Colorlines, March 27, 2020; Scottie Andrew, Domestic violence victims, stuck at home, are at risk during coronavirus pandemic, CNN, March 27, 2020; Alisha Haridasani Gupta and Aviva Stahl, For Abused Women, a Pandemic Lockdown Holds Dangers of Its Own, The New York Times, March 27, 2020; Tanya Selvaratnam, Where Can Domestic Violence Victims Turn During Covid-19?, The New York Times, March 23, 2020; Daniella Silva, Coronavirus isolation raises concerns for domestic violence survivors, experts say, ABC News, March 20, 2020; Mélissa Godin, As Cities around the World Go on Lockdown, Victims of Domestic Violence Look for a Way Out, Time Magazine, March 18, 2020.

[2] Examples include: Seattle, WA noted a 21% increase in domestic violence reports to police as local stay-at-home orders and the COVID-19 impact intensified; San Antonio, TX police reported a 21% increase in family violence calls, with 500 additional calls during the first three weeks in March when compared to the same timeframe in 2019; Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC reported a 16% increase in domestic violence calls, nearly 400 more calls,when compared to 2019; Nassau County, NY reported a 10% increase in domestic violence 911 calls since January 2020 when compared to 2019, leading to an announcement that it was opening a second domestic violence shelter; Portland, OR reported a 27% increase in domestic violence arrests during a 10-day period in mid-March when compared to the same timeframe in 2019. See also Rachel Bucchino, Domestic violence cases surge amid stay-at-home orders, The Hill, April 13, 2020.

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/01/rikers-island-jail-coronavirus-public-health-disaster

[4] Other documentation of the rise in requests for assistance in the aftermath of natural disasters, such as hurricanes, oil spills and blizzards, include: Andrea Gonzalez-Ramirez, After Hurricane Maria a hidden crisis of violence against women in Puerto Rico, Refinery29, September 19, 2019; Maya Salam, Amid hurricane chaos, domestic abuse victims risk being overlooked, The New York Times, September 17, 2017; Sarah Friedman, Natural disasters and domestic violence may have an alarming connection, Bustle, August 29, 2017; Louisiana Coaltion Against Domestic Violence, Louisiana Domestic Violence Programs Mark Grim Anniversary - BP Oil Spill One Year Later, April 13, 2011; Rosaline Houghton et al., “If There Was a Dire Emergency, We Never Would Have Been Able to Get in There”: Domestic Violence Reporting and Disasters, International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, August 2010; Avis Jones-DeWeever, Women in the Wake of the Storm: Examining the Post-Katrina Realities of the Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2008; Helga West, Victims of Violence in Times of Emergency or Disaster, July 2006; Lin Chew and Kavita Ramdas, Caught in the Storm: The Impact of Natural Disasters on Women, The Global Fund for Women, December 2005.

Letter to Congress RE: Urgent Needs of DV/SA Survivors During Coronavirus Disease

To Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, and Minority Leader McCarthy:

The undersigned organizations which advocate on behalf of survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking, represent millions of survivors of gender-based violence and harassment, the professionals who serve these survivors, the faith organizations that support them, and the communities that care about them throughout the United States and territories. As organizations dedicated to preventing, addressing, and ending domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking, we know that addressing the needs of survivors is essential to ensuring their safety and wellbeing during this time of crisis.

We write to urge you to address the urgent needs of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors and the programs that serve them in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting disruptions. It is imperative that the third stimulus package address survivors’ needs - directly and via the programs that serve them. 

As the nation is urged to stay home to prevent the spread of this disease, we are starkly reminded that “home” is typically an unsafe place for survivors and their children. When home is dangerous, the safety net of housing, economic, legal, and healthcare, including mental health, supports should be there to protect survivors from further harm. Yet, shelters and victim service organizations are now grappling with the unprecedented challenge of communally housing and providing services for survivors just as the public health crisis requires distance and separation. Programs are moving to provide services virtually, but most program providers are not equipped to provide supports in this manner and have concerns about survivor confidentiality needs. Additionally, those survivors who have been able to access safe housing face increased risks of being unable to maintain that housing due to increased economic instability resulting from the pandemic. Survivors’ current extreme housing instability and increased economic insecurity is placing overwhelming demands on service providers. Moreover, courts are closing and law enforcement are responding to “urgent matters only.” Survivors with custody and other critical family court matters are left without any venue to seek the court’s assistance. Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking are disproportionately impacted by this crisis, and the federal government’s response must be swift and specific to meet their needs. 

Marginalized or higher need survivors face additional threats and barriers to safety. Immigrant survivors face increased fear of exploitation, deportation, court delays, economic and housing instability, and lack of access to medical care and basic needs. Native women already experience disproportionately high rates of violence. Complex legal frameworks and the various intersections that Native survivors of violence must confront will be further exacerbated by this crisis. Survivors of color face additional threats and barriers due to historical and ongoing systemic oppression, which are also exacerbated by this crisis. Homophobia and transphobia keep LGBTQ survivors in the shadows and make it difficult for them to access safety and justice. Survivors who are older and survivors with disabilities are likewise uniquely vulnerable to domestic and sexual violence and face additional barriers to accessing services and safety, which is being exacerbated by further isolation. The impact of these barriers is being compounded by the fact that older adults and adults with certain health conditions are at the greatest risk of severe negative health outcomes if they contract COVID-19. 

Critical support for victim services is required to operate, serve, shelter and house survivors with increased, flexible resources 

Service providers are scrambling to massively change operations at record speed to meet the needs of survivors and their children, to keep staff safe and healthy, and to play their part in reducing the spread of this disease. Domestic violence and sexual assault organizations need an infusion of flexible resources to ensure continuity of their lifesaving services. Domestic violence, sexual assault and community based programs must have funds to pay for operational accommodations (technology to support remote and digital support services, cleaning supplies, staffing changes, on-demand language access, and more), continued services and staffing, as well as to provide cash assistance, rental assistance and temporary accommodation in hotels or motels for survivors. Existing funding streams must be increased and administrative burdens must be reduced to ensure that programs can meet survivors’ safety, medical, economic, housing and stabilization needs. We call on Congress to increase the following funding streams: 

• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) and Disaster Housing Assistance programs and require distribution to domestic violence and sexual assault organizations; 

• Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Sexual Assault Service Program (SASP) by at least $100 million; 

• Family Violence Prevention and Services Act by at least $100 million;  

• VAWA transitional housing by $40 million; 

• HUD Continuum of Care Domestic Violence Bonus funds by $100 million;  

• VAWA Culturally Specific Services for Victims grant program and Outreach and Services to Underserved Populations grants by $20 million; 

• VAWA Training and Services to End Violence Against Women with Disabilities to provide victim services by $10 million;

• VAWA Training and Services to End Abuse in Later Life to provide victim services by $10 million;

• VAWA housing vouchers at HUD by $20 million; 

• The National Domestic Violence Hotline by $2 million. 

Congress should also use this opportunity to bolster Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding. VOCA is a flexible funding stream that allows programs to meet a variety of victims’ urgent needs. Congress must increase deposits into the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) by requiring direct penalties and fines resulting from federal deferred and non-prosecution agreements to be deposited into the CVF. 

• We call on Congress to ensure flexibility during this crisis by: 

• Eliminating matching fund requirements for VOCA, FVPSA, and HUD Continuum of Care Funding; 

• Extending the length of time states have to spend their VOCA funds to four years;

• Reducing documentation requirements, time-limitations and any other burdens that slow down access to funds that can provide rental assistance; 

• Allowing all relevant funds to be used to provide temporary, individual accommodation such as hotel or motel while securing permanent housing; and

• Allowing the federal administering agencies to hire staff to help ensure efficient distribution of funds. 

Protecting survivors from economic peril in this crisis 

Survivors need specific economic protections, including access to paid safe leave and to unemployment insurance when forced to leave a job due to domestic or sexual violence, to ensure that they can live independently of their abusers. Domestic violence and sexual assault disproportionately impact women, and women are disproportionately overrepresented among low-wage workers and services workers, who are being laid off at high rates. Most of them do not have the possibility of working remotely. Congress should pass paid leave legislation that covers as many workers as possible and should recognize that survivors of intimate partner and sexual violence need access to such support to maintain their economic stability and safe housing options. 

Paid leave is less likely to be available to low wage workers, but even where it is an option, it may not work best to keep survivors and their families safe. Health requirements to shelter in place or engage in social distancing measures will place survivors, and their families in close quarters with abusers and at greater risk of violence. It is imperative that survivors who need to separate from employment because of the threat that accompanies social distancing have the option to quit their jobs and seek unemployment insurance even if paid leave is available to them. 

Survivors often rely on Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) to meet their basic needs, and such assistance will become all the more critical now. Congress must improve access to TANF by increasing the drawdown amounts available, waiving work restrictions, instituting a moratorium on TANF sanctions and terminations for the duration of the crisis, and allowing additional TANF payments for emergency assistance.

If the phase three or future stimulus packages include direct cash assistance to individuals, Congress must ensure that the distribution plan accounts for survivors who are in undisclosed locations and should work with experts to develop a distribution plan. 

Access to health, safety and stability for all victims 

Narrow Medicaid eligibility is threatening public health and immigrant victims’ access to COVID-19 testing and medical care. Current restrictions in 8 U.S.C. 1611 and 1613 limit access to Medicaid for non-citizens who do not fit in the definition of “qualified alien.” There is a narrow exception in both sections 1611 and 1613 for emergency Medicaid, as that term is defined in section 42 U.S.C. 1396b(v), but COVID-19 testing does not meet the statutory definition of an emergency service. Unfortunately, the definition of "uninsured individual" in the new section 42 U.S.C. 1396a(ss) does not address any restrictions outside of Title XIX, so the restrictions in sections 8 U.S.C. 1611 and 1613 would continue to apply. Testing under the new state option should be considered treatment for an emergency condition under 42 U.S.C. 1396b(v).

Survivors of sexual assault are also facing barriers to trauma-informed medical services, because rape crisis advocates are not being allowed into medical facilities to assist survivors. The Secretary of Health and Human Services should direct health care facilities to allow sexual assault crisis advocates to accompany survivors and should afford additional protections for advocates as crisis responders.

Restrict immigration enforcement against survivors 

Immigrant survivors are facing extensive delays in the processing of their applications for immigration relief (such as VAWA self-petitions, U visas for victims of crime, T visas for victims of trafficking, asylum, and other humanitarian relief). They are also struggling to respond to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requests for additional evidence due to increased barriers in accessing evidence survivors need for their cases. Such survivors are in jeopardy of removal or deportation. Congress should prohibit immigration detention and the removal of those with a pending immigration applications, including those under section 101(a)(15)(T), 101(a)(15)(U), 106, 240A(b)(2), or 244(a)(3) (as in effect on March 31, 1997) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); and VAWA self-petitioners, as defined in section 101(a)(51), with pending applications for relief under a provision referred to in one of subparagraphs (A) through (G) of such section, or INA section 101(a)(27)(J), until there is a final adjudication on the alien’s application for status after the exhaustion of administrative and judicial review. 

Consistent with public health officials’ calls for social distancing to curtail and slow the spread of COVID-19, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) should mitigate the risk of an outbreak in its facilities by drastically reducing the overall population of people in CBP custody and should not seek additional funding for facilities and staffing to detain migrants. Additionally, policies should prevent ICE enforcement measures at all sensitive locations, including expanding access to law enforcement assistance and court services without fear of repercussions from federal immigration enforcement. 

Access to vital court, legal, and law enforcement protections 

This crisis is creating additional stress on already fragile parenting arrangements with abusive partners, leaving children unprotected and putting survivors at risk. Custody hearings, motions to modify court orders and enforcement actions are being cancelled and postponed as “non-emergency” matters, despite the fact that dangerous circumstances exacerbated by virus-related measures require urgent judicial review. Supervised visitation centers are closing, and as daycares and schools are closing and access to other public areas are being restricted, survivors and their children have no safe public place for visitation exchanges. As law enforcement is relaxed in some areas to avoid contact for non-violent misdemeanors, custody orders are not being enforced. Abusers who are not returning children to the protective parent are doing so with impunity in the absence of enforcement by courts and law enforcement. Moreover, when a protective parent wants to cancel visitation to avoid COVID-19 exposure, there is no mechanism available for modification, leaving the protective parent at risk of contempt of court. Finally, lawyers are being forced to withdraw from cases affected by 'shelter-in-place' orders that are keeping the lawyer or client from attending hearings.

In order to maintain survivors access to vital legal protections, we recommend: 

• Congress should declare that COVID-19, social distancing, and shelter-in-place orders are all matters of legitimate public concern of which courts should take judicial notice when issuing decisions;

• Congress should urge state supreme courts and district chiefs to order: 

  • Courts to remain open for COVID-related custody/parenting time hearings with video conference or phone options, in addition to protection order hearings;

  • Statutes of limitation, protection order expiration dates, and all existing filing and hearing deadlines should be tolled for 60-90 days;

  • Local law enforcement must continue to respond to custody and visitation order violations, even if they are non-violent; 

• ‘Shelter-in-place' orders should have an exception for travel to hearings, and continuances should be routinely granted whenever social distancing or shelter-in-place practices limit full participation in a scheduled hearing; and 

• Increase VAWA STOP grants by $100 million for courts to issue protective orders and address child custody remotely, for civil attorneys to represent survivors in these matters, and for law enforcement to continue to prioritize enforcement of these orders. 

Conclusion

Survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault are facing extreme danger and risk just at a time when programs and systems will struggle to respond. We strongly urge you to address these dire needs by investing more resources to address the unique needs of survivors and securing needed policy changes as a matter of urgency. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Monica McLaughlin at the National Network to End Domestic Violence (mmclaughlin@nnedv.org), Rachel Graber at the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (rgraber@ncadv.org), and Monika Johnson Hostler at the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (monika@endsexualviolence.org). 

Sincerely, 

Alabama Coalition Against Rape

Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center

Alianza Nacional de Campesinas

American Association of University Women

Amnesty International USA 

Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence

Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence

ASISTA 

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Battered Women’s Justice Project

BRASS, Inc

California Coalition Against Sexual Assault

California Partnership to End Domestic Violence

Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities

CAWS North Dakota

Center for Survivor Agency and Justice

Center for Gender & Refugee Studies

Closing the Women's Wealth Gap

Coalition of Labor Union Women

Collaborative Solutions, Inc.

Colorado Coalition Against Sexual AssaultConnecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence

ContactLifeline, Inc./SAND

Coordinadora Paz para la Mujer, Puerto Rico Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

Day One

DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence

DCADV

DC Rape Crisis Center

Disciples Women

End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin

Equal Rights Advocates

Equality North Carolina

Florida Council Against Sexual Violence

Futures Without Violence

Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence

GirlHQ Foundation

Global Women P.E.A.C.E Foundation

Global Rights for Women

Greater Washington Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse

Guam Coalition Against Sexual Assault & Family Violence

Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights

Hispanic Association of Colleges and UniversitiesI

daho Coalition Against Sexual Assault & Family ViolenceIllinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Jane Doe Inc.

JCADA

Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Jewish Women International

Just Detention International

Justice for Migrant Women

Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence

Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs

Last Mile4D

Legal Momentum

Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault

LULAC

Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence

MANA, A National Latina Organization

Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Michigan Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence

Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Mississippi Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

NA’AMAT USA

National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

National Alliance for Safe Housing

National Alliance to End Sexual Violence

National Association of Social Workers

National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development

North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault 

National Center for Victims of Crime

National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs

National Congress of American Indians 

National Council of Jewish Women

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges 

National Domestic Violence Hotline

National Equality Action Team

National Housing Trust

National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center

National Latinx Psychological Association

National Network to End Domestic Violence

National Organization for Women

National Organization of Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault

National Partnership for Women and Families

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence

National Women’s Law Center

Nebraska Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence

Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice

Nevada Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence

New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

New Jersey Coalition to End Domestic Violence

New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence

New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs Inc

New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence

New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault

North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence

North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence

Ohio Domestic Violence Network

Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

Peaceful Families Project

Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape

Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Rural Coalition Sexual Assault Network of Delaware

Sojourners

South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault

Tahirih Justice Center

Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence

Texas Association Against Sexual Assault

Texas Council on Family Violence

The Center for Women and Families

The Northwest Network of Bisexual, Trans, Lesbian, and Gay Survivors of Abuse

The Women’s Law Center of Maryland

Ujima: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community

Union for Reform Judaism

United Church of Christ, Justice, and Witness Ministries

Utah Domestic Violence Coalition

V-Day

Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

Violence Free Colorado

Violence Free Minnesota

Virgin Islands Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Council 

Vital Voices Global Partnership

Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs 

Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Women’s Fund of Rhode Island

Women’s Law Project

Women of Color Network, Inc.

Women of Reform Judaism

Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

YWCA USA

Action Alert: Twitter Storm on 12/11 @ 2pm EST

After years of work, Senate negotiations on a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) ground to a halt. Despite having introduced competing bills, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) have announced their intention of returning to the table and working to find a bipartisan compromise. We appreciate their commitment to a bipartisan bill and look forward to continuing to work with both offices to introduce a bill that meets the needs of all survivors. This means:

• A bill with absolutely NO rollbacks, including no exemptions to nondiscrimination provisions and no provisions undermining the integrity of tribal courts;

• A bill that respects the authority of tribal courts and affirms tribes’ inherent right to hold non-Native people who go on tribal lands and prey on Native women and children criminally accountable;

• A bill that addresses the needs of underserved communities;

• A bill that keeps guns out of the hands of adjudicated domestic and dating abusers and stalkers;

• A bill that increases survivors’ access to safe housing;

• A bill that invests in prevention; 

• A bill that provides a mechanism to educate survivors about economic protections available to help them regain their financial autonomy and ensures that every state makes unemployment insurance available to qualifying survivors; 

• A bill that considers innovative means of responding to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and related crimes; 

• A bill that does not contain provisions extraneous to the scope of VAWA;

• A bill that builds on the First Step Act by responding to the needs of incarcerated survivors rather than enhancing criminal penalties; and

• A bill that the domestic and sexual violence fields support.

We must make sure that Senators Feinstein and Ernst introduce a bill that meets these criteria - and that other Senators pressure them to do so. Your Senators need to know their constituents care - and are watching!

We are asking you to post at least one tweet on Wednesday, December 11th at 2PM EST. Sample social media messages can be found here! The hashtag is #VAWA4ALL

You can find your Senators’ social media handles here.

Please also call or email your Senators and tell them:

• VAWA has always been bipartisan, and you support continued negotiations between Senators Feinstein and Ernst;

• Any bipartisan VAWA bill must protect all survivors, and must:

  • Include NO ROLLBACKS, including to nondiscrimination provisions;

  • Respect the authority of tribal courts and affirm their sovereign right to hold non-Native predators accountable for crimes on tribal land;

  • Disarm adjudicated domestic and dating abusers and stalkers;

  • Increase access to safe housing and economic stability;

  • Address the needs of underserved communities; 

  • Continue the good work started by the First Step Act; and

  • Be acceptable to the domestic and sexual violence fields.

You can find your Senators and their contact information here. 

If you have any questions or are interested in writing an op-ed for your local newspaper, please contact Rachel Graber (rgraber@ncadv.org), Dorian Karp (dkarp@jwi.org), and Emily Dahl (edahl@nnedv.org). 

NTF Statement on S.2920, Senator Ernst's VAWA Reauthorization Bill

On November 20th, Senator Joni Ernst introduced a bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) was not given the opportunity to review the legislation before it was introduced. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis is forthcoming. However, based on an initial review, the NTF would like to highlight several key provisions that would harm survivors by reducing access to safety and justice, as well as the omission of important provisions to enhance access to safety and justice that are included in H.R.1585, which passed the House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support in April. The companion bill to H.R.1585, S.2843, was recently introduced in the Senate.

A key requirement for NTF to support any VAWA reauthorization bill is that it cannot roll back or undermine current laws that protect survivors and communities. Senator Ernst’s bill fails this test. It actively rolls back existing LGBTQ nondiscrimination provisions and undermines key protections for Native survivors. The bill rolls back existing emergency transfer protections and omits vital protections that are in H.R.1585/S.2843, including vouchers to facilitate immediate relocation for survivors in danger and a federal response to nuisance ordinances. Senator Ernst’s bill also excludes the enhancements requested by advocates to address the needs of underserved populations in rape education and prevention, violence reduction, and youth programs, and lacks needed protections for LGBTQ survivors.

Moreover, Senator Ernst’s bill fails to even recognize the epidemic of guns and intimate partner violence that impacts the safety of victims, survivors, and the community at large. It also weakens the economic justice provisions in H.R.1585 by omitting key unemployment insurance protections that mirror those already on the books in forty states. Furthermore, at this historic moment when the country is focused on criminal justice reform and some survivors are seeking non-carceral solutions to domestic and sexual violence, not only does Senator Ernst’s bill eliminate outright all criminal justice reform-related provisions, it actually enhances ten criminal penalties. This is the wrong approach.

While Senator Ernst’s bill increases investments in grant programs to support services and prevention, the NTF cannot support legislation that makes such investments at the expense of rolling back, undermining, or omitting necessary protections to enhance access to safety and justice for communities and survivors.

As advocates for victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking, our mandate is to work with Congress to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act in a way that meets the needs of victims and survivors and advances their interests. As we evaluate this bill, we will search for common ground for the survivors we serve. We hope to work with Senator Ernst, Senator Feinstein, and their colleagues on both sides of the aisle in an open and transparent way on a bill that includes the beneficial provisions of Senator Ernst’s bill and vital provisions in H.R.1585/S.2843. Such a bill must preserve existing protections and meet the needs of victims and survivors that Senator Ernst’s bill does not address.

ACTION ALERT: Call Your Senators and Urge Them to Support S. 2843, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019

Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein just introduced S. 2843 the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019! We thank Senator Feinstein for introducing this vital bill. S. 2843 is the companion to the bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019 (H.R. 1585) that passed the House of Representatives on April 4, 2019. It is the advocate’s bill, informed and inspired by the needs of victims and survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019 reauthorizes VAWA grant programs and makes modest, yet vital, enhancements to existing law. 

S. 2843:

• Invests in prevention;

• Ends impunity for non-Native perpetrators of sexual assault, child abuse co-occurring with domestic violence, stalking, sex trafficking, and assaults on tribal law enforcement officers on tribal lands;

• Improves enforcement of court orders that require adjudicated domestic abusers to relinquish their firearms;

• Improves access to housing for victims and survivors;

• Protects victims of dating violence from firearm homicide;

• Helps survivors gain and maintain economic independence;

• Updates the federal definition of domestic violence for the purposes of VAWA grants only to acknowledge the full range of abuse victims suffer (does not impact the criminal definition of domestic violence);

• Maintains existing protections for all survivors; and

• Improves the healthcare system’s response to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.

Contact your Senators now and tell them to SPONSOR S. 2843. You can find your Senators and their contact information here. You can also message on them on social media -- here is sample language, here are the Senators’ social media handles.

Every Senator should co-sponsor this bill, it is the VAWA survivors need. Straight reauthorization of VAWA or rollbacks of existing protections would be unacceptable!

Please contact Rachel Graber (rgraber@ncadv.org), Dorian Karp (dkarp@jwi.org), and Emily Dahl (edahl@nnedv.org) with questions.

Update on VAWA's Progress in Senate

The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence ("NTF") serves as the non-partisan, non-governmental steward of the landmark Violence Against Women Act, first enacted in 1994 and periodically enhanced and reauthorized with Congress’ broad, bipartisan support.

The full membership of the NTF is comprised of a large and diverse group of national, tribal, state, territorial, local, and faith-based organizations committed to improving the responsiveness of VAWA to the urgent needs identified by the field to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.

H.R.1585, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019, the bill that the House of Representatives passed with strong bipartisan support in April, was inspired and informed by this critical input from the field about what survivors most need.

In October, 700 organizations from across the country signed a letter calling on the Senate to pass H.R.1585 or to introduce and pass a substantially similar bill with key enhancements that has the support of the gender-based violence field.

The letter re-affirmed that any bill that is introduced in the Senate must:

●     make important improvements in prevention programming;

●     safeguard important protections that ensure all victims have access to safety and justice;

●     offer protections for survivors in federal, public, subsidized, and assisted housing and improve access to housing;

●    enhance the safety of tribal communities by removing barriers that prevent tribal governments from prosecuting crimes committed on tribal lands;

●     keep firearms out of the hands of adjudicated abusers and stalkers;

●     improve support for survivors who need assistance in rebuilding financially;

●     address the needs of underserved communities; and

●     improve the healthcare response to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.

In these intervening months since the House passed H.R. 1585, the NTF has engaged in detailed, thoughtful, and respectful discussions about the content of a possible Senate VAWA bill with Democratic and Republican offices with H.R. 1585 as the starting point.

In light of these careful efforts and the fact that hundreds of organizations working directly with survivors have unequivocally expressed their support for H.R. 1585 and, what’s more, for a bipartisan Senate bill, the NTF is deeply disappointed to learn that separate and likely divergent measures to reauthorize VAWA will shortly be introduced.

Last Thursday, Sen. Ernst, one of the hoped-for champions of a strong bipartisan Senate bill, made a floor statement in which she reported that negotiations had broken down and characterized H.R. 1585 as a partisan political statement, to the NTF’s great surprise and concern. She announced her intention to introduce her own proposal to reauthorize VAWA in the near future.

Sen. Ernst concluded, however, by reiterating that she remains “hopeful that we can continue to work in a bipartisan way” to reauthorize VAWA. The NTF welcomes and reciprocates this still-open door. We share that principled goal for VAWA 2019, as we have for all prior reauthorization cycles.

If separate bills are indeed introduced in the coming weeks to reauthorize VAWA, the NTF will evaluate each on its own merits, according to how close a companion it is to the bipartisan-endorsed H.R. 1585 and on its responsiveness to the needs identified by the field. Our analysis will continue to be independent of the political party of the proponents, and our advocacy will continue to appeal to all for bipartisan collaboration.

Senators, We call on you to act on VAWA

In April, the House of Representatives passed H.R.1585, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019, with strong bipartisan support. Last month, 700 organizations from across the country signed a letter calling on the Senate to pass H.R.1585 or to introduce and pass a substantially similar bill with key enhancements that has the support of the gender-based violence field.

These national, state, regional, tribal, and local organizations re-affirmed that any bill that is introduced in the Senate must:

●     make important improvements in prevention programming;

●     safeguard important protections that ensure all victims have access to safety and justice;

●     offer protections for survivors in federal, public, subsidized, and assisted housing and improve access to housing;

●     expand jurisdiction for tribes to enforce justice on their own tribal lands to enhance the safety of tribal communities;

●     keep firearms out of the hands of adjudicated abusers and stalkers;

●     improve support for survivors who need assistance in rebuilding financially;

●     address the needs of underserved communities; and

●     improve the healthcare response to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.

It has been over 200 days since H.R. 1585 passed the House, and it is past time for the Senate to do its job to uphold its commitment to ending gender-based violence and pass a bill with these important protections for survivors.

Please contact Dorian Karp (dkarp@jwi.org), Rachel Graber (rgraber@ncadv.org), or Emily Dahl (edahl@nnedv.org) with questions.

NTF Letter to U.S. Senate RE: VAWA Reauthorization

Senators

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senators,

We, the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (“NTF”) and our allies, urge you to move quickly and decisively to pass H.R.1585, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019, which passed the House of Representatives on April 4, 2019 with strong bipartisan support. The NTF is a national collaboration comprising a large and diverse group of national, tribal, state, territorial, and local organizations, advocates, and individuals that focuses on the development, passage and implementation of effective public policy to address domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. Signatories to this letter include both organizations affiliated with the NTF and allied organizations that support VAWA reauthorization. H.R.1585 makes modest yet vital updates to the existing Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”) that are based on the needs identified by direct service providers who work daily with victims and survivors. We urge you to act now on Congress's shared commitment to passing the bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019.

H.R. 1585 makes important investments in prevention, a priority identified by people who work with victims and survivors daily. Providing resources to implement evidence-based prevention programming makes our communities safer and, ultimately, saves taxpayer money. The bill also safeguards important protections that ensure all victims and survivors have access to safety and justice and provides a mechanism to hold predators who prey on Native women accountable. Moreover, the bill offers protections for survivors in federal public, subsidized, and assisted housing; keeps firearms out of the hands of adjudicated abusers and stalkers; supports victims and survivors who need assistance rebuilding financially; addresses the needs of underserved communities; and improves the healthcare response to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.

Now is not the time to maintain the status quo, nor is it acceptable to turn back the clock and reduce access to safety and justice for victims and survivors. Survivors and communities have very real, identified needs. H.R.1585 responds to these needs, preventing future violence, serving victims, and holding offenders accountable. In short, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019 is a narrow bill with a wide impact. We hope that all Senators, on a bipartisan basis, will recognize the importance of this legislation to their constituents and pass H.R.1585 or introduce and pass a substantially similar bill that has the support of the gender-based violence field. Thank you, again, for being a champion for victims and survivors and safe communities.

Sincerely,

The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence & Allied Organizations

National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence calls for unified efforts to end racism, abuse, and oppression and calls for legislation to curb gun violence

The member organizations of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence -- that represent the thousands of programs and advocates serving victims and working to prevent domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence, and stalking across the country – mourn the tragic loss of life this past weekend in the latest horrific mass shootings that occurred in El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH. We call on all policy makers to condemn the bigotry and hateful rhetoric that is fueling increased violence. We also call on policy makers to enact common-sense laws to curb gun violence and help prevent countless murders and the severe harm inflicted on individuals, families, and communities.

The work of ending domestic and sexual violence is, at its core, an effort to end the harm caused when one person exerts dominance over someone else through tactics of abuse and control, which often results in violence. With each incident of mass violence, it becomes more evident that gender-based violence, abuse, oppression, and bigotry are inextricably tied, and efforts to prevent these heinous acts require a larger societal commitment to end abuse and oppression in all its forms, particularly at the intersections. The quest to end domestic and sexual violence must align with the quest to end racism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, religious bigotry toward Jewish and Muslim communities, and other forms of oppression toward marginalized communities, including immigrant and Native American communities.

What happened in El Paso was a result of white nationalism in which an attacker felt emboldened by the hateful and racist rhetoric of white supremacy, the dehumanization of those considered to be outsiders, and the slander of their communities. Failure to condemn hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric only further fuels the actions of those who feel entitled to use violence to further their ideology. This was  demonstrated by the actions of the El Paso shooter who drove nine hours to a peaceful border community to inflict  grievous harm to a  majority Latino and immigrant population and whose published  statements demonstrate his white supremacist ideology and the purpose of his violence, with a call to others to engage in similar violence.

Seeking to characterize mass murder as primarily the acts of someone with a mental health issue runs the risk of further stigmatizing individuals with mental illness while deflecting attention from the failure of policy makers to pass common sense gun laws and support other initiatives to enhance prevention, accountability, and safety for all individuals in this country. Congress needs to act immediately to update laws, support programs, and insist on policies that meet the complex challenges that the United States is facing with horrific levels of gun violence not seen in other countries, despite the fact that other countries have similar rates of mental health issues.

It is also important to uphold our nation’s commitment to critical protections for immigrant victims of violence. At a time when many migrants are women and children who are fleeing persecution and gender-based violence in search of safety under international human rights laws, the administration has repeatedly sought to undermine access to safety and protections under international and national laws for those seeking asylum.  Using terms such as “invasion” to characterize the plight of refugees seeking assistance, and other such language characterizing minority communities as outsiders, only further fuels the dehumanization and bigotry that has resulted in violence by white supremacists.

Furthermore, as the climate of fear grows among immigrants, it is well known that domestic abusers, sexual predators, and traffickers-- whether in the home, the workplace, or on the streets-- count on the climate of fear to engage in abuse and exploitation. This climate of fear also hinders immigrant victims from seeking safety and services, as recently demonstrated in a survey of attorneys and advocates working with immigrant survivors.  Additionally, policy makers need to address numerous recent policy decisions that undermine access to safety and protection for immigrant victims and their families under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).

Hateful rhetoric furthers violence, whether it is directed toward immigrants or toward other marginalized communities, including Black and Brown communities, religious minorities, LGBTQ people, American Indians and Alaska Natives, and others, as well as language that furthers misogyny. It is important to address the roots of bigotry and hatred and work together to end violence in all its forms. We call on the leadership from both political parties to speak out against hateful rhetoric and policies that seek to dehumanize individuals, and instead stand in support of all people in our country. We must come together to promote the values and principles that celebrate the diversity of our country as one of its greatest strengths. It is also critical for leaders to have the courage to take action that seeks to enhance access to safety and well-being for all. This also means taking meaningful action on gun violence prevention legislation.  We must show that hate has no home in the United States of America.