Action Alert: DON’T LET CONGRESS IGNORE SURVIVORS! Senate Action Needed Now!

On October 1st, the House passed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief measure to move forward efforts to finalize another much-needed COVID-19 relief bill, after its May passage of the $3.4 trillion Heroes Act was ultimately not taken up in the Senate. The new House measure, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act (“Updated HEROES Act”), addresses the health and economic needs of the nation and includes necessary supplemental funding for sexual assault and domestic violence survivors and service programs. We thank Speaker Pelosi and all of the House champions who successfully included important increased supplemental funding for survivors of gender-based violence in the bill, while also acknowledging that more needs to be done to address communities that are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and by domestic violence and sexual assault. It’s time for the Senate to prioritize the needs of the American people and take action on a COVID-19 relief package!

The Updated HEROES Act is better for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault than the original one was - you contacted your Representatives to share your concerns, and they listened! It’s time to make the Senate listen, too!

We urge you to take action now by reaching out to each of your Senators to make your voices heard. Ask them to prioritize and quickly take up the Updated HEROES Act and pass this critically needed legislation, which includes much needed relief for victims of sexual and domestic violence.

Among other provisions, the Updated HEROES Act:

●     Provides supplemental funding for various Violence Against Women Act and Family Violence Prevention and Services Act grants, including the following that were not in the original HEROES Act:

○     $100 million for the Sexual Assault Services Program;

○     $25 million for Culturally Specific Services;

○     $25 million for outreach and services to underserved populations; and

○     $50 million for Tribal programs;

●     Amends the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) to increase deposits into the Crime Victims Fund and waives matching requirements for VOCA victim assistance grantees;

●     Increases immigrant survivors’ access to health, safety, and economic stability by expanding benefits; and

●     Provides survivors additional economic and rental support, including access to unemployment insurance and paid leave.

Please also urge the Senate to add a provision to strengthen survivors’ access to unemployment insurance by ensuring that all states recognize that survivors who need to leave their jobs in order to stay safe meet the state’s “good cause” requirement. This will ensure that survivors get access to the benefits they need as quickly as possible.

Email your Senators TODAY. Use the language below. It’s easy!

My name is [your name], and I am emailing from [your city/state and, if applicable, your organization]. The American people are relying on you to prioritize the passage of an additional COVID-19 relief package. The Updated HEROES Act passed by the House of Representatives on Oct. 1st provides critically needed supplemental funding for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, as well as health and economic supports.

Survivors and the advocates that serve them need your help. In particular, programs in culturally-specific communities who have not yet received any relief funding need this funding to meet the needs of survivors who are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and the economic crisis. [Insert specific needs of your community/state].

The country needs you to step up and support the Updated HEROES Act that includes additional and much-needed funding for domestic violence and sexual assault programs, funding for culturally-specific and underserved communities, funding for tribal programs, language to increase deposits into the Crime Victims Fund, and provisions to access to economic and health supports for immigrant survivors. This must be the Senate’s top priority. I am counting on you.

Respectfully,

[Your name, city/state]

For more information, please contact Dorian Karp (dkarp@jwi.org), Rachel Graber (rgraber@ncadv.org), and Monica McLaughlin (mmclaughlin@nnedv.org).

ACTION ALERT: Day of Action Planned for September 9th

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). 

NTF Applauds Actions of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) applauds the actions of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for calling out disrespectful and unprofessional behavior by Representative Ted Yoho,  that was laced with misogyny and disgraced the dignity of our national governing body. We know that  this kind of behavior perpetuates silence, isolation and erasure.  Representative Yoho’ comments were an attempt to dehumanize the Congresswoman. It was also an attempt to make this type of verbal abuse spewed against women, and in particular against women of color, more palatable. We commend Representative Ocasio-Cortez and her willingness to speak up and call out this type of abuse and her consistent effort to  stop this kind of abusive behavior from happening to others.

Representative Ocasio-Cortez criticized the follow-up statement subsequently offered by Representative. Yoho for his refusal to take full responsibility,  in particular citing how his statement had used "women, wives, and daughters as shields and excuses for poor behavior." There is no excuse for disrespectful behavior.

The NTF, which was formally established in 2010, is a coalition of national and local organizations collaborating to promote public policy that addresses the needs of all survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. We stand with and for survivors who have had to overcome disrespectful behavior as well. We  seek to ensure that survivors  have the resources they need to heal and to support advocates and community members in working to change social norms that allow such abuse to continue.

Action Alert: DON’T LET CONGRESS IGNORE SURVIVORS!

As the House, Senate, and White House prepare to negotiate the next and likely final COVID-19 supplemental funding package, we have an important message for them - they cannot ignore the needs of survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence!

Congress has provided trillions of dollars in supplemental funding to respond to the COVID-19 emergency, but they 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 an increase in interpersonal violence!

Survivors, and the advocates that serve them, NEED YOUR HELP! We can’t let Congress fail survivors a 4th time. It’s time to flood Congress with phone calls, fill Members of Congress’s email inboxes, and blanket local newspapers with op-eds and letters to the editor. Social media posts are also useful, but since everyone else is also Tweeting, it is hard to break through, so please both tweet AND pick up the phone.

A toolkit with call scripts, op-ed and letter to the editor templates, sample emails, survivor and advocate stories, and social media content HERE.

Contact your Members of Congress - more than once, if you can! You can find your Senators’ contact information HERE and your Representative’s contact information HERE. Try calling district offices as well as DC offices.

Tell your Members of Congress that the next supplemental funding package MUST:

• Prevent drastic cuts to victim services funding that would compromise programs’ ability to meet the increased need caused by COVID-19 by increasing deposits into the Crime Victims Fund and by temporarily waiving match requirements for Victims of Crime Act victim assistance grants.

• Provide dedicated funding for culturally-specific organizations that provide domestic violence and sexual assault services through both the Division of Family Violence Prevention and Services in the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families and the Office on Violence Against Women;

• Address the needs of survivors by funding sexual assault services;

• Fund Tribal governments to provide domestic violence and sexual assault services;

• Provide more funding for domestic and sexual violence programs through a VAWA formula grant directly to victim service programs;

• Ensure that access to safety for immigrant survivors is not compromised by ensuring access to health and economic supports, as well as by restricting immigration enforcement at sensitive locations like courts and hospitals and by prohibiting the detention or deportation of survivors with pending immigration applications; and

• Allow states to make survivors eligible for unemployment insurance if they leave their jobs due to domestic or sexual violence.

Thank you for your advocacy - it makes all the difference!

For more information, please contact Rachel Graber (rgraber@ncadv.org), Dorian Karp (dkarp@jwi.org), and Monica McLaughlin (mmclaughlin@nnedv.org).

Action Alert: DON’T LET CONGRESS IGNORE SURVIVORS!

As the House, Senate, and White House prepare to negotiate the next and likely final COVID-19 supplemental funding package, we have an important message for them - they cannot ignore the needs of survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence! 

Congress has provided trillions of dollars in supplemental funding to respond to the COVID-19 emergency, but they 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 an increase in interpersonal violence!

Survivors, and the advocates that serve them, NEED YOUR HELP! We can’t let Congress fail survivors a 4th time. It’s time to flood Congress with phone calls, fill Members of Congress’s email inboxes, and blanket local newspapers with op-eds and letters to the editor. Social media posts are also useful, but since everyone else is also Tweeting, it is hard to break through, so please both tweet AND pick up the phone. 

A toolkit with call scripts, op-ed and letter to the editor templates, sample emails, survivor and advocate stories, and social media content HERE.

Contact your Members of Congress - more than once, if you can! You can find your Senators’ contact information HERE and your Representative’s contact information HERE. Try calling district offices as well as DC offices. 

Tell your Members of Congress that the next supplemental funding package MUST:

• Prevent drastic cuts to victim services funding that would compromise programs’ ability to meet the increased need caused by COVID-19 by increasing deposits into the Crime Victims Fund and by temporarily waiving match requirements for Victims of Crime Act victim assistance grants.

• Provide dedicated funding for culturally-specific organizations that provide domestic violence and sexual assault services through both the Division of Family Violence Prevention and Services in the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families and the Office on Violence Against Women;

• Address the needs of survivors by funding sexual assault services;

• Fund Tribal governments to provide domestic violence and sexual assault services;

• Provide more funding for domestic and sexual violence programs through a VAWA formula grant directly to victim service programs;

• Ensure that access to safety for immigrant survivors is not compromised by ensuring access to health and economic supports, as well as by restricting immigration enforcement at sensitive locations like courts and hospitals and by prohibiting the detention or deportation of survivors with pending immigration applications; and

• Allow states to make survivors eligible for unemployment insurance if they leave their jobs due to domestic or sexual violence.

  Thank you for your advocacy - it makes all the difference!

  For more information, please contact Rachel Graber (rgraber@ncadv.org), Dorian Karp (dkarp@jwi.org), and Monica McLaughlin (mmclaughlin@nnedv.org). 

Statement on Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Rollback on Equal Access Rule Protections

We, the National Taskforce to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, condemn the proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that seeks to roll back non-discrimination protections provided in the current Equal Access Rule. The domestic violence/sexual assault field supported the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) protections in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 2013, and the Equal Access rule, has built all-inclusive services in federally funded housing, shelters and programs. We call on HUD to maintain the current Equal Access Rule, which ensures access to shelter for survivors of all identities, including those who identify as transgender.

NTF, along with hundreds of sexual assault and domestic violence programs, strongly supports full and equal access to housing and shelter for the transgender community and condemns any efforts that undermine inclusivity and safety. As this rollback was being developed, we met with Administration officials to voice support for the Equal Access Rule and all survivors, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The continued false messaging that invokes fear for women’s safety as justification for discrimination against transgender individuals is unacceptable and harmful. We resoundingly reject it.

Transgender people have long been the targets of heinous acts of violence and harassment. Further, as highlighted most recently by the Black Lives Matter movement, Black transgender women are at particular risk of experiencing violence and even murder, revealing the intersection of racism and transphobia. Transgender survivors face incredible barriers to safety, increased discrimination and oppression, and disproportionate rates of homelessness. Additionally, data confirms that transgender individuals are more likely to experience physical and sexual violence than to perpetrate these acts. According to the 2015 Transgender Survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), 54% of transgender respondents experienced some form of domestic violence, and one in ten were violently attacked because of their gender identity. Survivor safety must include transgender survivors.              

Pushing discriminatory practices during the COVID-19 pandemic is especially harmful, as more people than ever are experiencing homelessness and seeking shelter from abuse. These circumstances render victims increasingly vulnerable. We cannot allow practices of inclusivity, developed by the DV/SA field and mandated by VAWA and the Equal Access Rule, to be eroded by discriminatory regulations, nor have violence against women used as a reason for replacing inclusive policies with discriminatory ones.

For more information, please contact Terra Russell-Slavin at tslavin@lalgbtcenter.org or Monica McLaughlin at mmclaughlin@nnedv.org.

For Advocates and Allies

Stand with us in the ongoing fight to end discrimination and violence, especially toward our most at-risk populations.

The proposed rule can be found at this link.  Template comments and social media tools will be made available for advocates and organizations to join us in opposing this change.

Want to know more about creating inclusive and accessible programs? Contact the National LGBTQ Institute on IPV, local LGBT anti-violence programs, your state/territory Domestic Violence or Sexual Assault Coalition, or the Domestic Violence Housing Technical Assistance Consortium. 

ACTION ALERT: Contact your Senators and tell them to pass a COVID-19 response package that supports victims and survivors

Congress must acknowledge that racism is part of all of our institutions, as amply demonstrated by the disparate impact of COVID-19 on Black communities and Communities of Color. While we appreciate that the House’s HEROES Act provides funding for domestic violence programs and ensures the long-term viability of the Crime Victims Fund, it provides NO funding for culturally-specific community-based organizations that provide domestic violence and sexual assault services. This is unacceptable - and the Senate needs to hear from you.

COVID-19 has both increased the incidence of interpersonal violence and the complexity of serving survivors. Victim service providers need additional funding to provide critical services to their communities. While the HEROES Act contains vital funding for domestic violence programs through the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, it falls far short of providing adequate funding for sexual assault services. Instead of focusing solely on victim services, it funds law enforcement and prosecutors out of scarce VAWA grants, despite ample funding outside of VAWA for law enforcement. It also fails to provide critical funding for tribal domestic violence and sexual assault programs and important protections for immigrant survivors. The HEROES Act furthermore does not require states to strengthen their unemployment insurance laws by recognizing that leaving a job because of sexual or domestic violence or stalking constitutes, “good cause.” We know survivors need more. 

In late May, the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) sent a letter to Congress, signed by 450 domestic violence and sexual assault organizations, detailing the need for funding and policy changes to protect survivors. On June 8, the NTF sent a supplemental statement to Congress, reminding them of the NTF’s priorities while also acknowledging the positive provisions in the HEROES Act. In the next COVID-19 relief package, the Senate should preserve important provisions that support survivors and, in addition:

• Provide dedicated funding for culturally-specific organizations that provide domestic violence and sexual assault services through both the Division of Family Violence Prevention and Services in the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families and the Office on Violence Against Women;

• Address the needs of survivors by funding sexual assault services;

• Fund Tribal governments to provide domestic violence and sexual assault services;

• Provide more funding for domestic and sexual violence programs through a VAWA formula grant directly to victim service programs;

• Ensure that access to safety for immigrant survivors is not compromised by immigration enforcement, by restricting enforcement activities at sensitive locations like courts and hospitals and by prohibiting the detention or deportation of survivors with pending immigration applications; and

• Allow states to make survivors eligible for unemployment insurance if they leave their jobs due to domestic or sexual violence.

Contact your members of Congress on social media, by phone, or by email through their website. You can find your Senators and their contact information HERE. You can find Members’ social media handles HERE. If you have contacts in Senate offices, email is also an effective way to get in touch with staff who are working remotely.

A toolkit with sample call scripts, emails, Tweets, and Facebook posts can be found HERE.

For more information about reaching out to your Senators and other grassroots actions, please contact Rachel Graber (rgraber@ncadv.org), Dorian Karp (dkarp@jwi.org), and Monica McLaughlin (mmclaughlin@nnedv.org). 

For more information about the needs of culturally specific organizations serving communities of color, please contact Megan Simmons (msimmons@ujimacommunity.org). For more information about the the needs of sexual assault survivors, please contact Terri Poore (terri@endsexualviolence.org).

Statement on Oppression and Anti-Black Racism

The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) shares the grief and rage of all those who are mourning the racist killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Dreasjon Reed and David McAtee and the countless acts of racist violence perpetrated against Black people by individuals and by institutions. As organizations committed to ending sexual and domestic violence, we condemn anti-Black racism and all other forms of racism and oppression such as police violence and murder. We offer our collective support of the uprising to dismantle oppression, and we denounce anti-Black racism. The NTF recognizes the United States was founded on land taken by force through the genocide of Indigenous people and built on the backs of Black people who were enslaved and whose personhood was explicitly denied in our country’s founding documents. Racist violence is part of our heritage and inherent in our institutions.

More than 250 years later, our institutions continue to propagate racist policies. These policies permeate federal, state, and local systems in both the public and private sectors, including law enforcement. Many policies that may appear neutral on their face actually create and maintain inequities in all facets of life, e.g. housing, healthcare, education, and economic opportunity, which constitute multiple intersecting forms of oppression. As is on display nationwide, agents of the state are often also agents of oppression. Private citizens have also been emboldened by the highest levels of leadership in our nation to target Black people, Indigenous people, Latinx people, Asian people, and other people of color.

We support the right and the need of people to protest the weight of this legacy and its modern incarnations, and we reject racist characterizations of people demanding their rights. We acknowledge the trauma inflicted by racism, both individual and systemic, on individuals and communities. As a national anti-violence coalition, we recognize the need to strengthen our commitment to dismantling racist policies and institutions wherever we can. We recognize the need to move the margins to the center. We commit ourselves to interrupting inequitable practices that are rooted in historical injustices and discrimination; eliminating biases and structural barriers to access, opportunities and safety; and to building a movement and a world where all people can thrive and find safety and well-being.

We call on all people in the United States to reject anti-Black racism and oppression. White people in particular have a responsibility to acknowledge the privileges the current system conveys upon them and to disrupt the status quo. This includes people in the domestic and sexual violence movement.

At this time, white people seeking to be anti-racist can reach out to support friends and colleagues of color, highlight the voices of Black advocates and activists; and educate themselves. Talk to friends and family about racism, including implicit bias. Share resources. Engage with elected officials. Call out racism and oppression when you see it. Take action - starting in your own community and in every community in which you participate. Silence is complicity.

For more information, please contact Rachel Graber, NCADV (rgraber@ncadv.org) and Terri Poore, NAESV (terri@endsexualviolence.org).

Add Your Organization to Sign-on Letter

As supplemental Family Violence Prevention and Services Act grants from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act are becoming available to domestic violence programs, it is important to recognize the domestic and sexual violence fields’ successes - both in battling COVID-19 on the frontlines and also in urging Congress to fund critical victim service programs. The House’s Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act contained important provisions to support victim service providers, most notably recognizing domestic and sexual violence advocates as providing essential services and ensuring the longterm viability of the Crime Victims Fund. Both bills also included important provisions that, while not specifically directed toward survivors, nevertheless provide critical supports, including housing, financial, and employment supports. The HEROES Act also includes important provisions to automatically extend immigrants’ statuses and work authorizations, ensure non-citizens who file taxes receive stimulus checks, and expand access for immigrants to free COVID-19 testing and treatment under Medicaid.
While we celebrate our successes, however, we must acknowledge the many shortcomings of both the CARES Act and the House’s HEROES Act. The CARES Act fell short of fully addressing the needs of survivors of sexual assault and the needs of survivors in communities of color and immigrant communities. The HEROES Act similarly lacks necessary funding for culturally-specific services, and the funding included for survivors of sexual assault is wholly insufficient. It did not include funding for Native survivors, nor did it include important language to ensure supplemental Violence Against Women Act funding would go directly and expeditiously to victim service providers. It also excluded language allowing states to provide unemployment insurance to survivors who have to leave their jobs due to sexual or domestic violence. We know survivors need more.

In late April, hundreds of organizations signed a letter to Congress that urged them to address the critical needs of survivors and programs and that articulated measures Congress can take in the phase four supplemental COVID-19 appropriations package to meet these needs. As we turn our attention to the Senate, we are reopening the letter for new signatories. This letter is for ORGANIZATIONS only. Click HERE to sign onto the letter. Organizations that have previously signed onto the letter do not need to sign on again.

If you have any questions, please contact Rachel Graber (rgraber@ncadv), Dorian Karp (dkarp@jwi), and Emily Dahl (edahl@nnedv.org).

We thank you for your continued leadership during COVID-19. 

Action Alert: Tell Congress to address the needs of survivors in the next COVID-19 response 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. 

The House of Representatives is finalizing its phase four COVID-19 response 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. Your Senators and Representative both need to hear from you, but if you can only contact one person, right now, the priority is the House of Representatives. 

Call your Members of Congress or contact them on social media, and tell them that the phase four package 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 https://tinyurl.com/ybkmnots.

.@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! #COVID4More at https://tinyurl.com/ybkmnots. 

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