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 comprehensively address violence against women worldwide. It is a direct response to the startling statistics that one out of every three women will be physically, sexually or otherwise abused during her lifetime, with rates reaching 70% in some countries. I-VAWA would direct the U.S. government to create a comprehensive, five-year strategy to reducing such violence in 10-20 diverse countries that have egregious levels of violence against women and girls. This important legislation will put the issue in its proper context as a human rights violation of epidemic proportions. In addition, 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 pass this legislation in 111^th Congress. This critical legislation will commit the United States to address rape, domestic violence, honor killings, female genital cutting, human trafficking, and economic conditions that can oppress women – on a global scale. 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.

To date, this legislation has not been reintroduced in the 111^th Congress.

Learn more about I-VAWA