More than six months ago, the House passed H.R.1620, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021, with strong bipartisan support. The Senate is currently negotiating their own bipartisan reauthorization bill.
We appreciate Senators Feinstein’s, Ernst’s, and Durbin’s leadership in developing a strong bipartisan bill that meets the needs of survivors and that does not include any rollbacks. In order to ensure VAWA is able to pass both Chambers of Congress and be signed by the President before the end of the year, senators must swiftly introduce and pass a bipartisan bill built on H.R.1620.
Join us on October 20 to tell the Senate to introduce and pass a bipartisan bill that meets the needs of survivors and communities ASAP! A Senate bill must be bipartisan, must build on H.R.1620, and must maintain protections for LGBTQ survivors and advocates and other vulnerable populations. It must also:
○ Increase funding for culturally specific organizations;
○ Invest in prevention;
○ Affirm Tribes’ inherent authority to prosecute non-Native rapists and others who prey on Native women on tribal lands;
○ Take meaningful action to address adjudicated domestic and dating abusers’ access to firearms;
○ Improve access to housing for survivors;
○ Promote economic security for survivors; and
○ Address the criminal-legal system’s revictimization of survivors.
Call your senators (202-224-3121) or email them through their websites on October 20. In addition, join our 2:00 EDT Twitterstorm! This toolkit includes a call script, an email template, sample social media posts, and graphics. It even includes sample op-eds and letters to the editor, if you want to go the extra mile!
Please reach out to Rachel Graber (rgraber@ncadv.org) and Monica McLaughlin (mmclaughlin@nnedv.org) with any questions.