Violence Against Women Target of Legislation in US Congress

Posted: 23 July 2008

New bill would improve US government efforts to reduce violence against women around the world.

Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) have proposed a new bill to prioritize and strengthen US efforts to reduce violence against women. The International Violence Against Women Act was proposed in the Senate in November of 2007 and is now being considered in the House of Representatives. In the House it is sponsored by Representative Berman (D-CA), Representative DeLauro (D-CT), and Representative Marshall (D-GA).

The International Violence Against Women Act would amend the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act to:

Create a central office for "Global Women's Initiatives" in the Department of State that would oversee US policies and programs related to women and gender-based violence. This office would report directly to the Secretary of State.
Create a five-year strategy to fight violence against women in 10 to 20 countries.
Provide $175 million a year for criminal and civil justice, health care, girls' access to education and school safety, women's economic empowerment, and public awareness campaigns.
Require training, reporting mechanisms, and a system for dealing with women and girls afflicted by violence during humanitarian, conflict and post-conflict operations.

Oxfam America is calling on its supporters in the United States to ask for bipartisan support for the International Violence Against Women Act. Violence against women pushes poor women further into poverty, destroys their mental and physical health, and puts families at risk. It is a serious problem in wealthy as well as poor countries, but some of the most vulnerable women are in conflict areas such as eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where thousands of women have been victimized in fighting over the last 10 years. In many other countries such as El Salvador, violence continues to plague women: In 2007 more than 250 women were murdered between January and September. As many as one in three women in the world may be victims in the course of their lives, according to a 2005 World Health Organization report on violence against women.

"This legislation will ensure that the US government is responding appropriately to the global scourge of violence against women," said Krista Riddley, director of humanitarian policy for Oxfam America in Washington. "It will increase and improve services for survivors of violence, hold perpetrators of violence accountable, and help the US push for an end to the horrible sexual violence we see in places like Democratic Republic of Congo."

"Oxfam supporters can help improve the lives of women worldwide by telling their legislators that they care about this issue and want them to support this legislation."