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Health & Fitness

Brownsberger: Stop Violence Against Women

I’ve been a strong supporter of protections against domestic violence — the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center gave me their Beacon award in 2010 for “outstanding leadership in advancing the rights of sexual violence survivors.” I’ve also been a particular advocate of programs to protect LGBT victims of domestic abuse. If elected to Congress I will continue to support the Violence Against Women Act and to oppose any efforts to weaken it.

Below is a guest blog post by Nora Bent, a former intern with my Congressional campaign, concerning recent Democratic efforts in Congress to strengthen protections for women, and efforts by Republicans to weaken them. I strongly agree with Nora’s post, and providing this space to her is part of a continual dialogue with my constituents – you can see this on my website, WB4Congress.com -- where you can make a comment concerning any policy issue and expect that I will respond to you.

By Nora Bent:

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Domestic violence, sexual assault, rape and other acts of violence against women are a serious problem plaguing the United States. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), one in four women will experience domestic violence in her life, and 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault each year. It costs taxpayers $5.8 billion each year to provide health and other services to victims—and the emotional and physical cost to the victims is incalculable.

In an attempt to combat this problem, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994, which strengthened protections for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and rape. This law has proven successful. Between 1993 and 2012, the rate of intimate-partner violence declined by 67 percent. From1993 to 2007, rates of intimate-partner homicide decreased by 35 percent, while states also toughened their own laws regarding such violence.

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Despite the VAWA’s resounding success, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives fought against reauthorizing it in 2013. The new bill included protections for LGBT victims, as well as for Native American women abused by non-tribal attackers. The Senate bill (S 47) passed with significant bipartisan support, but was contentiously debated in the House. House Republicans wanted to create their own version of the bill, which would have significantly weakened crucial protections. In February 2013, the original Senate bill eventually passed the House, in a 286-138 vote along party lines.

In the United States, violence against women is a serious epidemic, harming—and even killing—millions of women each year. Republicans have opposed enhancing protections for victims and strengthening laws to convict perpetrators, showing that there is still a culture of neglect when it comes to women’s safety.

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Please don't forget to vote on October 15!

You can find more information on my website, WB4Congress.com




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