JOIN US FOR INTERFAITH ADVOCACY DAY IN WASHINGTON, D.C. ON APRIL 29th!

JWI works in partnership with a broad base of national secular and religious organizations to be a strong advocacy voice on the issues of domestic violence, reproductive choice and gun violence. Our partners include the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) and a myriad of other organizations who lend support to the JWI mission of safe homes. healthy relationship. strong women.

Recognizing that domestic violence survivors often turn to their religious leaders and houses of worship for support, guidance and refuge during times of abuse, JWI convened the Interfaith Domestic Violence Coalition to unite the collective energies and visions of the faith communities to work together in promoting national domestic violence legislation to protect women and children. This first of its kind national faith coalition represents millions of Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Presbyterian, United Methodist, United Church of Christ, Seventh-day Adventist and Unitarian Universalist congregants and is ever growing in number and impact. Our coalition works collaboratively with national secular domestic violence organizations creating a powerful and dynamic partnership.

The Interfaith Domestic Violence Coalition hosted a Capitol Hill breakfast briefing in February 2008 on advancing domestic violence legislation, submitted testimony to the DNC and RNC Platform Committees in the 2008 presidential election, testified before the DNC National Platform Committee in Cleveland, Ohio in August 2008, and in partnership with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), lobbied members of Congress on the importance of fully funding the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and appropriately funding the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) fund. Our coalition continues to be active on advancing and fully funding legislation to help battered women and their children lead safer and healthier lives. JWI, in partnership with our Interfaith Domestic Violence Coalition, looks forward to hosting our Interfaith Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. on April 29^th. We hope you will join us!

Learn more about the Interfaith Domestic Violence Coalition.

Violence Against Women

Violence against women is a crisis of epidemic proportions, affecting women in the United States and around the world. It encompasses domestic violence, sexual assault, rape and other forms of physical, psychological, financial and spiritual abuse.

One in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, one in six women has experienced an attempted or completed rape, and one in twelve women will be stalked in her lifetime. Teens and young adults are particularly impacted by intimate partner violence – individuals ages 16-24 experience the highest per capita rate of violence and one in five high school girls reports physical or sexual abuse from a dating partner. Furthermore, an estimated 15.5 million children are exposed to domestic violence each year.

JWI is committed to working to end violence against women in all of its forms, with particular concern for victims of domestic violence.

Domestic violence is a human rights violation that frequently involves beatings, torture, false imprisonment, psychological abuses including threats to harm or kill the victim and/or her children and many other crimes. The case of Jessica Gonzales v. United States, currently before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, involves a domestic violence victim whose three children were killed after police refused to enforce a restraining order against her estranged husband. Ms. Gonzales’s (now Jessica Lenehan) petition to the Inter-American Commission alleged that the United States is responsible for human rights violations committed against her and her children – the decision is still pending. This case puts domestic violence in the proper framework of a human rights violation that is worthy of attention and appropriate remedies under the law. 

Key Pieces of Legislation

• Economic Stimulus Package

On February 17^th, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law which includes $325 million in critical funding for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) -of which $175 million is dedicated for Stop Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program (STOP) grants and $50 million is for Transitional Housing – as well as an additional $100 million for the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Fund.  Collectively, this money will create and sustain thousands of jobs for victim advocates and specialized law enforcement officers specifically trained in issues of domestic violence and sexual assault.  Although the final number is $25 million less than what was originally passed by the Senate, it is still a victory in that the bulk of this critical money was preserved during these dire economic times.

Read the entire bill

• Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is a landmark piece of legislation that seeks to improve criminal justice and community-based responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking in the United States.

VAWA was first passed in 1994 and reauthorized in 2000, adding important services for Native American, immigrant, rural, disabled, and older victims.  VAWA was again reauthorized in 2005 (signed into law January 5, 2006) extending the legislation for five years and increasing funding by 20 percent to $3.9 billion. VAWA 2005 increased the authorization for STOP programs to $225 million for each of the fiscal years 2007-2011. Also included in the reauthorization were new purpose areas to address important unmet needs:

• Jessica Gonzalez Victim Assistants – ensuring that police respond quickly to lethal emergencies and that victims receive referrals for services in addition to police assistance; and
• Crystal Judson Brame Advocates – helping persons abused by law enforcement personnel and working with law enforcement agencies to develop protocols to respond to such abuse.

Important Amendments to VAWA 2005 included:

• Emphasizing the need to fund linguistically and culturally specific services;
• Requiring that funds addressing underserved populations be equitably distributed among those populations; and
• Setting aside 10% of victim services’ funds to provide resources for community-based organizations led by and for Communities of Color that may not be otherwise able to access state funds.

JWI was proud to be an active national coalition partner in the reauthorization process of 2005 and we look forward to working with our national partners to advocate for reauthorization of VAWA in 2010.

Look this legislation up on THOMAS

VAWA Fact Sheet

•International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) 

The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) is a historic and unprecedented effort by the United States to address violence against women globally and comprehensively in direct response to the startling statistics that one out of every three women worldwide will be physically, sexually, or otherwise abused during her lifetime with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries. I-VAWA would be a critical response to ending violence against women globally by directing the U.S. government to create a comprehensive, 5 year strategy to reducing violence against women in 10-20 diverse countries that have egregious levels of violence against women and girls. This important legislation will put violence against women in its proper context as a human rights violation of epidemic proportions and it will tackle the life threatening challenges of extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS and other health risks that affect the well being of women and girls worldwide.

In the 110^th Congress, the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) was introduced in both the House (H.R. 5927) and Senate (S. 2279) but was not passed. JWI will continue to work with our coalition partners to help pass this legislation through the 111^th Congress. This critical legislation will commit the United States to address violence against women worldwide, including: rape, domestic violence, honor killings, female genital cutting, human trafficking, and economic conditions that can oppress women. JWI has joined a broad based coalition including the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), Women’s Edge Coalition and Amnesty International USA in endorsing this important legislation and has also written supporting letters to Congress.

Learn more about I-VAWA

•Human Trafficking - The buying and selling of women and children into forced labor or sexual slavery is one of the most profitable businesses worldwide. It is estimated that up to 20,000 people are trafficked in the United States each year and well over 1,000 women are bought and sold into slavery in Israel each year. JWI featured a sub-plenary at its 2005 2nd International Conference - The Trafficking of Women: A Jewish Problem - as well as featuring this issue on a National Alliance call. JWI joined other Jewish coalitions concerned about human trafficking in signing on to a letter to Attorney General Mazuz of Israel asking for greater dedication of resources, training, education and victims services to help abolish human trafficking in Israel. 

On December 10, 2008, the House and Senate passed the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and the bill was signed into law on December 23, 2008. The Act reauthorizes funding for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 from 2008-2011 and makes many significant amendments to reduce the demand for commercial sex, especially for minor victims.

Look this legislation up on THOMAS

•The National Domestic Violence Attorney Network Act

Thousands of domestic violence victims in the United States can not afford the legal representation necessary to protect them and their children from further abuse. In October 2007, JWI spearheaded an online campaign and, with the help of our supporters, contributed more than 4,000 signatures in an effort to pass The National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Network Act (S. 1515, H.R. 6088) in the 110^th Congress. The legislation would have created a national database of trained volunteer attorneys- in coordination with the American Bar Association – to assist battered women with their protective order, divorce, and custody cases. The legislation did not pass but JWI looks forward to advancing the legal needs of battered women in the 111^th Congress.

Look this legislation up on THOMAS

 •The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA)

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), enacted in 1984 as Title lll of the Child Abuse Amendment and reauthorized and amended in 2003 as the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act, provides public awareness and prevention of family violence, services for domestic violence victims and their children, and training and resources to local agencies addressing this issue. FVPSA funds the life-saving services provided by domestic violence programs including: emergency shelters, hotlines, transitional housing, counseling, legal services and many other vital services.

As the success of the Violence Against Women Act programs increase the number of victims who are referred to local programs for emergency services, the demand for FVPSA services has steadily risen. JWI’s Interfaith Domestic Violence Coalition has been Congress to reauthorize FVPSA (which is currently expired but funded by the Continuing Resolution until March 6, 2009) and fully fund this legislation so that all victims and their children can receive the lifesaving services they need to stay safe from further abuse.

In FY09, FVPSA was funded at $125 million, a $2.4 million increase over FY08 and this money still needs to be appropriated. JWI is working in coalition with our national partners including the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) to assure reauthorization and full funding of FVPSA.

•Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)

The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) established a fund to provide victims of crime with critical services that help them recover from the physical, emotional and financial consequences of criminal activity. VOCA money comes from fines and other penalties collected from criminal offenders and deposited into the Crime Victims Fund exclusively to support victims’ services. No taxpayer dollars are needed to maintain a stable funding level for state victim assistance grants. In recent years, caps on the amount of money that can be added to this fund, as well as appropriations bill earmarks that take money out of this fund, have diminished the extent to which victim organizations can reach and support victims of crime. JWI – through its coalition partnerships - has supported efforts to prevent additional cuts to Victim Assistance grants made with VOCA Fund dollars and has lobbied members of the House and Senate and signed on to letters to Congress to increase the VOCA cap.

In FY09, in the House, VOCA Fund received a $60 million increase raising the cap to $650 million. In the Senate, VOCA Fund received a $45 million increase, raising the cap t0 $635 million. This money still needs to be appropriated. While this is encouraging news for victims, we need to ensure that the cap on the fund continues to be increased to meet the needs of victims in FY10.

Look this legislation up on THOMAS

VOCA Fact Sheet

Women’s Economic Security

•Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive Act (Growth Act)

Women are a vital part of the global economy and their share of the labor force is increasing all over the world. Women farmers produce 60-80% of the food in most developing countries, yet tend to work in the lowest paid sectors, have less stable incomes, work longer hours, have less education and training than men and do not enjoy the same economic opportunities as men.

The GROWTH Act introduced in the 110^th Congress (S. 2069/H.R. 2965) was an innovative bill that would make the U.S. a leader in reducing poverty and promoting opportunities for women and families around the world through policy initiatives that would help women start and grow their own businesses, help women attain land and property rights, and increase women’s wages and working conditions among other initiatives. JWI is proud to have endorsed this important legislation and looks forward to working in coalition to get this legislation re-introduced in the 111^th Congress.

Look this legislation up on THOMAS

Reproductive Rights

Public policies supporting women’s reproductive rights ranging from comprehensive sex education, to family planning, emergency contraception to abortion services have been eroding over the last several years. JWI is strongly committed to reproductive choice and is working in coalition with secular and religious organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) to ensure that women’s reproductive rights are protected and strengthened. JWI, in coalition with other national faith based groups has created a transition document on reproductive rights for President Obama’s administration. View the transition document.

Global Gag Rule Repealed

On January 23, 2009, President Obama repealed the Global Gag Rule (also known as the Mexico City Policy) which ends eight years of policies that have blocked access to basic health care for women worldwide. The Global Gag Rule required all foreign non governmental organizations (NGO’s) that received federal funding to refrain from dispensing information, counseling and/or performing abortion services (except in cases of rape and incest)as a method of family planning in countries outside of the United States. The highly controversial policy was called the “gag” rule because it stifled free speech and public debate on abortion-related issues and forced foreign NGO’s to make the difficult decision to accept U.S. funding to provide essential health services but with restrictive provisions that threaten the health and safety of patients or reject the policy and lose vital U.S. funds.

Look at Executive Order repealing the Global Gag Rule

•Comprehensive Sex Education

Research shows that comprehensive sex education programs are effective in promoting abstinence as well as other protective behaviors, whereas there is no empirical evidence to support that abstinence-only programs –which currently receive over $1.5 billion dollars in federal money - actually delay the onset of sexual activity among teens. Currently, no federal dollars are allocated for comprehensive sex education despite studies that indicate this type of education would be more effective. Strong advocacy on this issue needs to be undertaken so our youth are educated and knowledgeable about their sexuality and reproductive health. 

JWI strongly believes that comprehensive sex education programs are critical to ensure that teens are healthy and safe. JWI joined other national and faith based organizations to endorse the Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act (S. 972/H.R. 1653) in the 110^th Congress to support responsible, comprehensive and medically accurate sex education in public schools and lobby on this important issue. In the 111^th Congress, the House re-introduced the bill on January 13, 2009 as H.R. 263 and the Senate is expected to introduce a similar bill in the coming weeks. JWI will continue to work with its national and faith based partners to help insure passage of this legislation.

Look at this Legislation on Thomas

•Family Planning

Family planning reduces maternal deaths, deaths of infants and children, unintended pregnancies, improves the health of mothers, and helps prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Ultimately family planning can help conserve vital natural resources and minimize food insecurity.

Since January 2007, more than 3 million college students and hundreds of thousands of low income women have lost access to affordable birth control because of a provision in the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) which unintentionally ceased college and university health centers and hundreds of safety-net providers from access to low cost drugs. For many students and low-income women, access to birth control is not financially feasible. Recently, the House introduced The Prevention Through Affordable Access Act of 2009 (H.R. 398), a bipartisan piece of legislation that will provide a no-cost technical fix to restore eligibility for college health centers and safety-net providers to obtain low cost birth control for college students and low-income women. The Senate introduced the Prevention First Act (S.21), a bill to reduce unintended pregnancy, abortion and improve access to women’s health care, which also includes a provision to restore access to affordable birth control.

Look this legislation up on THOMAS

•Contraception

The Obama Administration recently took action to rescind a harmful Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule that went into effect on January 20, 2009 in the final days of President Bush’s Administration. The HHS rule, commonly referred to as the provider conscience regulation, was widely criticized as undermining patients’ access to vital health care services and information for a range of reproductive and other healthcare issues, including contraception, abortion services, treatments for infertility, depression, drug addiction, HIV/AIDS, and more.

JWI, in conjunction with our secular and faith based partners, activated our members and supporters to write to HHS and voice opposition to this rule. HHS received over 200,000 comments on this highly controversial rule.

On February 27, 2009 the White House issued a notice to rescind the rule. A new notice of proposed rulemaking rescinding the Bush Administration’s rule will be published in the Federal Register in the near future and the Administration will accept and consider comments on the proposed rescission.

For more information and analysis of the HHS rule, visit: http://www.nwlc.org/details.cfm?id=3333&section=ReproductiveChoices

Gun Violence

On February 24, 2009, the United States Supreme Court in a 7-2 ruling in United States v. Hayes, rejected arguments by the gun lobby and convicted wife beater Randy Edward Hayes that federal law allowed Hayes to possess firearms, upholding the broad federal ban on gun possession by people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses. Instead, in citing arguments made by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the Court elevated the public policy needs of victim and public safety responders over the needs of domestic violence abusers who possess firearms. The decision also upholds the 1996 Lautenberg Amendment (Frank Lautenberg D-NJ), also known as the domestic violence gun ban, which prohibits convicted misdemeanor domestic violence abusers from possessing firearms.

View the Hayes decision

• Anti-Genocide and Hate Crimes
There are many regions around the world that target that are inundated with horrific demonstrations of violence targeted at people based on their ethnicity, culture, religion, and gender. JWI is committed to supporting a world free from genocide, hate crimes, and other human rights injustices.

•Save Darfur

Save Darfur is an international human rights campaign to bring awareness and resources to the genocide occurring in Darfur, Sudan. The 2.5 million people driven from their homes face catastrophic human, social, and economic challenges including starvation, disease, torture, rape, and murder. JWI joined forces with other faith based groups to call attention to this international genocide issue and participated in a human rights rally as well as several sign on letters denouncing human rights abuses, specifically violence against women.

PAST ADVOCACY ISSUES

Violence Against Women

•The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) seeks to safeguard the rights of foreign born women who are brought to the United States as “mail order brides” by mandating, among other things, that the women be informed about the marital and criminal pasts of their fiancés.  JWI joined national coalition efforts to lobby for the passage of IMBRA. IMBRA, as incorporated into the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (2005) was signed into law on January 5, 2006.

Look this legislation up on THOMAS

Reproductive Choice

March for Women’s Lives: This March in Washington, DC, in 2003, was an opportunity for abortion rights activists to join together in continued support to safeguard a woman’s reproductive choice.  JWI proudly marched along with many of its participating national chapter members at this important event.   

JWI was a proud coalition partner co-sponsoring a Capitol Hill briefing in March 2007 for International Women’s Day championing The Focus on Family Health Worldwide Act of 2007 H.R. 1225 supporting family planning measures worldwide. The Bill is currently before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The United States Supreme Court in 2007 – in upholding the federal abortion ban in Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood - delivered one of the largest blows to date to abortion rights.  Following this landmark decision, JWI supported the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) of 2007 (S. 1173) to protect women’s reproductive rights by preventing government interference with a woman choosing to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy. The Bill is before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Gun Violence

Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) was a provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a federal law that was created to stop the sale of semi-automatic weapons manufactured after the ban was enacted.  President Clinton signed the ban into law on September 13, 1994 and it was set to expire on September 13, 2004. JWI signed on to a Roll Call Advertisement organized by the Violence Policy Center, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the Consumer Federation of America to renew and strengthen the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. Despite proposed bills to extend the ban in the House and Senate in the last Congress, no action was taken in committees and the extension of the ban never became law despite increased national attention to the dangers of gun violence.

Look this legislation up on THOMAS

Hate Crimes Legislation

The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2005 (LLEEA) S. 1145 sought to adequately address the significant problems of hate crimes, including hate crimes based on disability, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation but unfortunately did not pass.

Get (Jewish Divorce)
 
Maryland Get Bill: In 2007, JWI supported the passage of the Maryland Get Bill which would have permitted the civil court divorce system to assist women in obtaining a religious divorce. The Maryland Bill was based on the New York Get Bill which provides that prior to a civil divorce both parties will take all steps possible to remove any barriers to remarriage-including a get. Unfortunately, the Maryland Get Bill failed to pass by a narrow margin and NewYork remains the only state with this type of legislation. Learn more about gets.

View JWI’s letter in support of the Get Bill.