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House GOPers boast about VAWA after voting against it

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 22:14:00 +0000

House Republicans who voted against the final version of the Violence Against Women Act have been sending statements to their constituents boasting about their votes...for the Violence Against Women Act.

"I supported this legislation because I know how important it is to empower women in difficult situations,” Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said in a statement. “If a woman is at risk, she should know that she has a place to turn for support and assistance. I supported VAWA in 2005, 2012, and today I voted in support of the House version to see that victims of domestic violence and sexual assault have access to the resources and protection when they need it the most.”

“I am pleased to support efforts to protect all women in this country from domestic abuse and other forms of violence,” said Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo.

Obama signs expanded Violence Against Women Act

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:04:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says an expanded anti-violence bill is a "victory" for advocates and survivors of domestic violence.

Obama is speaking at a signing ceremony for the bill, which extends domestic violence protections.

The law strengthens those protections for victims who are attacked on tribal land. It also makes clear that lesbians, gays and immigrants should have equal access to the law's programs.

The president says the original law "changed our culture." Obama praised Vice President Joe Biden, who wrote the bill in 1994, for making violence prevention one of his top priorities.

The sequester will hurt victims of domestic violence

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:59:00 +0000

After punting on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act during the 112th Congress, it looks like the landmark bill that has ushered in major reform around domestic and sexual violence laws and services for victims will finally pass through the House.

But the victory may be short-lived. If the sequester goes through on Friday, slashes to the federal budget won't spare the anti-domestic violence programs funded by VAWA, critical as they may be. According to the Department of Justice, these programs stand to lose more than $20 million to the sequestration. And as Bryce Covert wrote Wednesday at Forbes, "That would mean 35,927 fewer victims of violence will be able to access lifesaving services and resources such as shelter, legal help, and support for children. It would also mean 34,248 fewer police, prosecutors, judges, and victim advocates would get domestic violence training to effectively respond to these incidents."

Gayle Trotter is wrong about women, violence and guns

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:44:00 +0000

Gayle Trotter, a senior fellow at the conservative Independent Women's Forum, made an appearance on Wednesday to pink up the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence.

"Guns make women safer," she testified. “Using a firearm with a magazine holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition, a woman would have a fighting chance even against multiple attackers.”

But Trotter is wrong about women and guns, dangerously so. Far from making women safer, the presence of firearms in situations of domestic violence (which occur far more frequently than any other crime in the United States, Trotter's "stranger danger" scenarios be damned) dramatically increases the likelihood a woman will be killed by her abuser. As Amanda Marcotte reported for Slate, the Violence Policy Center conducted research to quantify this point and found that 83 women were killed by an intimate partner for every woman who used a gun in self-defense.